2020 American Athletic Conference football season
The 2020 American Athletic Conference football season is the 29th NCAA Division I FBS Football season of the American Athletic Conference (The American). The season is the eighth since the former Big East Conference dissolved and became the American Athletic Conference and the seventh 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. The entire schedule was released on February 18, 2020.[1]
| 2020 American Athletic Conference football season | |
|---|---|
 | |
| League | NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision |
| Sport | Football |
| Duration | August 2020 through January 2021 |
| Number of teams | 11 |
| TV partner(s) | ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and CBS Sports Network |
| 2021 NFL Draft | |
| Regular season | |
| The American Championship | |
| 2020 American Athletic Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cincinnati | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| East Carolina | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Houston | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Memphis | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Navy | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SMU | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Florida | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Temple | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tulane | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tulsa | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UCF | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship: December 5, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Previous season
The Memphis Tigers secured their third consecutive West division title and faced the East champion Cincinnati Bearcats in the American Athletic Conference title, defeating Cincinnati in the 2019 AAC Championship game.[2]
Seven teams participated in bowl games during the 2019 season; the league went 4–3.
SMU lost to Florida Atlantic 28–52 in the 2019 Boca Raton Bowl.[3] UCF defeated Marshall in the Gasparilla Bowl 48–25.[4] Temple lost to North Carolina 13–55 in the Military Bowl.[5] No. 23 Navy defeated Kansas State 20–17 in the 2019 Liberty Bowl.[6] No. 21 Cincinnati defeated Boston College 38–6 in the 2020 Birmingham Bowl after a ninety-minute rain delay.[7] In the latest addition of the Battle for the Bell, Tulane defeated Southern Miss 30–13 in the Armed Forces Bowl.[8]
In the New Year's Six Game, No. 17 Memphis lost to No. 10 Penn State 39–53 in the Cotton Bowl Classic.[9]
Preseason
Departure of UConn
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.[10] The American has no immediate plan to add another team to rebalance division, so divisions have been eliminated from the conference for the time being.
Recruiting classes
American Athletic Conference Media Days
Preseason Media Poll
The preseason Poll will be released at the 2020 American Media Day in July 2020.
Head coaches
Coaching changes
At the end of his third season ended in a 4–8 record, South Florida fired Charlie Strong. On December 9, 2019, Jeff Scott, offensive coordinator for Clemson, was hired as the new head coach.[11]
On December 8, 2019 after Norvell's departure to Florida State, Silverfield served as the interim head coach before being promoted to head coach on December 13, 2019.[12]
Coaches
Note: All stats current through the completion of the 2019 season
| Team | Head coach | Years at school | Overall record | Record at school | AAC record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati | Luke Fickell | 4 | 32–20 (.615) | 26–13 (.667) | 15–9 (.625) |
| East Carolina | Mike Houston | 2 | 84–33 (.718) | 10–8 (.556) | 1–7 (.125) |
| Houston | Dana Holgorsen | 2 | 65–49 (.570) | 4–8 (.333) | 2–6 (.250) |
| Memphis | Ryan Silverfield | 1 | 0–1 (.000) | 0–1 (.000) | 0–0 (–) |
| Navy | Ken Niumatalolo | 13 | 98–60 (.620) | 98–60 (.620) | 27–13 (.675) |
| SMU | Sonny Dykes | 2 | 56–56 (.500) | 15–11 (.577) | 10–6 (.625) |
| South Florida | Jeff Scott | 1 | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) |
| Temple | Rod Carey | 2 | 60–35 (.632) | 8–5 (.615) | 5–3 (.625) |
| Tulane | Willie Fritz | 5 | 177–96 (.648) | 23–27 (.460) | 12–20 (.375) |
| Tulsa | Philip Montgomery | 6 | 25–37 (.403) | 25–37 (.403) | 14–26 (.350) |
| UCF | Josh Heupel | 3 | 22–4 (.846) | 22–4 (.846) | 14–2 (.875) |
Source:[13]
Rankings
| Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Final | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati | AP | ||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
| East Carolina | AP | ||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
| Houston | AP | ||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
| Memphis | AP | ||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
| Navy | AP | ||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
| SMU | AP | ||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
| South Florida | AP | ||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
| Temple | AP | ||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
| Tulane | AP | ||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
| Tulsa | AP | ||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
| UCF | AP | ||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
| 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 formatting |
|---|
| American member won |
| American member lost |
| American teams in bold |
Regular season
The regular season will begin on August 29, 2020 and will end in December. As a result of the calendar, all teams except Navy will have two bye weeks. The AAC Championship Game is scheduled to be held on December 5, 2020
Week 0
| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TBA | Notre Dame | Navy | Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD (Rip Miller Trophy/Emerald Isle Classic/College GameDay) | |||||
| #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time. | ||||||||
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
Week 15 (American Athletic Conference Championship)
| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 5 | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA • TBA | ESPN | |||
| #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time. | ||||||||
Week 16
| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 12 | Army | Navy | Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy) | |||||
| #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time. | ||||||||
Post Season
Bowl games
Selection of teams
- Bowl eligible:
- Bowl-ineligible:
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.
