The 2023 American Athletic Conference football season was the 32nd NCAA Division I FBS Football season of the American Athletic Conference (The American). It was the 11th season since the former Big East Conference dissolved and became the American Athletic Conference and the ninth season of the College Football Playoff in place. The American is considered a member of the Group of Five (G5) together with Conference USA, the MAC, Mountain West Conference and the Sun Belt Conference. The American saw significant realignment prior to the season, with three schools departing the conference and six schools joining. It will be the final season with SMU, who will be leaving to join the Atlantic Coast Conference in the 2024–2025 school year.
Conference realignment The American Athletic Conference underwent significant realignment before the 2023 season. Three schools, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF, departed the conference to join the Big 12 Conference, having accepted invitations to join two years prior. The American invited six schools to join the conference, all previously from Conference USA: Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA. The realignment brought The American up to 14 football members for the 2023 season.
This will be SMU's final season in the American before they move to the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2024.
In response to SMU's departure, the American announced the addition of Army as a football-only member beginning in 2024. Army currently competes as an independent and its addition will keep the conference at 14 football members.
Preseason
Media days The 2023 American Football Media days were held July 24–25, 2023 at Live! By Loews, Arlington, Texas.
Preseason poll The American Athletic Conference preseason media poll was released at AAC Media Day on July 25, 2023.
First place votes in ()
Media poll 1 Tulane 457 (20) 2 UTSA 440 (9) 3 SMU 397 (3) 4 Memphis 362 (1) 5 Florida Atlantic 312 6 East Carolina 303 7 North Texas 261 8 UAB 209 (1) 9 Navy 199 10 Temple 182 11 Tulsa 160 12 Rice 138 13 South Florida 86 14 Charlotte 64
Head coaches
Changes On November 15, 2022, Charlotte announced that former Michigan associate head coach Biff Poggi would become their new head coach beginning in 2023, replacing Will Healy, who had been fired mid-season. On November 30, 2022, UAB announced that they had hired Trent Dilfer as their permanent head coach, replacing Bryant Vincent, who had been the interim head coach for the entire 2022 season. On December 1, 2022, Florida Atlantic announced that Tom Herman would take over as head coach, replacing Willie Taggart. On December 4, 2022, South Florida announced that Alex Golesh would become the new permanent head coach starting in 2023 after the school had fired previous head coach Jeff Scott prior to the end of the 2022 season. Golesh was previously the offensive coordinator at Tennessee. On December 6, 2022, Tulsa announced that former Ohio State offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson would become the new coach for the team, replacing Philip Montgomery, who had been fired after the season. On December 13, 2022, North Texas announced former Washington State offensive coordinator Eric Morris as their new head coach, replacing Seth Littrell who had been fired two weeks prior. On December 19, 2022, Brian Newberry was promoted to head coach of Navy after the school declined to renew Ken Niumatalolo's contract. Newberry was the defensive coordinator for the team prior to promotion.
Records Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school AAC Record Charlotte Biff Poggi 1 East Carolina Mike Houston 5 Florida Atlantic Tom Herman 1 Memphis Ryan Silverfield 4 Navy Brian Newberry 1 North Texas Eric Morris 1 Rice Mike Bloomgren 6 SMU Rhett Lashlee 2 South Florida Alex Golesh 1 Temple Stan Drayton 2 Tulane Willie Fritz 8 Tulsa Kevin Wilson 1 UAB Trent Dilfer 1 UTSA Jeff Traylor 4
Note: Records shown after the 2022 season Years at school includes 2023 season Source:American Athletic Conference Coaches. Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved Feb 18, 2021.
Post-season changes On December 3, 2023, Tulane head coach Willie Fritz resigned from his position to take the head coach position at Houston in the Big 12 Conference for the 2024 season. Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Slade Nagle was named the interim head coach. On December 8, Jon Sumrall was announced as Tulane's new head coach for 2024. Sumrall had previously been the head coach at Troy.
Rankings
Pre Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Final Charlotte AP C CFP Not released East Carolina AP C CFP Not released Florida Atlantic AP C CFP Not released Memphis AP RV RVC RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV CFP Not released Navy AP C CFP Not released North Texas AP C CFP Not released Rice AP C CFP Not released SMU AP RV RV RV 25 17 22C RV RV RV RV RV RV 25 24 19 24 CFP Not released 24 South Florida AP C CFP Not released Temple AP C CFP Not released Tulane AP 24 24 RV RV RV RV RV 23 22 21 20 17 18 17 23 RVC 23 22 RV RV RV RV RV 24 23 21 20 17 18 18 24 RV CFP Not released 24 23 24 23 22 Tulsa AP C CFP Not released UAB AP C CFP Not released UTSA AP RV C RV RV RV RV CFP Not released
Regular season schedule The 2023 schedule was released on February 21, 2023.
