AAC Football was back in action this weekend. Here’s the latest from the teams on the gridiron this week.
| Team | Record | This Week | Result | Up Next |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 9-1 (7-0) | at Notre Dame | L, 49-14 | vs UTSA |
| Charlotte | 4-7 (3-4) | at FAU | W, 39-27 | vs UAB |
| ECU | 7-4 (5-2) | at North Texas | W, 40-28 | vs Navy |
| FAU | 2-9 (0-7) | vs Charlotte | L, 39-27 | at Tulsa |
| Memphis | 9-2 (5-2) | — OFF — | — | at Tulane |
| Navy | 7-3 (5-2) | — OFF — | — | at ECU |
| North Texas | 5-6 (2-5) | vs ECU | L, 40-28 | at Temple |
| Rice | 3-8 (2-5) | at UAB | L, 40-14 | vs USF |
| Temple | 3-8 (2-5) | at UTSA | L, 51-27 | vs North Texas |
| Tulane | 9-2 (7-0) | — OFF — | — | vs Memphis |
| Tulsa | 3-8 (1-6) | at USF | L, 63-30 | vs FAU |
| UAB | 3-8 (2-5) | vs Rice | W, 40-14 | at Charlotte |
| USF | 6-5 (4-3) | vs Tulsa | W, 63-30 | at Rice |
| UTSA | 6-5 (4-3) | vs Temple | W, 51-27 | at Army |
Notable Results and Storylines // (Standings)
Not All Interims
There are quite a few interim head coaches in the AAC right now. Most of them have inherited a tough situation and have continued to lose like their predecessor. Rice interim Pete Alamar lost. FAU interim Chad Lunsford lost. Temple interim Everett Withers lost. But ECU interim Blake Harrell? He’s 4-0 and has the Pirates surging up the AAC standings. Not all interims are created equal.
And then were was Tulsa
All those interim coaches are in place because underwhelming seasons necessitated a change in leadership. And then there’s Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane are 7-16 under Kevin Wilson and haven’t done much to impress during his tenure. Back-to-back seasons as one of the bottom dwellers in the conference haven’t been enough to force a change there, yet.
Army defeated
Army has largely run through everyone its faced in league play to this point, but they hadn’t played a team like Notre Dame, a fact which became evident in short time on Saturday afternoon. The Irish routed the troops emphatically and while this doesn’t directly change the quality of team they probably are, it does likely close the door on a dark horse College Football Playoff bid.
Looking ahead – Key storylines
Tulane’s next test
With Army no longer undefeated, Tulane has a chance to make their case as the top team in the American. That overture has to start this weekend with a win over Memphis at home before they can start thinking about AAC Championship dreams and potentially more than that.
How far can the Pirates go?
ECU could very well finish third in the conference in the same season they fired their head coach. Those two things don’t often go together, but it’s on the table for the Pirates if they can beat Navy at home. The Midshipmen are reeling a bit and have lost three of four since their 6-0 start.
Will North Texas go bowling?
The postseason fates of every AAC team are sealed going into the final weekend of the regular season, except for the Mean Green. North Texas has lost five in a row after a 5-1 start. To drop their season finale against Temple on a sixth straight defeat would be crushing for a season which began with such promise.