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.
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.
Records against other conferences
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Regular Season
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Post Season
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Awards and honors
Player of the week honors
American Athletic Individual Awards
The following individuals received postseason honors as voted by the American Athletic Conference football coaches at the end of the season
All-conference teams
All-Americans
The 2020 College Football All-America Teams are composed of the following College Football All-American first teams chosen by the following selector organizations: Associated Press (AP), Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Walter Camp Foundation (WCFF), The Sporting News (TSN), Sports Illustrated (SI), USA Today (USAT) ESPN, CBS Sports (CBS), FOX Sports (FOX) College Football News (CFN), Bleacher Report (BR), Scout.com, Phil Steele (PS), SB Nation (SB), Athlon Sports, Pro Football Focus (PFF) and Yahoo! Sports (Yahoo!).
Currently, the NCAA compiles consensus all-America teams in the sports of Division I-FBS football and Division I men's basketball using a point system computed from All-America teams named by coaches associations or media sources. The system consists of three points for a first-team honor, two points for second-team honor, and one point for third-team honor. Honorable mention and fourth team or lower recognitions are not accorded any points. Football consensus teams are compiled by position and the player accumulating the most points at each position is named first team consensus all-American. Currently, the NCAA recognizes All-Americans selected by the AP, AFCA, FWAA, TSN, and the WCFF to determine Consensus and Unanimous All-Americans. Any player named to the First Team by all five of the NCAA-recognized selectors is deemed a Unanimous All-American.[14][15]
All-Academic
National award winners
2020 College Football Award Winners
NFL Draft
The following list includes all AAC players who were drafted in the 2021 NFL Draft.
| Player | Position | School | Draft Round |
Round Pick |
Overall Pick |
Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
References
- "American Announces 2020 Football Schedule". theamerican.org.
- "Late TD Lifts Memphis Over Cincinnati in AAC Championship Game". si.com. December 7, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
- "FAU, down Kiffin and 4 starters, steamrolls SMU". ESPN.
- "UCF gets 10th by beating Marshall 48-25 in Gasparilla Bowl". ESPN.
- "North Carolina breezes past Temple 55–13 in Military Bowl". ESPN.
- "Navy ties school record with 11th win behind QB Malcolm Perry's 213 rushing yards". ESPN.
- "Ridder, No. 23 Cincinnati romp over Boston College, 38-6". ESPN.
- "Tulane rallies for 30-13 win over Southern Miss in AF Bowl". ESPN.
- "No. 13 Penn State tops No. 15 Memphis 53-39 in Cotton Bowl". ESPN.
- Borzello, Jeff (July 26, 2019). "UConn leaving AAC in '20, will owe $17M exit fee". ESPN. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
- "South Florida hires Clemson OC Jeff Scott as new head coach". ESPN. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
- Barnes, Evan; Giannotto, Mark. "Ryan Silverfield hired as Memphis football head coach". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
- American Athletic Conference Coaches. Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved Jan 6, 2020.
- "2010-11 NCAA Statistics Policies(updated 9/15/2010)". National Collegiate Athletic Association. September 15, 2010. Archived from the original on December 10, 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
- "Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa heads 2018 consensus All-American Team". www.sportingnews.com.