In New Orleans, — At this time, there is no reigning football champion from the American Athletic Conference.
In 2023, SMU won the conference title before leaving to join the ACC.
Still, UTSA, Memphis, and Tulane are all returning strong from last season and are among the best in the AAC. On the other hand, South Florida is a dark horse thanks to its impressive season finale, which included a lopsided victory over Syracuse in the Boca Raton Bowl.
Tulane has hosted the American Athletic Conference championship game for the past two years in a row. Former Green Wave coach Willie Fritz accepted a position in the Big 12 with Houston following last year’s loss to the Mustangs, and all-time leading passer Michael Pratt followed suit, heading for the pros.
There has been no change at Memphis, in contrast to Tulane.
This year’s Tigers return a large portion of their starting lineup from last year’s 10-win team, which won the bowl game against Iowa State to conclude the finest season in program history. Joining the Memphis program as an assistant in 2016 was a rewarding experience for coach Ryan Silverfield, who is now entering his fifth season as head coach.
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“Guys are coming back to be part of trying to take another step,” Silverfield said, mentioning players like Chandler Martin, a fourth-year junior linebacker, Senior receivers Taylor and Koby Drake, and quarterback Seth Henigan.
Corporations in the Memphis region are offering financial assistance to the Tigers in the form of increased funding for NIL and contributions toward the restoration of the iconic Liberty Bowl stadium.
According to Silverfield, “All these things occurring this offseason puts a smile on your face.” He went on to say that Memphis hasn’t won the AAC since 2019, the year before he came over the program. “I feel like I haven’t achieved much of my goals as a head coach in this conference.”
After claiming the 2021 and 2022 Conference USA titles, UTSA made the jump to the AAC in 2023 and was riding high until losing their regular season finale against Tulane.
Bowl play was the last game for the great Frank Harris, who played six seasons at UTSA and threw for about 12,000 yards and ran for more than 2,000. The Roadrunners came back to defeat Marshall. The campaign for Harris’s replacement by Owen McCown and Eddie Lee Marburger is a major plotline in the August camp.
Until someone comes along who can “take the place of Frank Harris,” coach Jeff Traylor will be disappointed. “Under his absence, we must devise a means to accomplish it.”
With a record of 23-3 at home, the 13-year-old UTSA program has won a lot over Traylor’s four seasons as head coach.
That UTSA has risen to such prominence is “an amazing story,” Traylor emphasized. It is my firm belief that we will keep climbing.
New Tulane coach Jon Sumrall hopes to continue the Green Wave’s success where Fritz left off, despite Fritz’s departure.
Originally from Troy, Sumrall turned around that program and led it to two Sun Belt Conference titles in 2022 and 2023. He boasts about how easy it was to adjust to Tulane.
New Orleans is “one of the coolest cities in the world,” and his experience as an assistant coach for the Green Wave gave him a good grounding in both the school and the city.
Competitors with track records of success make up the Green Wave. We still don’t know who will be the new quarterback. Ty Thompson, a transfer from Oregon, and Kai Horton, who played backup to Pratt for two years, are both highly regarded.
“I think we can win games with both of those guys. I’m glad we got both on our football team,” Sumrall said.
A receiver corps that features Mario Williams, a transfer from USC, is anchored by another of Sumrall’s early recruiting coups. Whoever is hired will be part of that group.
Now that Army has joined the AAC for the football season alone, there are 14 teams in the conference.
The yearly December match between Army and Navy will go on as planned, regardless of the addition, because the two teams are now in the same league. The two military institutions do not have regular season games scheduled against one other. However, they will still play their annual mid-December clash, following the conference title game, and this game will not be considered for league standings.
Nevertheless, if they finish the regular season tied for first place in the league, they would face off against each other twice in a row: once for the league championship and again in the classic Army-Navy match.
A slew of AAC players will be keeping an eye on national award nominations in 2024.
This group consists of the following players: Henigan of Memphis, quarterback Byrum Bown of South Florida, running back Makhi Hughes of Tulane (Maxwell), and defensive tackles from Tulane. East Carolina cornerback Cody Martin; UTSA defensive end Joe Evans; Navy linebacker Colin Ramos; and Patrick Jenkins (Bednarik, Nagurski, Outland). Rayuan Lane (Thorpe), Shavon Revel (Bednarik, Nagurski, Thorpe); Dontae Balfour (Thorpe), Shavon Revel (Charlotte DB); and Rice DB Thorpe was Gabriel Taylor’s partner. Outland DT Brandon Brown (North Texas), Outland G Gabe Blair (South Florida), and Outland G Xavier Hill (Memphis) are all on the field.
If the AAC champion from this year advances to the new 12-team College Football Playoff, it might be because of some games against strong conference schools. Here are a few of them: on September 7, South Florida will play at Alabama; on September 14, Memphis will go to Florida State; on September 14, Tulane will play at Oklahoma; on September 14, UTSA will travel to Texas; and on September 21, Miami will play at South Florida.
Important road games for Memphis on November 2nd at UTSA and Thanksgiving night at Tulane might make a difference in the conference race.
Following is a list of schools predicted to finish in the top ten in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) for the upcoming season: Memphis, UTSA, Tulane, South Florida, Army, Florida Atlantic, East Carolina, Rice, North Texas, UAB, Navy, Tulsa, Charlotte, and Temple.
