The 2019 American Athletic Conference football season is the 28th NCAA Division I FBS Football season of the American Athletic Conference (The American). The season is the seventh since the former Big East Conference dissolved and became the American Athletic Conference and the sixth season of the College Football Playoff in place. The American is considered a member of the Group of Five (G5) together with Conference USA (C–USA), the Mid-American Conference (MAC), the Mountain West Conference and the Sun Belt Conference.
Preseason Impending departure of UConn The most significant development in the conference during the 2019 preseason was the announcement that UConn would leave The American after the 2019–20 school year to join several of its former conference rivals in the current non-football iteration of the Big East Conference. The move was first reported on June 21, 2019, by a Boston-area sports news website and quickly picked up by national media outlets. On June 27, the Big East and UConn jointly confirmed the Huskies' impending conference move, but that announcement did not specify a date. The Huskies' Big East entrance date was confirmed for July 1, 2020 after UConn and The American reached a buyout agreement. At the time this agreement was announced, UConn also announced that its football team would become an FBS independent once it joined the Big East.
Recruiting classes + Rankings Team ESPN Rivals 24/7Cincinnati 78 79East Carolina 82 75Houston 97 72Memphis 70 59 66Navy 82 123SMU 65 69 69South Florida 72 65 78Temple 104Tulane 91 95Tulsa 109UCF 50 55 57UConn 126
American Athletic Conference Media Days The American Athletic Conference conducted its 2019 American Athletic Conference media day on July 17 in Newport, Rhode Island.
Preseason Media Poll The preseason Poll was released at the 2019 American Media Day on July 16, 2019. +East 1 UCF 169 (17) 2 Cincinnati 157 (11) 3 South Florida 107 4 Temple 101 5 East Carolina 66 6 UConn 30 +West 1 Memphis 165 (15) 2 Houston 162 (14) 3 Tulane 108 4 SMU 87 (1) 5 Navy 70 6 Tulsa 38
American Champion Voting UCF (12) Cincinnati (8) Memphis (6) Houston (4)
Head coaches Coaching changes On November 29, 2018, East Carolina fired head coach Scottie Montgomery. On December 3, 2018, ECU hired James Madison head coach Mike Houston as their new head coach.
On December 7, 2018, Geoff Collins left Temple to become head coach at Georgia Tech. On December 13, 2018, The Owls initially named Miami defensive coordinator Manny Diaz as the new head coach. However, on December 30, 2018, Diaz left to return to Miami as head coach after Mark Richt's retirement. On January 10, 2019, Temple announced Rod Carey as head coach.
On December 30, 2018 Major Applewhite was fired after a blowout loss in the 2018 Armed Forces Bowl. Houston replaced Applewhite by hiring Dana Holgorsen from West Virginia.
Coaches Note: All stats current through the completion of the 2019 season Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school AAC recordCincinnati Luke Fickell 3 East Carolina Mike Houston 1 Houston Dana Holgorsen 1 Memphis Mike Norvell 3 Navy Ken Niumatalolo 12 SMU Sonny Dykes 1 South Florida Charlie Strong 3 Temple Rod Carey 1 Tulane Willie Fritz 4 Tulsa Philip Montgomery 5 UCF Josh Heupel 2 UConn Randy Edsall 15 Source:American Athletic Conference Coaches. Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved Jan 7, 2018.
