AAC Power Rankings: Week 13
Houston stumbled on the road against UConn (yes, UConn) and saw their perfect season go up in smoke, but a win this weekend against Navy still puts them in the conference title game. Navy, for it’s part, continued to roll, blowing out Tulsa in Tulsa and moving up the Playoff Rankings to #15. That showdown for the West division title, a league semifinal if you will, takes place on Black Friday at Noon in Houston. Temple roughed up Paxton Lynch and shut down Memphis to stay a game ahead of charging USF for the East division lead (and no, I don’t really want to talk about USF’s curb-stomping of the Bearcats, but I guess I have to). Temple takes the East with a win or a USF loss to USF (so they better beat UConn at home on Saturday night). Ideally for the AAC, it’ll be a Temple-Navy or Temple-Houston league title game, thus ensuring that the AAC champion will be the highest ranked champion of a Group of Five conference and take the New Years Six bowl spot. A USF appearance wouldn’t be terrible, but a USF win in the title game would likely cost the league a shot at the access bowl and the millions of accompanying TV dollars.
Here are the rankings:
1. team. 2394. The Mids led 23-7 going into halftime and won it going away. Keenan Reynolds ran for another TD and only had to throw 3 passes, as Navy triple-optioned their way to 469 yards rushing. They face a tough test this week on the road at Houston, but have to be the favorites to win that game and the league title game at this point. A win against Houston means that Navy will host the title game in Annapolis.. (9-1, 7-0 AAC). Previous: 2nd. #15 Navy Midshipmen
#25 Temple Owls. 3. team. 2399. After back-to-back shaky performances, Temple’s defense got back to being the Temple defense we’ve come to expect. They battered Paxton Lynch and held Memphis to just 232 total yards, and were able to run the ball effectively to control the clock and pull away. Temple moved back into the AP poll, and if they can beat UConn at home and then win the league title, they still have a shot at playing in a New Years Six bowl.. (9-2, 6-1 AAC). Previous: 4th