American Athletic Conference

AAC Power Rankings after Week 8

It was a great week for some, and a rough week for others.

By Joe Broback@joebroback Oct 22, 2019, 11:00am EDT

SMU and Memphis made big statements this past week, and UCF and Navy have opportunities to do the same in Week 9. UConn almost notched its second win of the season against Houston (who looks bad), and a few other teams are scrambling for answers. The AAC continues to provide great entertainment on a weekly basis, and we can add a couple coaches on the hot seat to the list of things to watch.

1. SMU

The NY6 bowl game bid lies with the Mustangs currently, thanks to a Boise State loss to BYU this weekend. SMU avoided their own costly upset by taking care of business against Temple. Shane Buechele won AAC Offensive Player of the Week with his 457 yard, six touchdown performance against the Owls.

NCAA Football: Tulsa at Cincinnati — Doaks stepped up big to lead his team to a win over Tulsa.

2. Cincinnati

It wasn’t pretty, but the Bearcats rode three Gerrid Doaks touchdowns to beat Tulsa 24-13. Cincinnati remains the only undefeated team in conference play in the East division, which is suddenly only theirs to lose.

3. Memphis

After a disappointing loss the week before, Memphis handled Tulane with a 47-17 win. Kenneth Gainwell continues to torch opposing defense, this time adding 307 total yards to his resume.

4. UCF

A 35-6 lead was enough for the Knights to beat ECU on Saturday, even if the final score indicated otherwise. Up next is a huge matchup with the Temple Owls. UCF needs to get healthy quick if they want to still compete for the AAC East crown.

5. Temple

A tough loss to SMU included an absolute beatdown through the air. Reggie Roberson torched the Owls secondary for 250 yards and three touchdowns. Temple’s hopes of winning the AAC East lie in this week’s matchup against the Knights.

6. Tulane

Make no mistake, this is still a good Tulane team. They just had an off week at an inopportune time. Memphis dominated the Green Wave behind Gainwell and Brady White, but Tulane’s not out of the AAC West race yet.

NCAA Football: South Florida at Navy — Perry and the Midshipmen have a chance to make a statement Saturday.

7. Navy

Malcolm Perry’s emergence at quarterback has led the charge for the Midshipmen this year. Already at 792 yards and 14 touchdowns rushing, not many anticipated his breakout season. What concerns many is the lack of quality wins, but they get Tulane at home this week. Adding a win against the Green Wave puts them in serious contention for the AAC West title.

8. Houston

Houston’s lucky that no one below them won, otherwise they’d drop. The Cougars had a ton of trouble with UConn, raising even more concerns surrounding the program. Dana Holgorsen let out his frustrations during the game, but his team found a way to win in their worst performance of the year.

9. Tulsa

Another decent game, but another loss for the Golden Hurricane. Phillip Montgomery now must wonder about his status as head coach given that his team is two losses away from missing a bowl game. It’s tough because this team is better than last year, but the record may not indicate that.

10. ECU

The Pirates made things interesting towards the end of the game, but not enough to make anyone seriously think they’d pull off the upset. Falling behind 35-6 didn’t help matters.

11. USF

After upsetting BYU, the Bulls looked lifeless against Navy. USF could use a healthy and consistent quarterback, but even that wouldn’t help much. Things are getting ugly in South Florida, and they appear on their way to just a three or four win season.

12. UConn

The Huskies gave Houston all they could handle, and were actually a few overthrown passes away from pulling off the upset. This is another team that’s better than the previous year’s squad, but the record won’t indicate that.