Rankings
Pre Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 FinalCincinnati AP RV 25 21 17 17 17 17 18 21 23 21C RV RV 21 18 17 17 17 17 21 22 21 CFP Not released 20 17 19 19 20 21 East Carolina AP C CFP Not released Houston AP C RV CFP Not released Memphis AP RV 23 RV 24 19 18 18 17 16 15 17C RV RV 23т 20 RV 23 19 18 18 18 16 15 17 CFP Not released 21 18 18 18 17 17 Navy AP RV 25 21 RV 24 23 21 20C RV RV RV RV 25 21 RV 24 23 21 20 CFP Not released 24 23 24 23 SMU AP RV 24 21 19 15 23 20 21 RV RV RV RVC RV RVRV 22 19 14 23 20 21 RV RV RV RV CFP Not released 25 25 South Florida AP C CFP Not released Temple AP RV C RV RV RV 25 RV RV CFP Not released Tulane AP RV RV RV RV C RV RV RV RV CFP Not released Tulsa AP C CFP Not released UCF AP 17 18 17 15 22 18 RV RV RV RV RV 24C 17т 17 16 16 23 19 RV RV RV RV RV RV 24 CFP Not released UConn AP C CFP Not released
+ Legend Improvement in ranking Drop in ranking Not ranked previous week No change in ranking from previous week RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll т Tied with team above or below also with this symbol
Schedule Index to colors and formattingAmerican member wonAmerican member lostAmerican teams in bold
Regular season The regular season began on August 29, 2019, and will end on December 14. As a result of the calendar, all teams except Navy will have two bye weeks.
Week 1
Week 2
Date Bye WeekSeptember 7 Navy Temple
Week 3
Date Bye WeekSeptember 14 UConn
Week 4
Date Bye WeekSeptember 21 Cincinnati Memphis Navy USF
Week 5
Date Bye WeekSeptember 28 Tulane Tulsa
Week 6
*Note: The UConn/USF Kickoff was moved to noon as a safety precaution after receiving guidance from the Connecticut Department of Public Health regarding the mosquito-borne eastern equine encephalitis virus.
Date Bye WeekOctober 5 Houston
Week 7
Date Bye WeekOctober 12 East Carolina SMU UCF
Week 8
Week 9
Date Bye WeekOctober 26 Cincinnati
Week 10
Date Bye WeekNovember 2 South Florida Temple
Week 11
Date Bye WeekNovember 9 Houston Memphis Navy Tulane
Week 12
Date Bye WeekNovember 16 East Carolina SMU UCF UConn Tulsa
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15 (American Athletic Conference Championship)
Week 16
Source:
Postseason Bowl games Legend American win American loss
Bowl gameDateSiteTelevisionTime (EST)American teamOpponentScoreAttendance Boca Raton Bowl December 21 FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL ABC 3:30 p.m. SMU Florida Atlantic 28–52 23,187 Gasparilla Bowl December 23 Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL ESPN 2:30 p.m. UCF Marshall 48–25 28,987 Military Bowl December 27 Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD ESPN 12:00 p.m. Temple North Carolina 13–55 24,242 Liberty Bowl December 31 Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN ESPN 3:45 p.m. No. 23 Navy Kansas State 20–17 50,515 Birmingham Bowl January 2, 2020 Legion Field • Birmingham, AL ESPN 3:00 p.m. No. 21 Cincinnati Boston College38–6 27,193 Armed Forces Bowl January 4, 2020 Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, TX ESPN 11:30 a.m. Tulane Southern Miss30–13 38,513New Year's Six Bowl Cotton Bowl Classic December 28 AT&T Stadium • Arlington, TX ESPN 12:00 p.m. No. 17 Memphis No. 10 Penn State 39–53 54,828 Rankings are from AP Poll. All times Eastern.
Selection of teams Bowl eligible: Cincinnati, Memphis, Navy, SMU, Temple, Tulane, UCF, Bowl-ineligible: Houston, East Carolina, South Florida, Tulsa, UConn
The American vs other conferences The American vs Power 5 matchups This is a list of games The American has scheduled versus power conference teams (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12, Notre Dame and SEC). Although the NCAA does not consider BYU a "Power Five" school, the ACC considers games against BYU as satisfying its "Power Five" scheduling requirement. Though the American does not consider BYU a power 5 team they consider them an equally strength opponent. All rankings are from the current AP Poll at the time of the game.
