The men’s basketball team was picked to finish sixth out of 11 American Athletic Conference teams this season.

The poll results were announced at the conference media day at the New York Athletic Club Wednesday. Defending national champion Connecticut edged the top spot in the poll, while Southern Methodist were picked by The American’s coaches to finish second in the conference.

Memphis, led by All-Conference first-team selections Shaq Goodwin and Austin Nichols, were picked to finish third in the conference, while Cincinnati, Tulsa, Temple, Houston, South Florida, Central Florida East Carolina and Tulane rounded out the remainder of the poll.

The Owls’ backcourt duo of senior Will Cummings and junior Quenton DeCosey were selected as second team all-conference in a coaches vote. Cummings ranked sixth in the conference with 16.8 points per game in 29 contests last season, while DeCosey posted an eighth-best 15.4 ppg. in 31 games.

UConn senior guard Ryan Boatright was tabbed as The American’s preseason Player of the Year, while Huskies freshman Daniel Hamilton was voted preseason Rookie of the Year.

The Owls will kick off their season against American University at the Liacouras Center on Nov. 14. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

2014-15 Preseason Coaches’ Poll
Rank, Team (First-Place Votes)
1. UConn (6)
2. SMU (5)
3. Memphis
4. Cincinnati
5. Tulsa
6. Temple
7. Houston
8. USF
9. UCF
10. East Carolina
11. Tulane