The American Athletic Conference took a big step forward in 2015 thanks to several teams ranked at some point and/or won big games against big-named teams. That created a logjam at the top of the AAC standings until almost the end of the regular season, when Houston stood out from the crowd.
The Cougars’ dismantling of Florida State in the Peach Bowl, and the on-again/off-again Big 12 expansion talks have only brought more attention to the AAC as we head into the 2016 season.
One big problem? The AAC lost a lot of star power. Ten players heard their names called in the 2016 NFL Draft. That includes first-rounders Paxton Lynch of Memphis and William Jackson out of Houston. Navy’s all-everything QB Keenan Reynolds is gone. So, too, is star linebacker Tyler Matakevich from Temple, who seemed to be everywhere on the field during his stint in Philly.
But if the AAC wants to separate themselves from the Group of 5 conferences and start to hang with the big boys, teams will need to reload and replace as well as taking advantage of non-conference opportunities; and there are plenty of those in 2016.
Let’s rank the top-five AAC out-of-conference games:
Honorable Mention
SMU at Baylor; Cincinnati at Purdue; Temple at Penn State; Memphis at Ole Miss; Navy at Notre Dame; East Carolina at Virginia Tech
5. UCF at Michigan
Wow there are a lot of AAC vs. Big Ten matchups on the schedule in 2016. This one might seem to be a blowout on paper; UCF didn’t win a single game last season, after all. Not even one. Michigan is in the middle of a resurgence under Jim Harbaugh. But look past last year’s records and, to the intelligent college football fan, there will be a lot of intrigue to this matchup.
First off this game is in Ann Arbor. The Big House. One of the most impressive atmospheres in the sport. Harbaugh has all of the sudden become public enemy No. 1 in college football coaching, perhaps even bumping Nick Saban from the top spot.
On the UCF sideline will be new coach Scott Frost. The rookie will be in just his second game after arriving in Orlando from Oregon, where he was offensive coordinator. This will be the first giant test of Frost and his system at UCF.
I bet you’ll have a lot of fans suddenly cheering for the Knights that day.
4. Louisville at Houston
Rewind to last season and the game at Louisville was viewed as Houston’s coming out party. The Cougars weren’t really supposed to win on the road, but survived a slugfest to beat the Cardinals 34-31. Greg Ward, Jr. stood out that day, throwing three touchdowns including the game-winner with 3:09 left to go. Louisville ended up a pedestrian 8-5 while Houston, well we all know what Houston did by now.
Fast forward to this season and the proverbial shoe is on the other foot. Louisville will be coming to Houston, and the Coogs will most certainly be the favorites. The most intriguing things about this game is timing. In 2015 these two teams met in September. This season the game isn’t until November 17. If everything goes according to plan, Houston could have an undefeated season on the line. Louisville would love to ruin that plan, and should be better in 2016 – so the Cardinals could be playing for something of their own.
Whatever happens leading up to this game, take the over; there’s a good chance both teams will light up the scoreboard in the rematch.
3. BYU at Cincinnati
You can call this one the “Big 12 Bowl.” Both of these teams have been mentioned as possible candidates for Big 12 expansion. Maybe the winner gets to stay in its conference while the loser has to go to the Big 12 and deal with Texas.
Just like Houston and Louisville, this game is another rematch of a “home and home” series. Last season BYU pummeled the Bearcats in the 4th quarter, outscoring UC 21-0 on the way to a 38-24 come-from-behind win.
This season the Cougars still have quarterback Tanner Mangum, who orchestrated the win over Cincy and is just a sophomore. Mangum was impressive filling in for dual-threat QB Taysom Hill, who was injured for the season in BYU’s opener in 2015. But there’s a big change in Provo; long-time coach Bronco Mendenhall suddenly left BYU for Virginia at the end of last season. Kalani Sitake has taken over – coming from Oregon State as defensive coordinator.
As for Cincinnati, they have a quarterback competition of its own despite having Gunner Kiel back. This is another late-season non-conference game (November 5), so here’s hoping both teams have it figured out by then.
2. Houston vs. Oklahoma
I know, you’re probably saying to yourself, how could this game not be the best non-conference game in the AAC? Don’t worry, we’ll get to that.
But first, this game is what you’ve been waiting for if you are a fan of Houston and the AAC. The Oklahoma Sooners, fresh off an appearance in the College Football Playoff, will matchup against the upstart Houston Cougars… in Houston… to open up the season. The game is being played at NRG stadium – home of the Houston Texans.
This should be a matchup of top-15 teams. Many people have already anointed the Sooners as a favorite to repeat its CFP performance of a year ago. Quarterback Baker Mayfield is already on the hot list of Heisman Trophy contenders. No one seems to be talking about how Bob Stoops has been a choke artist in big games.
For Houston, not to put too fine a point on it, this game is everything. If the Cougars really want to establish themselves as a football power and not just a mid-major flash in the pan, this is the game they must win. A loss doesn’t end their season; there would still be much to play for, but dreams of crashing the playoff party would be over immediately with a loss.
This battle of Oklahoma vs. a Texas school may actually be better than the “Red River Rivalry”, and it’s must-see TV. How could any game be more intriguing than this?
1. Army vs. Navy
As long as Army and Navy play each other, and they aren’t in the same conference, this will be always No. 1 on my list. It’s Army vs. Navy. The pageantry, the tradition, the Cadets and Midshipmen in the stands, the fact that people across the country watch this game even though they likely don’t know a single player on either roster.
This showdown pitting some of the finest young men in the country, many of whom will leave the football field for the battlefield, is arguably the greatest spectacle in all of sports.
This game is truly one where you “throw out the record books” since this game hasn’t meant anything substantial for either team in the college football landscape for decades. But that doesn’t make it any less intriguing or, awesome, for that matter. It’s called “America’s Game” for a reason.
Plus, this could be the final college football game the great Verne Lundquist ever calls.
The Army-Navy game. It doesn’t get much better than that.
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