Publications have started to release their preseason predictions for the AAC Football order of finish. Memphis is the favorite, where does the rest of the league stack up?
The following is a sampling of where AAC Football teams project to finish in the conference standings according to various different media outlets. The ESPN ranks are projections from Bill Connely. Phil Steele, Lindy’s and Athlon are three of the most prominent preseason magazines that have started to arrive in stores over the past few weeks.
| Rank | Team | ESPN | Phil Steele | Lindy’s | Athlon | Average |
| 1 | Memphis | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1.25 |
| 2 | UTSA | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2.25 |
| 3 | Tulane | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2.75 |
| 4 | South Florida | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3.50 |
| 5 | Army | 6 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 6.50 |
| 6 | Rice | 7 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 7.50 |
| 7 | Florida Atlantic | 8 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 7.75 |
| 8 | East Carolina | 5 | 5 | 13 | 8 | 7.75 |
| 9 | North Texas | 10 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8.50 |
| 10 | Navy | 9 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 9.00 |
| 11 | UAB | 11 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 9.25 |
| 12 | Tulsa | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 11.75 |
| 13 | Charlotte | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 12.50 |
| 14 | Temple | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14.00 |
The consensus
Memphis is the clear frontrunner to win the AAC Football title this season. Only one publication, Phil Steele, kept the Tigers out of the top spot, dropping them to No. 2. In fact, all four of these sources view the quartet of Memphis, UTSA, Tulane and South Florida as the clear top four. None of that group are projected to finish lower than fourth with each getting multiple votes to finish in the top three.
On the opposite end, Tulsa, Charlotte and Temple are the projected bottom dwellers. None of these sources project any of that trio to finish outside the bottom three in the league. There are other teams that fall into the bottom third of the rankings on individual lists, but this is the group that can reasonably say “nobody believes in us.”
The wide middle
The rest of the group is squarely in the middle. In fact, there isn’t much of a perceived difference between Army and Navy. Both have at least one ranker projecting them inside the top six and another putting them in the bottom five. Those two, along with East Carolina, represent the programs with the greatest standard deviations in rank. There isn’t a consensus on how good those teams will be.
Rice football could be a sneaky team in the midst of this group. Every team outside the top four has at least one projection putting them in the bottom five except for the Owls. They’re consistently tabbed to finish somewhere between sixth and ninth. An upset here or there and holding serve against some of the weaker teams on their schedule could allow them to break into the upper quarter of the ranks by season’s end.
