AAC Football 2023: Bowl Notes, Championship Game

SMU has won the 2023 AAC football championship. Now six teams venture on to bowl season, with the first game fast approaching.

Matchups have been announced for the bowl season following plenty of drama and chaos along the way. Here are the reported pairings as of early Sunday evening:

*Won Conference USA Football Championship Game

AAC Football Championship results – Standings

SMU handled Tulane rather comfortably on Friday night, securing the AAC Conference Championship in their final season in the league before departing for the ACC next year. What was even more impressive than the final score was how comfortable they looked with their backup quarterback leading the offense with Preston Stone sidelined.

New Year’s Six Drama

SMU was snubbed for the G5 spot in the New Year’s Six in favor of an undefeated Liberty team, a fate few would have anticipated for the American Champion, regardless of who took home the title. Commission Mike Aresco did not mince words in his rebuttal, calling the decision “disappointing”.

Here are his full comments:

AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco issued this statement after SMU was left out of the New Year's Six today: pic.twitter.com/EFmISUCZEw

— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) December 3, 2023

Coaching Changes

So far, there has only been one coaching change in the AAC this offseason. Tulane’s Willie Fritz will reportedly be the next head coach at the University of Houston. Other than that, the remainder of the league’s coaches are set to return for another season. The league did have a large portion of first-year coaches this season, but even still, to only have one coaching change in a conference this big seems uncommon.