AAC Football Scoop: Race for the Conference Title Still Wide Open

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Though it just began not long ago, we are heading down the stretch in the college football season. The AAC has three teams at 3-0 in Tulane, SMU, and UTSA, and three more, Memphis, Rice, and Florida Atlantic at 2-1. Conference matchups will sort some of this out over the next 6 weeks. Let’s take a look at some of the key games in the conference coming up this weekend.

The 2-1 teams all know they must win in order to keep pace and Rice (4-3, 2-1) has the toughest challenge in Tulane (6-1, 3-0) at home this weekend. A loss by the Owls and they can kiss their conference title chances goodbye. Their task will be to stop a Green Wave team on a five-game winning streak. During the streak, Tulane had averaged over 27 points per game and has scored over 30 in the last four.

Now Rice does average 34 points per game for the year but the defense has yet to show they can stop this Tulane offense. Makhi Hughes is the league’s leading rusher with 619 yards and Rice counters with the league’s leading passer in JT Daniels (157.9 pass efficiency). Tulane is also the top rushing defense in the league by a mile so Rice will have to rely on the league’s top-ranked passing offense. A Rice win would be huge but look for Tulane to come out on top here and remain unbeaten in the AAC.

Memphis (5-2, 2-1) heads to Denton, TX to take on North Texas (3-4, 1-2). The mission in this one is simple: win. A Memphis loss puts them at 2-2 in the AAC essentially ending any hopes of a conference title. On paper, this looks to be an easy one for the Tigers but their inconsistency at times has been a weakness. The offense has shown it can put up points and sometimes almost at will. But the defense has also shown that at times they will give up points in bunches. They also have shown a tendency to play down to the competition and that cannot happen Saturday. The league’s #2 rusher, Blake Watson, should have a feast in this one as he will go against the worst rushing defense in the league. Little to no mistakes and execute the game plan. That is all Memphis should have to do for the win here.

Florida Atlantic (3-4, 2-1) is the other one-loss team that finds itself in must-win territory to keep league title hopes alive. Their foe will be Charlotte (2-5, 1-2), a familiar team from their time playing in Conference USA. Can the Charlotte defense do enough to help the offense is a good question? The 49ers do have the fourth-best scoring defense in the league allowing 22.7 points per game. But the team will need a herculean effort from this defense since Charlotte has the worst-scoring offense in the league at 14.6 points per game. The Owls have won each game played in NC and are looking to run their winning streak in this series to five.

Even if all three 2-1 teams win, it may not be enough as all three 3-0 teams are also projected winners this weekend. Of course, upsets do happen from time to time, right? Come back for some more from the AAC right here.

Weekly Awards from the ACC

Offensive Player of the Week
Michael Pratt • Jr. • QB • Tulane- Totaled 264 yards and four touchdowns in his team’s 35-28 win over North Texas

Defensive Player of the Week
Demetrius Knight II • Jr. • LB • Charlotte- Team-high nine tackles, two for loss, and two pass breakups in a 10-7 win at East Carolina

Special Teams Player of the Week
Roderick Daniels Jr. • Jr. • WR • SMU- Became the first SMU player since 2013 to score on a punt return (67 yards) in a 55-0 win over Temple