The 2026 American Conference football season is the 35th NCAA Division I FBS Football season of the American Conference. It is the 14th season for the conference after the breakup of the former Big East Conference (whose charter legally belongs to the American), and the 12th season of the College Football Playoff in place. The American is considered a member of the Group of Six (G6) together with Conference USA, the MAC, Mountain West Conference, Pac-12 Conference, and the Sun Belt Conference. The conference has 14 football members for the 2026–27 season.
Head coaches On October 3, 2025, UAB fired its head coach Trent Dilfer. UAB named its offensive coordinator Alex Mortensen as the interim head coach, before later promoting him to permanent head coach. On November 25, 2025, North Texas head coach Eric Morris was announced as the next head coach of Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Conference beginning in 2026. Neal Brown was announced as the new head coach for North Texas on December 2, 2025.
On November 30, 2025, three American Conference head coaches were announced as new head coaches of Southeastern Conference programs. Memphis head coach Ryan Silverfield was announced as the new head coach at Arkansas.. On December 6, 2025, Charles Huff, previously head coach at Southern Miss, was named the Tigers' new head coach. South Florida head coach Alex Golesh was announced as Auburn's new head coach. On December 3, 2025, Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline was named the Bulls' new head coach, effective with the end of the Buckeyes' College Football Playoff (CFP) run. Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall was announced as the new head coach at Florida. He continued to coach the Green Wave in the American championship game and the CFP. On December 13, 2026, Tulane announced Will Hall as its new head coach, effective with the Green Wave's elimination from the CFP.
Records Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school AAC record Army Jeff Monken 13 Charlotte Tim Albin 2 East Carolina Blake Harrell 3 Florida Atlantic Zach Kittley 2 Memphis Charles Huff 1 Navy Brian Newberry 4 North Texas Neal Brown 1 Rice Scott Abell 2 South Florida Brian Hartline 1 Temple K. C. Keeler 2 Tulane Will Hall 1 Tulsa Tre Lamb 2 UAB Alex Mortensen 1 UTSA Jeff Traylor 7
Note: Records shown after the 2025 season Years at school includes 2026 season Source:American Athletic Conference Coaches. Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved Feb 18, 2021.
Rankings
Pre Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Final Army AP C CFP Not released Charlotte AP C CFP Not released East Carolina AP C CFP Not released Florida Atlantic AP C CFP Not released Memphis AP RV RV C RV RV CFP Not released Navy AP RV RV C RV RV CFP Not released North Texas AP C CFP Not released Rice AP C CFP Not released South Florida AP C CFP Not released Temple AP C CFP Not released Tulane AP RV C CFP Not released Tulsa AP RV RV C RV RV CFP Not released UAB AP C CFP Not released UTSA AP C RV 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 Source:
AP -
Coaches -
CFP -
Schedule The 2026 season was released on February 2.
Index to colors and formattingAmerican member wonAmerican member lostAmerican teams in bold
Week 0
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14 - Conference Championship
Week 15
American records vs. other conferences 2026–2027 records against non-conference foes, including bowl games:
Regular season & bowls Power Four ConferencesRecordACC0–1Big 121–1Big Ten0–3Notre Dame0–1SEC0–5Power 5 Total1–11Other FBS ConferencesRecordCUSA3–0Independents (Excluding Notre Dame)0–0MAC1–2Mountain West2–1Pac-122–3Sun Belt6–5Other FBS Total14–11FCS OpponentsRecordFootball Championship Subdivision12–1Total Non-Conference Record27–23
American vs Power 4 matchups This is a list of regular season games the American has scheduled versus power conference teams (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Notre Dame and SEC). All rankings are from the current AP Poll at the time of the game.
Date Conference Visitor Home Site Score September 3 Big Ten UAB Illinois Gies Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL L 23–42 September 5 SEC East Carolina No. 13 Alabama Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL L 10–48 September 5 Big Ten North Texas No. 6 Indiana Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN L 16–52 September 5 ACC Tulane Duke Wallace Wade Stadium • Durham, NC L 3–17 September 5 Big 12 Oklahoma State Tulsa Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK W 24–10 September 5 SEC Florida Atlantic Florida Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL L 21–66 September 12 Big Ten Penn State Temple Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA L 9–27 September 12 Independent Rice Notre Dame Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN L 0–52 September 12 SEC Charlotte Ole Miss Vaught–Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, MS L 9–41 September 19 Big 12 Tulane Kansas State Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium • Manhattan, KS L 20–31 September 19 SEC UTSA Texas Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium • Austin, TX L 6–30 September 26 SEC Tulsa Arkansas Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium • Fayetteville, AR L 6–34 October 31 Independent Navy Notre Dame Gillette Stadium • Foxborough, MA
American vs other FBS matchups The following regular season games include American teams competing against teams from the CUSA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12 or Sun Belt.
