This was the 98th season of Tiger basketball, the first under head coach Penny Hardaway, and the sixth as members of the American Athletic Conference.

They defeated Tulane and UCF to advance to the semifinals of the AAC tournament where they lost to Houston.

They defeated Tulsa in the AAC tournament before losing to Cincinnati in the semifinals.

On March 14, 2018, the school fired head coach Tubby Smith after two years.

[1][2] On March 20, the school hired former Memphis player and NBA star Penny Hardaway as coach.