The 2018 American Athletic Conference football season was the 27th NCAA Division I FBS Football season of the American Athletic Conference (The American). The season was the sixth since the former Big East Conference dissolved and became the American Athletic Conference,The American is the legal all-sports successor to the Big East Conference (1979–2013). The Big East was rebranded and reorganized as the American Athletic Conference on July 1, 2013. and the fifth season with the College Football Playoff in place. The American is considered a member of the "Group of Five" (G5),The other conferences in the "Group of Five are Conference USA (C–USA), the Mid–American Conference (MAC), the Mountain West Conference and the Sun Belt Conference. meaning that the conference shares with the other G5 conferences one automatic spot in the New Year's Six bowl games.
Preseason Recruiting classes + National Rankings Team ESPN Rivals 24/7Cincinnati 75 47 47Connecticut 89 104East Carolina 85 87Houston 75 60 72Memphis 81 88Navy 91 102SMU 81 86South Florida 55 56 64Temple 76 80Tulane 72 65 68Tulsa 86 97UCF 70 67 70
American Athletic Conference Media Day The American Athletic Conference Media Day took place July 18 in Newport, Rhode Island.2017 Football Media Day Retrieved November 24, 2017.
Preseason Media Poll
AAC Champion Voting UCF – 19 Memphis – 7 USF – 3 Houston – 1
East UCF (175 pts., 25 votes) USF (140 pts., 5 votes) Temple (132 pts.) Cincinnati (91 pts.) Connecticut (51 pts.) East Carolina (41 pts.)
West Memphis (171 pts., 23 votes) Houston (146 pts., 4 votes) Navy (129 pts., 3 votes) SMU (72 pts.) Tulane (68 pts.) Tulsa (44 pts.)
References:
Fifth Anniversary Football Team with 2018 marking the Fifth Year of American Athletic Conference Football under the new league, the Conference announced the Fifth Anniversary Team
FIFTH ANNIVERSARY FOOTBALL TEAMAMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE Offense DefenseQB – Keenan Reynolds, Navy RB – D'Angelo Brewer, Tulsa RB – Marlon Mack, USF WR – Zay Jones, ECU WR – Anthony Miller, Memphis WR – Courtland Sutton, SMU TE – Jordan Akins, UCF OT – Kofi Amichia, USF OT – Dion Dawkins, Temple OT – Eric Lefeld, Cincinnati OG – E.K. Binns, Navy OG – Adam West, Navy C – Kyle Friend, TempleDL – Matt Ioannidis, Temple DL – Justin Lawler, USF DL – Ed Oliver, Houston DL – Haason Reddick, Temple DL – Marcus Smith, Louisville LB – Genard Avery, UCF LB – Shaquem Griffin, UCF LB – Tyler Matakevich, Temple LB – Auggie Sanchez, USF CB – Jacoby Glenn, USF CB – Mike Hughes, UCF CB – Parry Nickerson, Tulane S – Clayton Geathers, UCF S – Obi Melifonwu, UConn PK – Jake Elliott, Memphis P – Tom Hornsey, Memphis RS – Tony Pollard, Memphis
Head coaches
Coaching changes There were two coaching changes after the regular season ended, On December 2, 2017 Scott Frost left UCF to take the Nebraska job, but stayed on to coach in the AAC Championship game and Peach Bowl, UCF ended up hiring Missouri Offensive Coordinator Josh Heupel. On December 7, 2017, SMU coach Chad Morris left to take the Arkansas job, on December 12, 2017, former Cal coach Sonny Dykes was hired as the new SMU coach.