Date Conference Visitor Home Site Score August 29 Pac-12 UCLA CincinnatiNippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OHW 24–14 August 30 Big Ten No. 19 Wisconsin South FloridaRaymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL L 0–49 August 30 Big Ten Tulsa No. 18 Michigan StateSpartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI L 7–28 August 31 SEC Ole Miss MemphisLiberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN W 15–10 August 31 ACC East Carolina NC StateCarter–Finley Stadium • Raleigh, NC L 6–34 September 1 Big 12 Houston No. 4 OklahomaGaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, OK L 31–49 September 7 Big Ten Cincinnati No. 5 Ohio StateOhio Stadium • Columbus, OH L 0–42 September 7 ACC South Florida Georgia TechBobby Dodd Stadium • Atlanta, GA L 10–14 September 7 Big Ten Illinois UConnRentschler Field • East Hartford, CT L 23–31 September 7 SEC Tulane No. 10 AuburnJordan–Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL L 6–24 September 13 Pac-12 Washington State HoustonNRG Stadium • Houston, TX L 24–31 September 14 Big Ten Maryland TempleLincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA W 20–17 September 14 Pac-12 Stanford UCFSpectrum Stadium • Orlando, FL W 42–27 September 14 Big 12 Oklahoma State TulsaH. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK L 21–40 September 21 Big 12 SMU No. 25 TCUAmon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, TX W 41–38 September 21 Big Ten UConn IndianaMemorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN L 3–38 September 21 ACC No. 15 UCF PittsburghHeinz Field • Pittsburgh, PA L 34–35 September 28 ACC Georgia Tech TempleLincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA W 24–2 November 16 Independent Navy Notre DameNotre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN L 20–52
The American vs Group of Five matchups The following games include The American teams competing against teams from the C-USA, MAC, Mountain West or Sun Belt.
Date Conference Visitor Home Site Score August 29 C-USA FIU TulaneYulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA W 42–14 August 31 Sun Belt SMU Arkansas StateCentennial Bank Stadium • Jonesboro, AR W 37–30 September 7 C-USA No. 17 UCF Florida AtlanticFAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL W 48–14 September 7 Mountain West San Jose State TulsaCEFCU Stadium • San Jose, CA W 34–16 September 7 C-USA North Texas SMUGerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, TX W 49–27 September 14 MAC Miami (OH) CincinnatiNippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH W 35–13 September 14 Sun Belt Memphis South AlabamaLadd–Peebles Stadium • Mobile, AL W 42–6 September 14 Sun Belt Texas State SMUGerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, TX W 47–17 September 21 MAC Temple BuffaloUB Stadium • Buffalo, NY L 22–38 September 21 Mountain West Wyoming TulsaSkelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK W 24–21 September 28 C-USA Cincinnati MarshallJoan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, VA W 52–14 September 28 C-USA East Carolina Old Dominion S.B. Ballard Stadium • Norfolk, VA W 24–21 September 28 C-USA Houston North TexasApogee Stadium • Denton, TX W 46–25 October 5 Sun Belt Memphis Louisiana–MonroeMalone Stadium • Monroe, LA W 52–33 October 5 Mountain West Air Force Navy Navy–Marines Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD W 34–25
The American vs FBS independents matchups The following games include The American teams competing against FBS independents other than Notre Dame, which is universally considered a Power Five program, or BYU, which some but not all Power Five leagues consider to be a Power Five opponent for non-conference scheduling purposes. Of the remaining four independents, two are on American member schedules—Army and UMass.
Date Visitor Home Site Score October 6 Tulane ArmyMitchie Stadium • West Point, NYW 42–33 October 12 BYU South FloridaRaymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL W 27–23 October 26 UConn UMassWarren McGuirk Alumni Stadium • Amherst, MA W 56–35 December 14 Navy ArmyLincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA W 31–7
The American vs FCS matchups
Date Visitor Home Site Score August 29 Wagner UConn Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT W 24–21 August 29 Florida A&M No. 17 UCF Spectrum Stadium • Orlando, FL W 62–0 August 31 Bucknell TempleLincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA W 56–12 August 31 Holy Cross NavyNavy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD W 45–7 September 7 Gardner–Webb East CarolinaDowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, SC W 48–7 September 7 Prairie View A&M HoustonTDECU Stadium • Houston, TX W 37–17 September 7 Southern MemphisLiberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN W 55–24 September 14 South Carolina State South Florida Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FLW 55–16 September 14 Missouri State Tulane Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA W 58–6 September 21 William & Mary East Carolina Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC W 19–7
Records against other conferences
Regular Season