AAC Football Fever Power Rankings: Week 15
1. Memphis Tigers (9-3, 7-1): The last time Memphis won nine games in a season? 2003, when it finished 9-4 with a fourth-place finish in Conference USA. The last time Memphis won 10 games in a season? Never. Justin Fuente has the opportunity to do what no other coach in his position has done in 54 tries, and it might come against an SEC opponent that shut out two Top 25 teams a few weeks ago. After claiming sole rights to the AAC championship (for a few days, at least) this past weekend, the Tigers could be ending their 2014 campaign as the best team in school history.
2. Cincinnati Bearcats (8-3, 6-1): Is SMU, USF, Tulane, East Carolina, UConn and Temple on the same level as Ohio State, Memphis, and Miami (Fla.)? God no, but winning all six of these games by an average of 22.7 points is impressive, and Cincinnati has quietly put together a solid season after looking like one of the worst teams in college football through the beginning of October—especially on the defensive side of the ball.
3. East Carolina Pirates (8-3, 5-2): ECU responded to its back-t0-back losses to Temple and Cincinnati by beating Tulane and Tulsa 83-38. It doesn’t make up for the lack of an Access Bowl—as Pirate fans were prematurely clamoring for back in mid-September following victories over ACC Coastal opponents Virginia Tech and North Carolina—but it shows that the senior leaders (e.g. Shane Carden, Justin Hardy, Breon Allen, Cam Worthy, etc.) aren’t going to leave without a bang.
4. UCF Knights (8-3, 6-1): Since allowing an inexplicable 37 points to UConn, Central Florida is 3-0 and has outscored competition 100-14. Granted, opponents’ records combine for 6-29, but hey—it did what it was supposed to do by rolling the inferior. Still, the Knights added three more turnovers for a total of 27 on the season (No. 118 in NCAA), which is concerning as they head into ECU week. UCF has only faced three FBS teams with a winning record, and in those three games, it has coughed the ball up nine times.
5. Houston Cougars (7-4, 5-2): Through his first three games as a starter, Greg Ward, Jr. completed 61-of-80 (76.3 percent) of his pass attempts for 545 yards, four touchdowns and one interception against Memphis, Temple, and USF. In his last three outings, however, he’s gone 63-of-94 (67.0 percent) for 707 yards, three touchdowns, and five picks—vs. Tulane, Tulsa, and SMU. If Houston wants a chance to beat Cincinnati for a seventh, eight-win season in nine years, it will need the Ward, Jr. that played from Oct. 11-Nov. 1.
6. Temple Owls (5-6, 3-4): Nothing is coming easy to P.J. Walker and the Temple offense, which has averaged 247.8 yards and 12.7 points during a horrific stretch of five losses in its last six games. Bowl eligibility would be huge for the Owls, who have had two postseason appearances since 1979. Nonetheless, Walker and company enter Week 15 with the No. 116-ranked team passer efficiency rating (105.33), and Tulane’s defense has been decent in that category at No. 68 (128.15).
7. USF Bulls (4-8, 3-5): That’ll wrap up Year 2 under Willie Taggart; South Florida upped its record from 2013 by two, but lost four of five to end the regular season as quarterbacks Mike White, Steven Bench, and Quinton Flowers combined to complete less than half their passes (49.2 percent), while producing 6.49 yards per attempt, 11 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and a 107.6 passer efficiency rating. There were good moments for this Bulls squad in 2014—like staying competitive against Wisconsin and East Carolina—but November’s collapse was forgettable.
8. Tulane Green Wave (3-8, 2-5): Uhm, how exactly did this Tulane team beat Houston two weeks ago? Quarterback Tanner Lee went 24-of-35 (68.6 percent) for 238 yards, three touchdowns, one interception, and a career-high 86.9 QBR in the upset over the Cougars, but since has sputtered to hit 56.0 percent of his targets with zero TDs and four picks. If the Green Wave are to bounce back in 2015, it will start and end with getting their freshman signal caller to become more consistent and less turnover prone.
9. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (2-10, 2-6): Two weeks ago, our very own Jacob Thigpen wrote a column on why Bill Blankenship needs to step down as Tulsa’s head coach. It doesn’t look like he’s going to get that opportunity to do it himself; College Football Talk has reported that athletic director Derek Gragg is expected to fire Blankenship—who has recorded five wins over the last two years—as soon as today.
10. UConn Huskies (2-9, 1-6): It’s been an ugly debut for Bob Diaco, but he’s been more than clear on the fact that this wasn’t just a rebuilding job—he had to “tear down” the walls and start from scratch. Still, losing to Army and then getting beat 82-10 by Cincinnati and Memphis after beating UCF might make your head spin.
11. SMU Mustangs (0-11, 0-7): Look, there’s no sugar coating it: SMU is the worst team in college football, and it might not even be close. This will change soon, however, with the hiring of Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris as its new head coach.
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