Coaches Note: All stats current through the completion of the 2017 season Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school AAC recordCincinnati Luke Fickell 2 Connecticut Randy Edsall 14 East Carolina Scottie Montgomery 3 Houston Major Applewhite 2 Memphis Mike Norvell 2 Navy Ken Niumatalolo 11 SMU Sonny Dykes 2 South Florida Charlie Strong 2 Temple Geoff Collins 2 Tulane Willie Fritz 3 Tulsa Philip Montgomery 4 UCF Josh Heupel 1 Source:American Athletic Conference Coaches. Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
Rankings
+ Legend Increase in ranking Decrease in ranking Not ranked previous week RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
Pre Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 FinalCincinnati AP RV RV 25 20 RV RV 25 19 RV RV RV 24C RV RV RV RV RV RV 25 21 RV RV 23 20 RV RV RV 23CFP Not released 24 Connecticut AP C CFP Not released East Carolina AP C CFP Not released Houston AP RV RV RV RV RV 17 RV RV C RV RV RV RV RV RV 17 RV CFP Not released Memphis AP RV RV C RV RV RV RV CFP Not released Navy AP C CFP Not released SMU AP C CFP Not released South Florida AP RV RV RV RV 23 21 21 RV C RV RV RV RV RV RV 23 20 20 RV RV CFP Not released Temple AP C CFP Not released Tulane AP C CFP Not released Tulsa AP C CFP Not released UCF AP 21 19 18 16 13 12 10 10 10 9 11 11 8 7 7 11C 23 20 18 18 14 13 9 9 10 9 11 11 9 7 7 12CFP Not released 12 12 11 9 8 8
Schedule Index to colors and formattingAmerican member wonAmerican member lossAmerican teams in bold
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Date Bye WeekSept. 29 Tulsa, Navy, Houston, South Florida
Week 6
Week 7
Date Bye WeekOct. 13 Tulane, SMU, Cincinnati, Connecticut
Week 8
Week 9
Date Bye WeekOct. 27 Memphis, UCF, Temple, East Carolina
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
AAC Championship game
Week 15
Bowl games Legend The American win The American loss
Bowl gameDateSiteTelevisionTime American teamOpponentScoreAttendance Cure BowlDecember 15Camping World Stadium • Orlando, FLCBSSN2:30 p.m.TulaneLouisiana41–2419,066Gasparilla BowlDecember 20Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FLESPN8:00 p.m.South FloridaMarshall20–3814,135Birmingham BowlDecember 22Legion Field • Birmingham, ALESPNNoonMemphisWake Forest34–3725,717Armed ForcesDecember 22Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, TXESPN3:30 p.m.HoustonArmy14–7044,738IndependenceDecember 27Independence Stadium • Shreveport, LAESPN1:30 p.m.TempleDuke27–5627,492Military BowlDecember 30Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MDESPNNoonCincinnatiVirginia Tech35–3132,832New Years Six bowl gamesFiesta BowlJanuary 1State Farm Stadium • Glendale, AZESPN1:00 p.m.No. 8 UCFNo. 11 LSU32–4057,246 (Rankings from final CFP Poll; All times Eastern)
American vs other conferences American vs Power conference matchups This is a list of the power conference teams (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Notre Dame, Pac-12 and SEC) The American will playing during the 2018 season.
Date Visitor Home Site Score August 30 Wake Forest TulaneYulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA 17–23 OT September 1 Cincinnati UCLA Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA 26–17 September 7 TCU SMU Ford Staduium • Dallas, TX 12–42 September 8 Arizona Houston TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX 45–18 September 8 North Carolina East Carolina Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC 41–19 September 8 Georgia Tech South Florida Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL 49–38 September 8 Tulsa Texas Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium • Austin, TX 21–28 September 15 Temple Maryland Maryland Stadium • College Park, MD 35–14 September 15 South Florida Illinois Soldier Field • Chicago, IL 25–19 September 15 SMU Michigan Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI 20–45 September 15 Houston Texas Tech Jones AT&T Stadium • Lubbock, TX 49–63 September 22 Tulane Ohio State Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH 6–49 September 22 Connecticut Syracuse Carrier Dome • Syracuse, NY 21–51 September 29 Pittsburgh No. 13 UCF Spectrum Stadium • Orlando, FL 45–14 September 29 Temple Boston College Alumni Stadium • Chestnut Hill, MA 35–45 October 20 Memphis Missouri Faurot Field • Columbia, MO 33–65 October 20 Tulsa Arkansas Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium • Fayetteville, AR 0–23 October 27 Notre Dame Navy SDCCU Stadium • San Diego, CA 22–44 December 1 East Carolina NC State Carter–Finley Stadium • Raleigh, NC 3–58
