American Conference 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	6-5 (4-4)	at UTSA	W, 27-24	vs Navy (Dec. 13)
Charlotte	1-11 (0-8)	at Tulane	L, 27-0	—
ECU	8-4 (6-2)	at FAU	W, 42-3	Bowl TBD
FAU	4-8 (3-5)	vs ECU	L, 42-3	—
Memphis	8-4 (4-4)	vs Navy (THR)	L, 28-17	Bowl TBD
Navy	9-2 (7-1)	at Memphis (THR)	W, 28-17	vs Army (Dec. 13)
North Texas	11-1 (7-1)	vs Temple (FRI)	W, 52-25	at Tulane
Rice	5-7 (2-6)	at USF	L, 52-3	—
Temple	5-7 (3-5)	at North Texas (FRI)	L, 52-25	—
Tulane	10-2 (7-1)	vs Charlotte	W, 27-0	vs North Texas
Tulsa	4-8 (1-7)	at UAB	L, 31-24	—
UAB	4-8 (2-6)	vs Tulsa	W, 31-24	—
USF	9-3 (6-2)	vs Rice	W, 52-3	Bowl TBD
UTSA	6-6 (4-4)	vs Army	L, 27-24	Bowl TBD

Storylines // Standings // Preseason Poll

Memphis Tumbles

Few teams in the American Conference will be more disappointed in their 2025 season than the Memphis Tigers. Big spenders on the NIL front and player investment, head coach Ryan Silverfield was armed with one of the more talented rosters in the conference and finished with four losses. The Tigers weren’t even close to making an appearance in the conference championship when they lost to Navy on Thanksgiving.

Optimistic Owls

Both Rice and Temple made coaching changes this offseason and were expected to take at least a season or two before as they built with their new leaders. Instead, both teams entered the final weekend of the regular season in contention for a bowl appearance. Both teams fell short, but there’s plenty of hope in Philadelphia and Houston this offseason after seeing what their programs achieved in year one.

Oh-For-Charlotte

The topside of the American was extremely contentious, but even the teams at the bottom of the standings had their moments in the sun — except for Charlotte. The 49ers underwhelmed on admittedly low preseason expectations, going winless in league play and posting their lone victory over FCS Monmouth by one score.

Looking ahead – Key storylines

Conference Championship Game Set

With both teams winning this weekend the conference championship game is set, Tulane will host North Texas in the American Conference Championship Game. Navy, which also finished 7-1 in league play, misses out on a title game appearance via tiebreaker.

CFB Playoff

It’s not a lock by any stretch, but the assumption for much of the season has been that the American Conference champion would represent the Group of 5 in the College Football Playoff. Tulane led the race last week and would presumably retain their spot should they beat North Texas. If not, a 12-1 North Texas team would still be the likely favorite to get the spot over potential Sun Belt Champion, James Madison.

Army, Navy and The American

There’s one more game beyond the conference championship which will feature a pair of American conference teams: Army vs. Navy, slated for its usual solo weekend two weeks from now. The college football classic doesn’t count in the conference standings and will be played at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Dec. 13 at 2:00 PM.

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American Conference 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	5-5 (3-4)	vs Tulsa	L, 26-25	at UTSA
Charlotte	1-10 (0-7)	at Georgia	L, 35-3	at Tulane
ECU	7-4 (5-2)	at UTSA	L, 58-24	at FAU
FAU	4-7 (3-4)	vs UConn	L, 48-45	vs ECU
Memphis	8-3 (4-3)	— OFF —	—	vs Navy (THR)
Navy	8-2 (6-1)	— OFF —	—	at Memphis (THR)
North Texas	10-1 (6-1)	at Rice	W, 56-24	vs Temple (FRI)
Rice	5-6 (2-5)	vs North Texas	L, 56-24	at USF
Temple	5-6 (3-4)	vs Tulane	L, 37-13	at North Texas (FRI)
Tulane	9-2 (6-1)	at Temple	W, 37-13	vs Charlotte
Tulsa	4-7 (1-6)	at Army	W, 26-25	at UAB
UAB	3-8 (1-6)	vs USF	L, 48-18	vs Tulsa
USF	8-3 (5-2)	at UAB	W, 48-18	vs Rice
UTSA	6-5 (4-3)	vs ECU	W, 58-24	vs Army

Storylines // Standings // Preseason Poll

Roadrunners Rock Pirates at the Alamodome

East Carolina became the latest team to fall victim to whatever magic UTSA keeps bottled up inside the Alamodome. The Pirates were in contention to play for the American Conference championship entering the weekend and find themselves on the outside looking in. Owen McCown tossed five touchdown passes and Will Henderson rushed for 146 yards as the Roadrunners clinched bowl eligibility.

