AAC Power Rankings: Gaping Hole Separates 1-6 and 7-11

We’re going to switch things up for our weekly American Athletic Conference rankings. Instead of me—Tyler Waddell—trying to be the rankings overlord, I’ve changed it to where our entire (well, most) staff has a say.

12 members of our 14-man staff provided their rankings on Sunday afternoon after watching a Week 5 performance from the AAC that left much to be desired.

With top dog East Carolina taking a break from its reign of terror on the ACC Coastal—in other words, its bye week—the AAC collectively suffered, finishing 1-7 for the weekend with its one victory coming in-conference.

Cincinnati showed that it has major issues at defensive line, getting manhandled in the trenches against an Ohio State offensive front that had struggled mightily against Navy and Virginia Tech. The Bearcats, who still sit at No. 2 this week, will be able to put up points in AAC play via the passing game—quarterback Gunner Kiel threw for four more touchdowns against OSU, marking his total for the season at 14 through three games.

Temple already has more wins than it did the entire 2013 season after dominating a hapless UConn offense from start to finish, as it held an opponent to 10 points or less for the third time in four games.

Memphis’ defense looked impressive through three quarters against SEC West power Ole Miss, but couldn’t compensate for the incompetent play by the Tigers’ offensive line and fell apart in the fourth. Ole Miss, of course, does have one of the best defensive units in the nation.

There’s a huge gap between the upper half of the AAC and the latter—neither South Florida, Tulane, or UConn have any rhyme or rhythm to their offense, Tulsa is dreadfully inconsistent on both sides of the ball, and SMU just might be the worst team in the FBS.

*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.