The 2021 American Athletic Conference football season was the 30th NCAA Division I FBS Football season of the American Athletic Conference (The American). The season was the ninth since the former Big East Conference dissolved and became the American Athletic Conference and the eighth season of the College Football Playoff in place. The American was 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
Recruiting classes + Rankings Team ESPN Rivals 24/7Cincinnati 39 45East Carolina 100 97Houston 85 84Memphis 48 47Navy 68 104SMU 61 51South Florida 56 64Temple 117Tulane 85 81Tulsa 127UCF 54 58
American Athletic Conference Media Days The 2021 American Media day was held virtually August 3 and 4, 2021
•2021 The American Virtual Football Media Days
Preseason media poll The American Athletic Conference preseason media poll was released at the virtual media day held August 4, 2021. Cincinnati, who finished the 2020 season ranked No. 8 nationally, was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the 2021 preseason media poll.
Media poll 1 Cincinnati 262 (22) 2 UCF 241 (2) 3 SMU 188 4 Houston 181 5 Memphis 168 6 Tulsa 153 7 Tulane 132 т-8 East Carolina 85 т-8 Navy 85 10 Temple 46 11 South Florida 43
Preseason awards Award Head coach/Player School Position LinkLott TrophyCoby BryantCincinnatiCBDodd TrophyLuke FickellCincinnatiHCMaxwell AwardDesmond RidderCincinnatiQBCalvin AustinMemphisWRUlysses Bentley IVSMURBReggie Roberson Jr.SMUWRDillon GabrielUCFQBBednarik AwardSauce GardnerCincinnatiCBMyjai SandersCincinnatiDEQuindell JohnsonMemphisSDiego FagotNavyLBDavey O'Brien AwardDesmond RidderCincinnatiQBDillon GabrielUCFQBDoak Walker AwardRahjai HarrisEast CarolinaRB Mulbah CarHoustonRBUlysses Bentley IVSMURBCameron CarrollTulaneRBShamari BrooksTulsaRBFred Biletnikoff AwardCalvin AustinMemphisWRRashee RiceSMUWRReggie Roberson Jr.SMUWRKeylon StokesTulsaWRJaylon RobinsonUCFWRJohn Mackey AwardJosh WhyleCincinnatiTEGrant CalcaterraSMUTERimington TrophyKody RusseyHoustonOLC.J. PerezTempleOLSincere HaynesworthTulaneOLOutland TrophyDylan ParhamMemphisGJaylon ThomasSMUTCorey DublinTulaneGTyler SmithTulsaTCole SchneiderUCFDTBronko Nagurski TrophyDiego FagotNavyLBSauce GardnerCincinnatiCBMyjai SandersCincinnatiDEJaxon PlayerTulsaDTLou Groza AwardBlake MazzaSMUPKPaul Hornung AwardTyler SneadEast CarolinaWRNathaniel DellHoustonWRDanny GraySMUWRJha'Quan JacksonTulaneWRKeylon StokesTulsaWRWuerffel TrophyHolton AhlersEast CarolinaQBMarcus JonesHoustonDBPreston BradyMemphisLSShaine HaileySMULBMitchell BrinkmanSouth FloridaCBRe-Al MitchellTempleQBNick AndersonTulaneLBChris PaulTulsaOGWalter Camp AwardDesmond RidderCincinnatiQBDillon GabrielUCFQBManning AwardDesmond RidderCincinnatiQBMichael PrattTulaneQBDillon GabrielUCFQBEarl Campbell Tyler Rose AwardClayton TuneHoustonQBSean DykesMemphisTEUlysses Bentley IVSMURBReggie Roberson, Jr.SMURBDeneric PrinceTulsaRBKeylon StokesTulsaWRJaylon RobinsonUCFWRRay Guy AwardJonn YoungEast CarolinaPLaine WilkinsHoustonPDaniel DaviesNavyPAdam BarryTemplePRyan WrightTulanePLachlan Wilson TulsaPAndrew OsteenUCFPPolynesian College Football Player Of The Year AwardTama TuiteleNavyLBJohnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Desmond RidderCincinnatiQBClayton TuneHoustonQBDillon GabrielUCFQB
Head coaches Coaching changes On January 27, 2021 Josh Heupel departed UCF to Tennessee. Gus Malzahn was hired to serve as the new head coach on February 15, 2021.
Coaches Note: All stats current through the completion of the 2021 regular season Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school AAC recordCincinnati Luke Fickell 5 East Carolina Mike Houston 3 Houston Dana Holgorsen 3 Memphis Ryan Silverfield 2 Navy Ken Niumatalolo 14 SMU Sonny Dykes 4 South Florida Jeff Scott 2 Temple Rod Carey 3 Tulane Willie Fritz 6 Tulsa Philip Montgomery 7 UCF Gus Malzahn 1 Source:American Athletic Conference Coaches. Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved Feb 18, 2021.
Rankings
+ Legend Improvement in ranking Drop 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 FinalCincinnati AP 788 75322 2 2 34344 C1089864322 334444 CFP Not released655444 East Carolina AP C CFP Not released Houston AP RV RV RV 20 17 17 19 16 21 17C RV RV RV RV 19 17 17 16 16 21 17 CFP Not released 24 24 21 20 Memphis AP RV C RV RV RV CFP Not released Navy AP C CFP Not released SMU AP RV 24 23 21 19 23 RV RV C RV RV RV RV RV 24 23 19 16 24 RV RV CFP Not released South Florida AP C CFP Not released Temple AP C CFP Not released Tulane AP C RV RVRV CFP Not released Tulsa AP CRV CFP Not released UCF AP RV RV RV CRV RV RV RV CFP Not released
Schedule The regular season will begin on September 2, 2021 and will end on November 27, 2021. The season will conclude with the 2021 American Athletic Conference Championship Game on December 4.