Mean Green Style Points

Wide receiver Wyatt Young set an American Conference single-game record with 295 receiving yards against Rice on the same night his teammate, running back Caleb Hawkins, cashed in three rushing touchdowns to tie for tops in the nation in touchdowns with 22. Either performance would have been enough to take down Rice.

Non-American Huskies

Don’t look now, but a nine-win UConn team has wrapped up the season 2-1 against American conference foes, taking down Florida Atlantic on Saturday after a win over UAB and loss to Rice earlier in the season. If nothing else, this program looks like it could compete in this conference, where they played as recently as the 2019 season.

Looking ahead – Key storylines

And Then There Were Three

Three one-loss teams remain in play for the American Conference Championship Game: Tulane, Navy and North Texas. Tulane can keep things simple and clinch a spot by defeating Charlotte next weekend and remaining the highest ranked team in the College Football Playoff rankings. North Texas has the head to head win over Navy. Things get strange if either the Mean Green or Green Wave lose, but they’re in the driver’s seat heading into the final weekend of the regular season.

Playing for Six

Florida Atlantic played its way out of bowl contention this past week, but three other teams remaining in the mix for their sixth win entering the final weekend of the regular season: Temple, Army and Rice. All face tough roads, with the possible exception of Army, which has been one of the few programs immune to the Alamodome curse since Jeff Traylor arrived at UTSA.

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• The Roost’s 2025 Rice Football Season Superlatives

American Conference 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	5-4 (3-3)	— OFF —	—	vs Tulsa
Charlotte	1-9 (0-7)	vs UTSA	L, 28-7	at Georgia
ECU	7-3 (5-1)	vs Memphis	W, 31-27	at UTSA
FAU	4-6 (3-4)	at Tulane	L, 35-24	vs UConn
Memphis	8-3 (4-3)	at ECU	L, 31-27	— OFF —
Navy	8-2 (6-2)	vs USF	W, 41-38	— OFF —
North Texas	9-1 (5-1)	at UAB	W, 53-24	at Rice
Rice	5-5 (2-4)	— OFF —	—	vs North Texas
Temple	5-5 (3-3)	— OFF —	—	vs Tulane
Tulane	8-2 (5-1)	vs FAU	W, 35-24	at Temple
Tulsa	3-7 (0-6)	vs Oregon St	W, 31-14	at Army
UAB	3-7 (1-5)	vs North Texas	L, 53-24	vs USF
USF	7-3 (4-2)	at Navy	L, 41-38	at UAB
UTSA	5-5 (3-3)	at Charlotte	W, 28-7	vs ECU

Storylines // Standings // Preseason Poll

Ahoy, Pirates!

East Carolina was flying under the radar after a 3-3 start with losses to a pair of power conference teams and Tulane on the road. Since then, the Pirates are 4-0 including this latest impressive win over Memphis. The Tigers can still reach 10 wins, but have effectively been eliminated from the conference championship game and the playoff. That’s a tough pill to swallow for Memphis.

Midshipmen Make it Happen

Memphis’ next opponent, Navy, posted a statement win this weekend. Following back-to-back losses against North Texas and Notre Dame on the road, the Middies returned to Annapolis and won a thriller over South Florida. The loss knocks the Bulls out of conference title contention with tiebreaker while the Midshipmen remain alive if they can get some help over the last two weeks.

North Texas, Tulane Hold Serve

While some of the other contenders stumbled, North Texas and Tulane posted rather mundane wins over teams in the bottom half of the conference standings. Neither game was particularly close or in doubt down the stretch, keeping both the Mean Green and the Green Wave in contention along with East Carolina with one loss in conference play.

Looking ahead – Key storylines

Beware, the Dome

East Carolina had best keep their eyes wide open as they travel to the Alamodome next weekend, a place where the Roadrunners seem to turn into the best version of themselves. If the Pirates play like they did this past weekend, they should be okay, but that’s the last place any contender wants to pay a visit to at the moment following UTSA’s drubbings of Rice and Tulane in their most recent home contests.

Post-bye Rice

As for Rice, they posted what’s looking to be one of the more impressive non-conference wins of the season following their first bye week, taking down UConn in double overtime. The Owls have had another two-week stretch to prepare, but they’ll still be heavy underdogs when they host North Texas on Senior Day.

Going North

Tulane also better be careful when they travel north to take on Temple. The Owls have their eyes set on bowl eligibility and gave a then-undefeated Navy squad a scare a few weeks back. Even the slightest potential for chilly weather wouldn’t help the southern squad in their hopes for a quick and easy road trip before their regular season finale at home against Charlotte.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

• Rice Football Recruiting: WR Barry Jackson commits to Owls
• Rice Football Recruiting: SLOT Davis Lane commits to Owls
• Rice Football Recruiting: SLOT Michael Sifford commits to Owls
• The Roost’s 2025 Rice Football Season Superlatives