AAC Power Rankings Week 9

It appears that one division is decided already, and the other one is far from it. Houston is in firm control of the West with four games left, but four teams are in contention for the East. UCF, Temple, Cincinnati, and USF all control their own destinies for the time being. They all play in the next four weeks, so hopefully we get some clarity on that side.

1. UCF (7-0)

We’ll learn a lot about the postseason future for the Knights when the College Football Rankings come out. It’s not looking good for UCF, but they’ve at least done all that they can to this point. More chaos needs to happen for them to have a serious chance at the playoff.

2. Houston (7-1)

The West is Houston’s to lose, and it’s going to take some chaos to ruin that. D’Eriq King is the frontrunner for player of the year, and the Cougars offense made up for Ed Oliver’s absence against USF.

3. Cincinnati (7-1)

It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Bearcats lost to SMU after sustaining their first loss of the season, but they didn’t let that happen. Cincinnati held off SMU 26-20, and still controls their destiny in the East.

4. USF (7-1)

With a defense like the Bulls have, it could be tough to win the East. Still, they also control their own destiny and winning out would put them in the conference championship game.

5. Temple (5-3)

This is the team that people are forgetting about, but Temple is 4-0 in the conference. A win this week would turn some heads, because UCF will be the best team they’ve faced all year. Temple can shake up the East race quite a bit if they can pull that off.

6. Memphis (4-4)

Memphis could be bowl eligible after these next two games, and would give them some much needed confidence heading into the final games against SMU and Houston. Darrell Henderson’s had some time to recover from his injury against Missouri, and the offense will benefit from his return.

7. SMU (3-5)

An unforeseen battle emerged between Desmond Ridder and Ben Hicks, and the freshman Bearcat got the upper hand. Hicks and the offense aren’t scoring like they did last year, but at least the defense is playing better.

8. Tulane (3-5)

A bowl game is still within reach. Not an easy reach by any means, but it’s there for the taking. Tulane may have figured out their quarterback situation. Or maybe not. Seems to be on par with the teams in the bottom half of the conference.

9. Navy (2-6)

The fall continues. Navy is now one loss away from losing bowl eligibility, which is something we never thought we’d say this year. It wasn’t likely that they would beat Notre Dame, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Midshipmen have more questions than answers.

10. Tulsa (1-7)

All but one of their losses have been by 15 points or less, which I guess is a compensation for a poor record. Tulsa needs to find a way to win one of them, and find a quarterback that can be even average. That’s been the difference so far.

11. ECU (2-5)

There appears to be only one foreseeable win in the future, making this season worse than last year despite the team actually being better. It will be a tough sell for fans to want Scottie Montgomery back again.

12. David Pindell (135 total yards, two touchdowns)

Good news! The Huskies actually lowered their defensive averages against UMass. Only problem is that had more to do with the weather, and they still lost.