Last year (2018) three teams from the American got in (overall records are followed by conference records):

#6 Cincinnati (31-5, 16-2)
#21 Houston (27-8, 14-4)
#16 Wichita State (25-8, 14-4)

In 2017 only 2 teams qualified:

#11 SMU (30-5, 17-1)
#18 Cincinnati (30-6, 16-2)

In 2016 4 teams qualified:

UConn (conference tourney champion) (25-11, 11-7)
Temple (21-12, 14-4)
Cincinnati (22-11, 12-6)
Tulsa (20-12, 12-6)

I could go back farther but didn't feel like typing. Truth is, no team from the American with a losing record in conference play has ever made it to the NCAA tournament, it's a really good conference, but not the Big 10 or the ACC. The American is typically a 2-3 bid league occasionally getting 4 in, which they have done twice, but one of those years was when Louisville was in the conference. You typically need 12 wins (in 18 games) in conference to make it to the NCAA's with the minimum being 10.

We can't even make the tournament in the WCC and EVERY YEAR we have terrible losses to teams like Pacific, Pepperdine, San Diego, and Portland. 12-13 wins in conference has been our ceiling the past few years...IN THE WCC!!! Do you honestly think we are going to put up an even respectable record in the American that would get us in? We would get slaughtered.