AAC Power Rankings: Despite Ugly Loss, ECU Pirates Still No. 1

The aacfootballfever.com staff members provided their American Athletic Conference power rankings on Sunday afternoon, and despite a sloppy 20-10 loss to Temple, the ECU Pirates are holding onto their No. 1 spot by a thread.

By all accounts, a loss is a loss—but if there were ever a good opportunity to say that the scoreboard wasn’t indicative of how the game played out, this is it. East Carolina moved the ball successfully on Temple’s defense, passing for 217 yards and rushing for 211, converting on 9-of-16 (56.3 percent) third downs, and won the time of possession. The Pirates’ defense was superb, holding P.J. Walker and company 135 yards of total offense and 2.41 yards per play.

However, 12 inopportune penalties for 116 yards and an ungodly amount of fumbles (five, to be exact) led to ECU’s demise and in all likelihood eliminated the AAC from any contention for an access bowl.

It also created a strange set up for the American standings moving forward, as five teams currently stand with one loss in the conference. With plenty of big games remaining on the schedule—such as ECU-Cincinnati, Houston-Cincinnati, ECU-UCF, Memphis-Temple, and more—could we see a scenario where we finish with six co-champions?

With the way college football has been playing out the last few weeks, it seems as if we could be heading in that direction.

*A point system was assigned, giving 11 points for a team with a No. 1 vote, 10 points for a No. 2 vote, 9 points for a No. 3 vote, and so on.