Records against other conferences
Regular Season
Power ConferencesRecordACC3–4Big Ten2–2Big 120–3Notre Dame0–1Pac-122–0SEC0–2Power Conference Total7–12Other FBS ConferencesRecordC-USA3–2Independents (excluding Notre Dame)1–1MAC2–1Mountain West0–3Sun Belt2–2Other FBS Total8–8FCS OpponentsRecordCAA2–1MEAC1–1Patriot1–0Southland3–0Southern1–0SWAC2–0FCS Total10–2Total Non-Conference Record25–22
Post Season
Power Conferences RecordACC1–2SEC0–1Power Conferences Total1–3Other FBS ConferencesRecordC-USA0–1Independent0–1Sun Belt1–0Other FBS Total1–2Total Bowl Record2–5
Awards and honors Players of the week
Week Offensive Defensive Special Teams Player Position Team Player Position Team Player Position Team Week 1 McKenzie Milton QB UCF Bryan WrightEd Oliver LBDT CincinnatiHouston Thomas Bennett P Tulsa Week 2 D'Eriq King QB Houston Sean Williams S Memphis Terrence Horne Jr. KR South Florida Week 3 Darrell HendersonBlake Barnett RBQB MemphisSouth Florida Michael Dogbe DT Temple Bennett Moehring K Navy Week 4 McKenzie Milton QB UCF Quincy Roche DE Temple Reggie Roberson Jr. WR/KR SMU Week 5 McKenzie Milton QB UCF Nate Harvey DE East Carolina Jake Verity K East Carolina Week 6 Jordan Cronkrite RB USF Titus Davis DE UCF Isaiah Wright WR Temple Week 7 McKenzie Milton QB UCF Ed Oliver DT Houston Matthew WrightCoby Weiss KK UCFUSF Week 8 D'Eriq King QB Houston Nate EvansAustin Robinson LBLB UCFHouston Matthew Wright K UCF Week 9 D'Eriq King QB Houston James Wiggins S Cincinnati Cole Smith K Cincinnati Week 10 Ben Hicks QB SMU Cortez BroughtonKyran Mitchell DTLB CincinnatiSMU Merek Glover K SMU Week 11 Ryquell Armstead RB Temple Roderic Teamer S Tulane Pop Williams WR Memphis Week 12 Holton Ahlers QB East Carolina Titus Davis DE UCF Isaiah Wright WR Temple Week 13 Justin McMillian QB Tulane Arquon Bush CB Cincinnati Isaiah Wright WR Temple
Conference awards The following individuals received postseason honors as voted by the American Athletic Conference football coaches at the end of the season 2018 American Athletic Conference Individual Awards Award Recipient(s)Offensive Player of the YearMcKenzie MiltonDefensive Player of the YearNate HarveySpecial Teams Player of the YearIsaiah WrightRookie of the YearDesmond RidderCoach of the YearLuke Fickell
2018 All-American Athletic Conference Football Teams First Team Second Team Offense Defense Offense DefenseWR – Trevon Brown, ECU WR – Marquez Stevenson, Houston WR – James Proche, SMU OT – Dino Boyd, Cincinnati OT – Jake Brown, UCF OG – Cole Schneider, UCF OG – Dustin Woodard, Memphis C – Jordan Johnson, UCF TE – Mitchell Wilcox, USF QB – McKenzie Milton, UCF RB – Darrell Henderson^, Memphis RB – Ryquell Armstead, Temple K – Jake Verity, ECU RS – John Williams, Memphis RS – Isaiah Wright, TempleDL – Cortez Broughton, Cincinnati DL – Nate Harvey, ECU DL – Ed Oliver, Houston DL – Michael Dogbe, Temple LB – Nate Evans, UCF LB – Perry Young, Cincinnati LB – Austin Robinson, Houston LB – Shaun Bradley, Temple CB – Nevelle Clarke, UCF CB – Rock Ya-Sin, Temple S – Richie Grant, UCF S – Delvon Randall, Temple P – James Smith, CincinnatiWR – Gabe Davis, UCF WR – Damonte Coxie, Memphis WR – Ventell Bryant, Temple OT – Wyatt Miller, UCF OT – Trevon Tate, Memphis OG – Jovahn Fair, Temple OG – Tyler Bowling, Tulsa C – Garrett Campbell, Cincinnati TE – Josiah Deguara, Cincinnati QB – D'Eriq King, Houston RB – Michael Warren II, Cincinnati RB – Adrian Killins, UCF K – Matthew Wright, UCF RS – Adrian Killins, UCFDL – Titus Davis, UCF DL – Marquise Copeland, Cincinnati DL – Brendon Hayes, UCF DL – Kimoni Fitz, Cincinnati DL – Patrick Johnson, Tulane LB – Pat Jasinski, UCF LB – Bryce Huff, Memphis LB – Khalid McGee, USF LB – Zachery Harris, Tulane CB – TJ Carter, Memphis CB – Donnie Lewis, Tulane S – James Wiggins, Cincinnati S – Roderic Teamer, Tulane P – Thomas Bennett, Tulsa ^ - denotes unanimous selection Additional players added to the All-American teams due to ties in the voting
NFL draft
The following list includes all AAC players who were drafted in the 2019 NFL draft.