The 2015 American Athletic Conference football season was the 25th NCAA Division I FBS football season of the American Athletic Conference (The American). The season was the third since the breakup of the former Big East Conference, and was the second season with the new College Football Playoff in place. Under the playoff system, The American was no longer an Automatic Qualifying conference (AQ), and is considered a member of the "Group of Five" (G5) with Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, Mountain West Conference, and the Sun Belt Conference. Whereas under the previous system the champion of the conference was guaranteed an automatic berth to a BCS bowl game, now the highest-ranked member of the G5 receives a bid to one of the six major bowls.About the College Football Playoff. ESPN.
The American consisted of 12 members: Cincinnati, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, SMU, South Florida, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa, UCF, UConn, and new football-only member Navy. In June 2015, the Collegiate Commissioner's Association announced that it will postpone final rankings until after the annual Army–Navy Game if Navy or Army are in contention for a spot in the semifinals or a New Years Six bowl. If Navy is the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion and loses to Army, it would be replaced by next highest-ranked Group of 5 champion in the New Years Six Bowl. This ultimately did not happen, as a late-season loss to Houston left them out of title contention.
Previous season Memphis, Cincinnati, and UCF were declared co-champions for the 2014 season, with each team having a conference record of 7–1. Memphis finished the season ranked 25th after defeating BYU 55–48 in 2OT in the Miami Beach Bowl. UCF was defeated by NC State in the St. Petersburg Bowl, and Virginia Tech defeated Cincinnati in the Military Bowl. With less than 11 minutes left on the game clock in the Armed Forces Bowl, Houston trailed Pittsburgh by 25 points, but the Cougars went on to win by a score of 35–34. It was the biggest fourth quarter comeback in bowl history. Florida defeated East Carolina 28–20 in the Birmingham Bowl.
American Athletic Conference Media Day The 2015 American Athletic Conference Media Day was held at the Hyatt Regency Newport in Newport, Rhode Island on August 3, 2015.American Kickoff Media Day Central
Preseason poll
East Division Cincinnati (29) 179 UCF (1) 135 Temple 116 East Carolina 105 South Florida 53 Connecticut 42
West Division Memphis (13) 153 Houston (10) 149 Navy (7) 148 Tulane 74 SMU 59 Tulsa 47 (First-Place Votes) Points
Predicted American Championship Game Winner Cincinnati 22 Memphis 5 Houston 2 UCF 1 Points
Head coaches
East Division Tommy Tuberville, Cincinnati – 3rd year Bob Diaco, Connecticut – 2nd year Ruffin McNeill, East Carolina – 5th year Willie Taggart, South Florida – 3rd year Matt Rhule, Temple – 3rd year George O'Leary (resigned after 8 games) / Danny Barrett (interim)*, UCF
West Division Tom Herman, Houston – 1st year Justin Fuente, Memphis – 4th year Ken Niumatalolo, Navy – 13th year Chad Morris, SMU – 1st year Curtis Johnson, Tulane – 4th year Philip Montgomery, Tulsa – 1st year
Coaching changes
Changes after 2014 season * On December 1, 2014, Chad Morris (formerly Offensive Coordinator at Clemson) was hired by SMU as its new head football coach, replacing June Jones, who resigned on September 8, 2014, citing "personal issues".
* On December 11, 2014, Philip Montgomery (previously Offensive Coordinator at Baylor) was hired by Tulsa as its new head football coach, replacing Bill Blankenship, who was fired December 2, 2014.
* On December 15, 2014, Tom Herman (formerly Offensive Coordinator at Ohio State) was hired by Houston as its new head football coach, to replace Tony Levine, who was fired after three seasons on December 8, 2014.
