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American Athletic Conference Football Preview

Updated: Aug 14



Predicted Order of Finish


*2023 Record in Parenthesis


*Rosters are Subject to Change



1. Memphis (10-3)

Good News- 3-year starting QB Seth Henigan (77 career TD passes) returns to lead the 6th ranked scoring offense from 2023

Bad News- only 4 starters are back on defense for the Tigers after allowing 423 yards per game (111th nationally) a year ago

OVER/UNDER TOTAL WINS 9.5

2. Tulane (11-3)

Good News- the Green Wave return sophomore RB Makhi Hughes (1,378 yards) on offense along with its’ top 2 tacklers at LB in seniors Tyler Grubbs and Jesus Machado on defense

Bad News- 4 year starting QB Micheal Pratt (90 career TD passes) must be replaced  

OVER/UNDER TOTAL WINS 7.5


3. South Fla. (7-6)

Good News- the Bulls return 17 starters from last year’s surprise 7-win season under first-year HC Alex Golesh

Bad News- a brutal first half of the schedule features road trips to Alabama and Tulane along with home dates against Miami and Memphis  

OVER/UNDER TOTAL WINS 7.5


4. UTSA (9-4)

Good News- a favorable conference schedule (Memphis at home, sans Tulane/South Florida) should have the Roadrunners in contention for an AAC crown once again

Bad News- 7-year QB Frank Harris is gone along with the AAC Defensive Player of the Year LB Trey Moore

OVER/UNDER TOTAL WINS 8.5

5. Navy (5-7)

Good News- the Midshipmen bring back 7 starters on defense after allowing just 22.4 points last season (37th nationally)

Bad News- new offensive coordinator and former Mercer HC Drew Cronic must rescue a sunken offense that managed to score only 17.7 points in 2023

OVER/UNDER TOTAL WINS 5.5

6. Rice (6-7)

Good News- HC Mike Bloomgren has led the Owls to 2 straight bowls and picked up junior transfer QB EJ Warner who threw for over 6,000 yards along with 41 TD’s in 2 seasons at Temple

Bad News- top WR and NFL 3rd-round pick Luke McCaffrey (71 catches, 992 yards) must be replaced

OVER/UNDER TOTAL WINS 6.5


7. Army (6-6)

Good News- a manageable schedule and a return to the option attack on offense should have HC Jeff Monken and the Black Knights contending for a bowl bid

Bad News- the secondary, which ranked 23rd in pass yards allowed (187.9), must replace a handful of key players

OVER/UNDER TOTAL WINS 5.5


8. North Texas (5-7)

Good News- in HC Eric Morris’ first season the Mean Green were prolific on offense in 2023 ranking in the top 25 nationally in both points and yards per game

Bad News- the defense must make strides after allowing over 40 points 5 times in 2023

OVER/UNDER TOTAL WINS 5.5

9. East Carolina (2-10)

Good News- the Pirates' offense, which ranked 120th in passing yards last season, should benefit from the addition of 2 quality transfer QB’s in Jake Garcia (Missouri) and Katin Houser (Michigan State)

Bad News- the defense must improve at forcing takeaways after totalling only 6 INT’s a year ago 

OVER/UNDER TOTAL WINS 6.5

10. UAB (4-8)

Good News- Senior QB Jacob Zeno returns to lead the offense after completing 73.6 of his passes for over 3,100 yards last year

Bad News- the defense was a liability in 2023 and must turn things around for the Blazers to have a chance at bowl eligibility

OVER/UNDER TOTAL WINS 6.5


11. Tulsa (4-8)

Good News- former walk-on Freshman QB Kirk Francis showed promise throwing for 967 yards and 6 TD’s while appearing in 4 games

Bad News- the Golden Hurricane struggled defensively in just about every aspect last season and will rely on the transfer portal to shore things up 

OVER/UNDER TOTAL WINS 4.5


12. Fla. Atlantic (4-8)

Good News- the Owls’ defense returns top tackler in senior LB Jackson Ambush

Bad News- 2nd year HC Tom Herman will be relying on a number of transfers to fill key positions on both sides of the ball including interception prone Cam Fancher (Marshall) at QB

OVER/UNDER TOTAL WINS 6.5


13. Charlotte (3-9)

Good News- sophomore transfer Max Brown (Florida) is an upgrade at QB for 2nd year HC Biff Poggi and the offense

Bad News- the 49ers underwent massive roster turnover in the offseason leaving plenty of question marks both offensively and defensively heading into 2024

OVER/UNDER TOTAL WINS 3.5


14. Temple (3-9)

Good News- the offense returns 2 of its’ top 3 receivers in senior Dante Wright and junior Zae Baines who combined for 75 receptions and 949 yards last year

Bad News- losing 3,000-yard passer EJ Warner will likely keep the Owls residing in the basement of the ACC

OVER/UNDER TOTAL WINS 2.5



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Navy (AAC)- The addition of Drew Cronic to run the Wing T offense should help reignite the rushing attack which fell to 17th nationally while running the triple option.  Any kind of improvement to compliment an already stout defense should put the Midshipmen back into the postseason.

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2023 FBS Statistical Rankings



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