Date Conference Visitor Home Site Score August 29 Mountain West Memphis UNLV Allegiant Stadium • Paradise, NV W 27–21 September 5 Sun Belt Arkansas State Memphis Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium • Memphis, TN W 42–24 September 5 CUSA FIU South Florida Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL W 19–9 September 12 Sun Belt Appalachian State East Carolina Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC L 24–27 September 12 Sun Belt Louisiana–Monroe UAB Protective Stadium • Birmingham, AL W 26–20 September 12 Pac-12 UTSA Texas State UFCU Stadium • San Marcos, TX W 31–26 September 12 Mountain West UNLV North Texas DATCU Stadium • Denton, TX W 44–6 September 12 Pac-12 Memphis Boise State Albertsons Stadium • Boise, ID L 20–38 September 12 Sun Belt South Alabama Tulane Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA W 28–24 September 12 CUSA Tulsa Sam Houston Bowers Stadium • Huntsville, TX W 23–17 September 19 Pac-12 North Texas Texas State UFCU Stadium • San Marcos, TX L 35–49 September 19 MAC Temple Toledo Glass Bowl • Toledo, OH L 48–49 OT September 19 Sun Belt Charlotte Appalachian State Kidd Brewer Stadium • Boone, NC L 21–26 September 19 Sun Belt East Carolina Old Dominion S.B. Ballard Stadium • Norfolk, VA W 20–17 September 19 CUSA FIU Florida Atlantic Flagler Credit Union Stadium • Boca Raton, FL W 16–10 September 19 MAC Western Michigan Rice Rice Stadium • Houston, TX L 21–28 September 19 Sun Belt UAB Louisiana Cajun Field • Lafayette, LA L 14–21 September 26 Sun Belt Louisiana Charlotte Jerry Richardson Stadium • Charlotte, NC L 34–7 September 26 Sun Belt Florida Atlantic Louisiana–Monroe Malone Stadium • Monroe, LA W 45–17 September 26 Sun Belt Southern Miss Tulane Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA W 21–24 September 26 MAC South Florida Bowling Green Doyt Perry Stadium • Bowling Green, OH W 14–6 September 26 Pac-12 Colorado State UTSA Alamodome • San Antonio, TX W 45–59 September 26 Pac-12 Rice Fresno State Valley Children's Stadium • Fresno, CA L 24–38 October 3 Sun Belt Army Louisiana Tech Joe Aillet Stadium • Ruston, LA L 29–31 October 3 Mountain West Navy Air Force Falcon Stadium • USAF Academy, CO L 9–14 October 17 MAC Kent State South Florida Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL November 7 Mountain West Air Force Army Michie Stadium • West Point, NY
American vs FBS independents matchups The following regular season games include American teams competing against FBS Independents, which only includes UConn for 2026.
Date Visitor Home Site Score October 10 UConn Temple Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA
American vs. FCS matchups The following regular season games include American teams competing against FCS schools.
Date Visitor Home Site Score September 5 Bryant Army Michie Stadium • West Point, NY W 59–3 September 5 Rhode Island Temple Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA W 38–14 September 5 The Citadel Charlotte Jerry Richardson Stadium • Charlotte, NC L 41–43 3OT September 5 UT Rio Grande Valley UTSA Alamodome • San Antonio, TX W 45–16 September 5 Towson Navy Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD W 42–15 September 5 Houston Christian Rice Rice Stadium • Houston, TX W 31–3 September 19 UT Martin Memphis Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium • Memphis, TN W 45–21 September 19 East Texas A&M Tulsa Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK W 42–0 September 19 Delaware State South Florida Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL W 59–17 September 26 North Carolina Central East Carolina Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC W 9–42 September 26 Houston Christian North Texas DATCU Stadium • Denton, TX W 14–63 October 3 Samford UAB Protective Stadium • Birmingham, AL W 33–14 October 3 Texas Southern Florida Atlantic Flagler Credit Union Stadium • Boca Raton, FL W 66–10
Awards and honors
Player of the week honors Week Offensive Defensive Special Teams Player Team Position Player Team Position Player Team Position Week 1 Jaylin Carter Memphis RB Chris Thompson Jr. Tulsa LB Nico Gramatica South Florida K Week 2 Caden Veltkamp Florida Atlantic QB Ike Esonwune UAB LB Jonah Delange UAB K Week 3 D. J. Crowther South Florida RB Ayden Ducanson East Carolina S Trequan Jones Tulsa RB/KR Week 4 Maurice Turner Tulane RB Marlin Dean UAB DE Easton Messer Florida Atlantic PR/WR
References