Changes during 2015 season * George O'Leary resigned as UCF's head football coach after twelve seasons. Quarterbacks coach Danny Barrett was named interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
Rankings
+ Legend Improvement in ranking Drop in ranking Not ranked previous week No change in ranking from previous week RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
Pre Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 FinalCincinnati AP RV RV C RV CFP Not released Connecticut AP C CFP Not released East Carolina AP C CFP Not released Houston AP RV RV RV RV 24 21 18 18 16 13 21 17 14 8C RV RV RV RV RV 22 19 18 16 14 21 18 16 8CFP Not released 25 24 19 19 18Memphis AP RV RV RV RV 18 16 15 25 RV RV RV C RV RV RV RV 25 22 17 16 16 25 RV RV RV RVCFP Not released 13 21 21 Navy AP RV RV RV RV 22 19 16 22 21 18C RV RV RV RV RV RV 23 19 15 22 22 18CFP Not released 20 16 15 23 21SMU AP C CFP Not released South Florida AP RV RV RV C CFP Not released Temple AP RV RV RV RV RV RV 22 21 23 21 RV 25 20 24 RVC RV RV RV RV RV RV 24 22 23 21 RV 24 21 24 RVCFP Not released 22 22 25 22 24Tulane AP C CFP Not released Tulsa AP C CFP Not released UCF AP RV C RV CFP Not released
Schedule
Index to colors and formattingThe American member wonThe American member lostThe American teams in bold
Week 1
Week 2
Date Bye WeekSeptember 12 Navy
Week 3
Date Bye WeekSeptember 19 Houston
Week 4
Date Bye WeekSeptember 26 South Florida Temple Tulane Tulsa
Week 5
Week 6
Date Bye WeekOctober 10 Cincinnati Memphis
Week 7
Date Bye WeekOctober 17 Navy SMU
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Date Bye WeekNovember 14 UCF Connecticut East Carolina
Week 12
Week 13
The American Championship
Week 15
Rankings are from AP Poll. All times Eastern Time Zone.
Bowl games Legend The American win The American loss
Bowl gameDateSiteTelevisionTime American teamOpponentScoreAttendanceMiami Beach BowlDecember 21Marlins Park • Miami, FLESPN2:30 p.m.South FloridaWKU35–4521,712Boca Raton BowlDecember 22FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FLESPN7:00 p.m.#24 Temple Toledo 17–3225,908Hawaii BowlDecember 24Aloha Stadium • Honolulu, HIESPN8:00 p.m.CincinnatiSan Diego State7–4222,793St. Petersburg BowlDecember 26Tropicana Field • St. Petersburg, FLESPN11:00 a.m.UConnMarshall10–1614,652Independence BowlDecember 26Independence Stadium • Shreveport, LAESPN5:45 p.m.TulsaVirginia Tech52–5531,289Military BowlDecember 28Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MDESPN2:30 p.m.#21 NavyPittsburgh44–2836,352Birmingham BowlDecember 30Legion Field • Birmingham, ALESPN12:00 p.m.MemphisAuburn10–3159,430New Years Six bowl gamesPeach BowlDecember 31Georgia Dome • Atlanta, GAESPN12:00 p.m.#18 Houston#9 Florida State38–2471,007 (Rankings from final CFP Poll; All times Eastern)
Selection of teams Bowl eligible Cincinnati, Connecticut, Houston, Memphis, Navy, South Florida, Temple, Tulsa Bowl-ineligible East Carolina, SMU, Tulane, UCF
Records against FBS conferences 2015 records against FBS conferences: ConferenceRecordACC6–4Big Ten1–1Big 121–3C-USA3–3Independents3–5MAC3–1Mountain West2–1Pac-120–1SEC2–4Sun Belt2–0Total22–23
The American vs. Power Conferences Legend The American win The American loss
Date Visitor Home Winning team OpponentConference September 3 Duke Tulane Duke ACC September 4 Baylor SMU Baylor Big 12 September 5 Penn State Temple Temple Big Ten September 12 USF Florida State Florida State ACC September 12 Houston Louisville Houston ACC September 12 Tulane Georgia Tech Georgia Tech ACC September 12 Memphis Kansas Memphis Big 12 September 12 UCF Stanford Stanford Pac 12 September 12 East Carolina Florida Florida SEC September 19 Tulsa Oklahoma Oklahoma Big 12 September 19 SMU TCU TCU Big 12 September 19 UConn Missouri Missouri SEC September 19 USF Maryland Maryland Big Ten September 26 East Carolina Virginia Tech East Carolina ACC September 26 UCF South Carolina South Carolina SEC October 1 Miami (FL) Cincinnati Cincinnati ACC October 10 Navy Notre Dame Notre Dame IND October 10 Syracuse USF USF ACC October 17 Ole Miss Memphis Memphis SEC October 31 Vanderbilt Houston Houston SEC October 31 Notre Dame Temple Notre Dame IND December 26‡ Virginia Tech Tulsa Virginia Tech ACC December 28‡ Pittsburgh Navy Navy ACC December 30‡ Auburn Memphis Auburn SEC December 31‡ Florida State Houston Houston ACC ‡This game was played at a neutral site.