At Media Day American Commissioner Mike Aresco said games will not be rescheduled this year because of COVID & if teams can't play, they will have to forfeit
Regular season Index to colors and formattingAmerican member wonAmerican member lostAmerican teams in bold
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Date Bye WeekSeptember 18 Navy
Week Four
Date Bye WeekSeptember 25 UCF No. 8 Cincinnati
Week Five
Week Six
Date Bye WeekOctober 9 South Florida
Week Seven
Date Bye WeekOctober 16 East Carolina Houston No. 23 SMU Temple Tulane
Week Eight
This game was initially scheduled for ESPNU at 4PM ET, but moved to 9:20PM ET on ESPNews because of a rain delay..
Date Bye WeekOctober 23 Tulsa
Week Nine
Date Bye WeekOctober 30 Memphis
Week Ten
Week Eleven
Date Bye WeekNovember 13 Navy
Week Twelve
Week Thirteen
Week Fourteen (American Athletic Conference Championship)
Week Fifteen
Postseason
Bowl games
In 2021 the American will send teams to the Military Bowl, Fenway Bowl, and Hawaii Bowl annually. The American will have four selections from the following bowls:Frisco Bowl, Cure Bowl, Boca Raton Bowl, Gasparilla Bowl. Birmingham Bowl, First Responder Bowl and Myrtle Beach Bowl. The American champion will go to a New Year's Six bowl if a team finishes higher than the champions of Group of Five conferences in the final College Football Playoff rankings. American teams are also eligible for the College Football Playoff if they're among the top four teams in the final CFP ranking.
Cancelled bowls The following bowl games tied in with the American Athletic Conference had their 2021 editions canceled : Memphis was originally slated to play in the Hawaii Bowl against Hawaii on December 24. Hawaii was forced to withdraw from the bowl game due to a shortage of available players, stemming from a combination of a COVID-19 outbreak within the team, players already out with injury, and players who transferred away from the school at the conclusion of the regular season. East Carolina was originally slated to play in the Military Bowl against Boston College on December 27. On December 26 the game was cancelled after Boston College had over 40 players unavailable to play in the Military Bowl against East Carolina. In a statement, Boston College said it did not have enough players to field a team because of coronavirus issues, season-ending injuries, opt-outs and transfers. SMU was originally slated to play in the Fenway Bowl against Virginia on December 29. Virginia was forced to withdraw game due to the number of COVID cases impacting its roster, preventing safe participation. As a result of this withdrawal, the game and associated activities will no longer take place
Legend American win American loss
Bowl gameDateSiteTelevisionTime (EST)American teamOpponentScoreAttendance Myrtle Beach BowlDecember 20, 2021Brooks Stadium • Conway, SC ESPN 2:30 p.m. Tulsa Old Dominion W 30–17 6,557Gasparilla BowlDecember 23, 2021Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL ESPN 7:00 p.m. UCF Florida W 29–17 63,669Hawaii BowlDecember 24, 2021Clarence T. C. Ching Athletics Complex • Honolulu, HI ESPN 8:00 p.m. Memphis Hawaii CancelledMilitary BowlDecember 27, 2021Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD ESPN 2:30 p.m. East Carolina Boston College CancelledBirmingham BowlDecember 28, 2021Protective Stadium • Birmingham, AL ESPN 12:00 p.m. No. 20 Houston Auburn W 17–13 47,100Fenway BowlDecember 29, 2021 Fenway Park • Boston, MA ESPN 11:00 a.m. SMU Virginia CancelledCollege Football PlayoffCotton Bowl ClassicDecember 31, 2021AT&T Stadium • Arlington, TexasESPN 3:30 p.m. No. 4 Cincinnati No. 1 Alabama L 6–27 76,313 Rankings from Final CFP rankings. All times Eastern Time Zone. American teams bolded.
Selection of teams Bowl-eligible (7): Cincinnati, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, SMU, UCF, Tulsa Bowl-ineligible: (4): Navy, South Florida, Temple, Tulane
American vs other conferences American vs Power Five matchups The following games include American teams competing against Power Five conferences teams from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, BYU/Notre Dame, Pac-12 and SEC). All rankings are from the AP Poll at the time of the game.
Date Conference Visitor Home Site Score September 2 ACC South Florida NC State Carter–Finley Stadium • Raleigh, NC L 0–45 September 4 Big 12 Texas Tech Houston NRG Stadium • Houston, TX L 21–38 September 4 Big Ten Temple Rutgers SHI Stadium • Piscataway, NJ L 14–61 September 4 Big 12 No. 2 Oklahoma Tulane Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, OK L 35–40 September 11 SEC South Carolina East Carolina Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC L 17–20 September 11 SEC No. 13 Florida South Florida Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL L 20–42 September 11 Big 12 Tulsa Oklahoma State Boone Pickens Stadium • Stillwater, OK L 23–28 September 17 ACC UCF Louisville Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY L 35–42 September 18 Big Ten No. 8 Cincinnati Indiana Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN W 38–24 September 18 SEC Mississippi State Memphis Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN W 31–29 September 18 ACC Boston College Temple Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA L 3–28 September 18 SEC Tulane No. 17 Ole Miss Vaught–Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, MS L 21–61 September 18 Big Ten Tulsa No. 9 Ohio State Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH L 20–41 September 25 Independent South Florida BYU LaVell Edwards Stadium • Provo, UT L 27–35 September 25 Big 12 SMU TCU Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, TX W 42–34 October 2 Independent No. 7 Cincinnati No. 9 Notre Dame Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN W 24–13 November 6 Independent Navy Notre Dame Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN L 6–34
American vs Group of Five matchups The following games include American teams competing against teams from C-USA, MAC, Mountain West or Sun Belt.