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
Championship game
Week 15
Postseason
Bowl games
Legend American win American loss
Bowl gameDateSiteTelevisionTime (EST)AAC teamOpponentScoreAttendance Frisco Bowl December 19 Toyota Stadium • Frisco, TX ESPN 9:00 p.m. UTSA Marshall W 35–17 11,215 Boca Raton Bowl December 21 FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL ESPN 8:00 p.m. South Florida Syracuse W 45–0 20,711 First Responder Bowl December 26 Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX ESPN 5:30 p.m. Rice Texas State L 21–45 26,542 Military Bowl December 27 Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD ESPN 2:00 p.m. Tulane Virginia Tech L 20–41 35,849 Fenway Bowl December 28 Fenway Park • Boston, MA ESPN 11:00 a.m. No. 24 SMU Boston College L 14–23 Liberty Bowl December 29 Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium • Memphis, TN ESPN 3:30 p.m. Memphis Iowa State W 36–26
Versus other conference records
2023–2024 records against non-conference foes:
Power 5 ConferencesRecordACC0–2Big Ten0–4Big 121–5Pac-120–2Notre Dame0–1SEC0–6Power 5 Total1–20Other FBS ConferencesRecordC-USA2–2Independents (Excluding Notre Dame)1–3MAC2–1Mountain West1–1Sun Belt4–5Other FBS Total10–12FCS OpponentsRecordFootball Championship Subdivision13–0Total Non-Conference Record24–32
Postseason
Power Five ConferencesRecordACC1-2 Big 12 1–0Big Ten0–0Notre Dame0–0Pac-12 0–0SEC 0–0Power 5 Total2–2Other FBS ConferencesRecordC-USA 0–0Independents (Excluding Notre Dame) 0–0MAC 0–0Mountain West 0–0Sun Belt 1–1Other FBS Total 1–1Total Bowl Record3-3
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). All rankings are from the current AP Poll at the time of the game.
Date Conference Visitor Home Site Score August 26 Independent Navy No. 13 Notre Dame Aviva Stadium • Dublin, Ireland L 3–42 September 2 Big Ten East Carolina No. 2 Michigan Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI L 3–30 September 2 Pac-12 California North Texas DATCU Stadium • Denton, TX L 21–58 September 2 Big 12 Rice No. 11 Texas Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium • Austin, TX L 10–37 September 2 Big 12 UTSA Houston TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX L 14–17 September 9 Big Ten Charlotte Maryland SECU Stadium • College Park, MD L 20–38 September 9 Big 12 Houston Rice Rice Stadium • Houston, TX W 43–41 September 9 Big 12 SMU No. 18 Oklahoma Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, OK L 11–28 September 9 Big Ten Temple Rutgers SHI Stadium • Piscataway, NJ L 7–36 September 9 SEC No. 20 Ole Miss No. 24 Tulane Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA L 20–37 September 9 Pac-12 Tulsa No. 8 Washington Husky Stadium • Seattle, WA L 10–43 September 16 ACC Florida Atlantic Clemson Memorial Stadium • Clemson, SC L 14–48 September 16 SEC No. 10 Alabama South Florida Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL L 3–17 September 16 Big 12 No. 19 Oklahoma Tulsa H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK L 17–66 September 23 SEC UAB No. 1 Georgia Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA L 21–49 September 23 SEC Charlotte No. 25 Florida Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL L 7–22 September 23 Big Ten Florida Atlantic Illinois Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL L 17–23 September 23 SEC Memphis Missouri The Dome at America's Center • St. Louis, MO L 27–34 September 23 Big 12 SMU TCU Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, TX L 17–34 September 23 ACC No. 20 Miami (FL) Temple Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA L 7–41 September 23 SEC UTSA No. 23 Tennessee Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN L 14–45
Group of Five matchups The following games include American Athletic Conference teams competing against teams from C-USA, the MAC, Mountain West, or Sun Belt.
Date Conference Visitor Home Site Score September 2 C-USA South Florida Western Kentucky Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY L 24–41 September 2 C-USA Louisiana Tech SMU Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX W 38–14 September 2 MAC Akron Temple Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA W 24–21 September 2 Sun Belt South Alabama No. 24 Tulane Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA W 37–17 September 9 Sun Belt UAB Georgia Southern Paulson Stadium • Statesboro, GA L 35–49 September 9 Sun Belt Marshall East Carolina Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC L 13–31 September 9 MAC Ohio Florida Atlantic FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL L 10–17 September 9 Sun Belt Memphis Arkansas State Centennial Bank Stadium • Jonesboro, AR W 37–3 September 9 C-USA North Texas FIU Riccardo Silva Stadium • Westchester, FL L 39–46 September 9 Sun Belt Texas State UTSA Alamodome • San Antonio, TX W 20–13 September 16 Sun Belt Louisiana UAB Protective Stadium • Birmingham, AL L 21–41 September 16 Sun Belt Georgia State Charlotte Jerry Richardson Stadium • Charlotte, NC L 25–41 September 16 Sun Belt East Carolina Appalachian State Kidd Brewer Stadium • Boone, NC L 28–43 September 16 C-USA North Texas Louisiana Tech Joe Aillet Stadium • Ruston, LA W 40–37 September 16 Sun Belt Tulane Southern Miss M. M. Roberts Stadium • Hattiesburg, MS W 21–3 September 23 MAC Tulsa Northern Illinois Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, IL W 22–14 September 30 Mountain West Boise State Memphis Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium • Memphis, TN W 35–32 October 21 Mountain West No. 22 Air Force Navy Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD L 6–17
FBS independents matchups The following games include AAC teams competing against FBS Independents, which includes Army, UConn, or UMass.
Date Visitor Home Site Score September 15 Army UTSA Alamodome • San Antonio, TX L 29–37 October 7 UConn Rice Rice Stadium • Houston, TX L 31–38 October 21 South Florida UConn Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT W 24–21 December 9 Navy Army Gillette Stadium • Foxborough, MA L 11–17
FCS matchups