Players of the Week Week Offensive Defensive Special teams Player Position Team Player Position Team Player Position Team Week 1 Keevan Lucas WR TUL Tyler Matakevich LB TEM Roderick Proctor WR MEM Week 2 Greg Ward Jr. QB HOU Tyler Matakevich LB TEM Brandon WilsonJahad Thomas CBRB HOUTEM Week 3 Keenan Reynolds QB NAVY Eric Wilson LB CIN Jake Elliott K MEM Week 4 Keenan Reynolds QB NAVY William Jackson III CB HOU Spencer Smith P MEM Week 5 Greg Ward Jr. QB HOU Montese Overton LB E CAR Nick Jacobs P MEM Week 6 Greg Ward Jr. QB HOU Steven Taylor LB HOU Arkeel Newsome RB CONN Week 7 Paxton Lynch QB MEM Josh Hawkins CB E CAR Demarcus Ayers WR HOU Week 8 Gunner Kiel QB CIN Steven Taylor LB HOU Jake Elliott K MEM Week 9 Chris Swain FB NAVY Jamar Summers CB CONN Alex Barta P NAVY Week 10 Marlon Mack RB USF Elandon Roberts LB HOU Andrew DiRocco KTUL Week 11 Noel Thomas WR CONN Deatrick Nichols CB USF Davis Plowman K ECU Week 12 Paxton Lynch QB MEM Tyler Matakevich LB TEMP Andrew Gantz K CIN
Awards and honors
Conference awards The following individuals received postseason honors as voted by the American Athletic Conference football coaches at the end of the season 2015 American Athletic Conference Individual Awards Award Recipient(s)Offensive Player of the YearKeenan Reynolds, QB, Navy Defensive Player of the YearTyler Matakevich, LB, TempleSpecial Teams Player of the Year Jake Elliott, K, MemphisRookie of the Year Tre'Quan Smith, WR, UCF Coach of the YearTom Herman, Houston Ken Niumatalolo, Navy 2015 All-American Athletic Conference Football Teams First Team Second Team Offense Defense Offense DefenseWR – Demarcus Ayers, HOU WR – Keyarris Garrett, TUL OT – Parker Ehinger, CIN OT – Taylor Fallin, MEM OG – E.K. Binns, NAVY OG – Eric Lofton, TEMP C – Kyle Friend, TEMP TE – Bryce Williams, ECU QB – Paxton Lynch, MEM QB – Keenan Reynolds, NAVY RB – Marlon Mack, USF RB – Jahad Thomas, TEMP K – Jake Elliott, MEM RS – Demarcus Ayers, HOUDL – Will Anthony, NAVY DL – Matt Ioannidis, TEMP DL – Nate D. Smith, TEMP DL – Tanzel Smart, TULN LB – Zeek Bigger, ECU LB – Elandon Roberts, HOU LB – Tyler Matakevich^, TEMP LB – Nico Marley, TULN CB – Jamar Summers, CONN CB – Deatrick Nichols, USF S – Trevon Stewart, HOU S – Alex Wells, TEMP P – Spencer Smith, MEMWR – Shaq Washington, CIN WR – Zay Jones, ECU OT – Alex Cooper, HOU OT – Dion Dawkins, TEMP OG – Ryan Leahy, CIN OG – Thor Jozwiak, USF C – Deyshawn Bond, CIN TE – Sean Price, USF QB – Greg Ward, HOU RB – Kenneth Farrow, HOU RB – Chris Swain, NAVY K – Andrew Gantz, CIN RS – Rodney Adams, USFDL – Silverberry Mouhon, CIN DL – Julian Campenni, CONN DL – B.J. Singleton, HOU DL – Eric Lee, USF DL – Eric Wilson, CIN LB – Montese Overton, ECU LB – Steven Taylor, HOU LB – Auggie Sanchez, USF CB – William Jackson III, HOU CB – Sean Chandler, TEMP S – Andrew Adams, CONN S – Adrian McDonald, HOU P – Caleb Houston, UCF P – Mattias Ciabatti, USF ^ - denotes unanimous selection Additional players added to the All-American teams due to ties in the voting
NFL draft The following list includes all AAC players who were drafted in the 2016 NFL draft.
Player Position School DraftRound RoundPick OverallPick Team William Jackson III CB Houston 1 24 24 Cincinnati Bengals Paxton Lynch QB Memphis 1 26 26 Denver Broncos Tavon Young CB Temple 4 6 104 Baltimore Ravens Parker Ehinger OG Cincinnati 4 7 105 Kansas City Chiefs Chris Moore WR Cincinnati 4 9 107 Baltimore Ravens Matt Ioannidis DT Temple 5 13 152 Washington Redskins Keenan Reynolds RB Navy 6 7 182 Baltimore Ravens Elandon Roberts ILB Houston 6 39 214 New England Patriots DeMarcus Ayers WR Houston 7 8 229 Pittsburgh Steelers Tyler Matakevich OLB Temple 7 25 246 Pittsburgh Steelers
Attendance