Bearcats Tied For First Place After Wild Weekend in The American

Just when we thought we knew what to expect from this conference, the race in The American was completely shaken up by not one but two big upsets.  The league race is now 100% up for grabs, with five teams tied in the loss column.  East Carolina and Central Florida, who seemed destined to play in a de facto conference championship game on Dec. 4, both stubbed their toes in games you would have thought they were very likely, if not sure to win.

The mighty Pirates of ECU dominated every statistical category on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia.  Well, every statistical category but one.  They lost five fumbles – yes, five.  So despite outgaining Temple 428-135 and forcing another poor showing by the Owls’ PJ Walker, the Pirates were stunned by a Temple team that hasn’t played well for several weeks now.  The Central Florida Knights seemed to have even more of a lock this weekend, visiting 1-6 league doormat UConn.  But UCF couldn’t seem to hold on to the football, either.  On a cold day in Hartford, Knights QB Justin Holman tossed four picks – all four coming in UCF’s own territory.  The Huskies anemic offense was jump-started by short field after short field, and then the defense was able to hang on for dear life to preserve a 37-29 upset win.  UCF buried itself on it’s final drive with an Offensive Pass Interference penalty that forced a drive-killing 3rd-and-20 with under 1:00 to play.

So in the span of about four hours on Saturday afternoon, the two frontrunners saw their inside tracks disintegrate, and we now have a five-team race in The American.  And one of those teams in the Cincinnati Bearcats.  Three short weeks ago, you wouldn’t have believed that this team had any shot at an AAC championship.  The Bearcats looked like a dead team walking.  The defense couldn’t stop anybody and the offense was struggling to maintain possession of the ball.  But here they are.  And they are improving every week while the rest of the league is struggling.  A huge game with ECU looms on the other side of next weekend’s bye.

The Bearcats do not control their own destiny for an outright league title, but now that the AAC lacks an automatic bid to a major bowl, it really doesn’t matter.  If this team wins out, it will at least share the AAC crown.  With the highest ranked mid-major conference champion guaranteed a bid to a New Years’ Six bowl, it looked as if the league would be well represented by East Carolina, who was ranked #23 by the Playoff Selection Committee.  But the Pirates have now blown that opportunity for themselves and the league as a whole.  The second loss puts them squarely behind 8-0 Marshall, who may coast to a 13-0 league championship in a weak C-USA.  Even if Marshall loses, 7-1 Colorado State and 6-2 Boise State might be above ECU in the Selection Committee’s New Years’ Six bowl conversations.  It also shakes up the potential AAC bowl assignments for everyone else (more on that in weeks to come).

With three losses, the Bearcats have no chance at consideration for an NY6 bowl, but a conference title would position this team better for this year’s bowl game, build respect and momentum for next year, and obviously be a huge point of pride.  Winning out would guarantee UC at least a share of the title.  In order to win the league outright, UC would need to win out (beating ECU and Houston in the process) and have Memphis and UCF lose a game.  It sure is going to be a lot more fun next year, when The American will begin playing a championship game.  For now, everyone in Clifton will be huge Temple Owls fans next Friday night (when they host Memphis) and unabashed ECU Purple Pirate fans when they host UCF in the previously mentioned big game/season finale.