2019 American Athletic Conference football season

The 2019 American Athletic Conference football season is the 28th NCAA Division I FBS Football season of the American Athletic Conference (The American). The season is the seventh since the former Big East Conference dissolved and became the American Athletic Conference and the sixth season of the College Football Playoff in place. The American is considered a member of the Group of Five (G5) together with Conference USA (C–USA), the Mid-American Conference (MAC), the Mountain West Conference and the Sun Belt Conference.

2019 American Athletic Conference football season
League	NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
Sport	Football
Duration	August 29, 2019 through January 2020
Number of teams	12
TV partner(s)	ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and CBS Sports Network
2020 NFL Draft
Top draft pick	Antonio Gibson (Memphis)
Picked by	Washington Redskins, 66th overall
Regular season
East champions	Cincinnati
East runners-up	UCF
West champions	Memphis Navy
West runners-up	SMU
The American Championship
Champions	Memphis
Runners-up	Cincinnati

2019 American Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
No. 21 Cincinnati xy		7	–	1					11	–	3
No. 24 UCF		6	–	2					10	–	3
Temple		5	–	3					8	–	5
South Florida		2	–	6					4	–	8
East Carolina		1	–	7					4	–	8
UConn		0	–	8					2	–	10
West Division
No. 17 Memphis xy$		7	–	1					12	–	2
No. 20 Navy x		7	–	1					11	–	2
SMU		6	–	2					10	–	3
Tulane		3	–	5					7	–	6
Houston		2	–	6					4	–	8
Tulsa		2	–	6					4	–	8
Championship: Memphis 29, Cincinnati 24
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

After winning their first twelve games of the season, UCF extended their school record winning streak to 25 consecutive games, dating back to the start of the 2017 season. The Knights also secured their second consecutive undefeated regular season and American Athletic Conference title by defeating Memphis in the 2018 AAC Championship game, a rematch of the 2017 game.^[1]

Seven teams participated in bowl games during the 2018 season; the league went 2–5.

Tulane defeated Louisiana 41–24 in the 2018 Cure Bowl.^[2] USF lost to Marshall, 38–20, in the Gasparilla Bowl.^[3] Memphis lost to Wake Forest 38–35 in the 2018 Birmingham Bowl.^[4] Houston lost to Army 70–14 in the Armed Forces Bowl.^[5] In this game, Army tied records for the largest victory margin and most points scored in an FBS bowl game.^[6] Temple lost to Duke 56–27 in the Independence Bowl.^[7] Cincinnati defeated Virginia Tech 35–31 in the Military Bowl.^[8]

In the New Year's Six Game, No. 8 UCF lost to No. 11 LSU 40–32 in the Fiesta Bowl.^[9]

Preseason

Impending departure of UConn

The most significant development in the conference during the 2019 preseason was the announcement that UConn would leave The American after the 2019–20 school year to join several of its former conference rivals in the current non-football iteration of the Big East Conference. The move was first reported on June 21, 2019, by a Boston-area sports news website and quickly picked up by national media outlets.^[10][11] On June 27, the Big East and UConn jointly confirmed the Huskies' impending conference move, but that announcement did not specify a date.^[12] The Huskies' Big East entrance date was confirmed for July 1, 2020 after UConn and The American reached a buyout agreement. At the time this agreement was announced, UConn also announced that its football team would become an FBS independent once it joined the Big East.^[13]

Recruiting classes

Rankings

Team	ESPN[14]	Rivals[15]	24/7[16]
Cincinnati		78	79
East Carolina		82	75
Houston		97	72
Memphis	70	59	66
Navy		82	123
SMU	65	69	69
South Florida	72	65	78
Temple			104
Tulane		91	95
Tulsa			109
UCF	50	55	57
UConn			126

American Athletic Conference Media Days

The American Athletic Conference conducted its 2019 American Athletic Conference media day on July 17 in Newport, Rhode Island.^[17]

Preseason Media Poll

The preseason Poll was released at the 2019 American Media Day on July 16, 2019.

East

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	UCF	169 (17)
2	Cincinnati	157 (11)
3	South Florida	107
4	Temple	101
5	East Carolina	66
6	UConn	30

West

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Memphis	165 (15)
2	Houston	162 (14)
3	Tulane	108
4	SMU	87 (1)
5	Navy	70
6	Tulsa	38

American Champion Voting

• UCF (12)
• Cincinnati (8)
• Memphis (6)
• Houston (4)

Head coaches

Coaching changes

On November 29, 2018, East Carolina fired head coach Scottie Montgomery. On December 3, 2018, ECU hired James Madison head coach Mike Houston as their new head coach.

On December 7, 2018, Geoff Collins left Temple to become head coach at Georgia Tech. On December 13, 2018, The Owls initially named Miami defensive coordinator Manny Diaz as the new head coach. However, on December 30, 2018, Diaz left to return to Miami as head coach after Mark Richt's retirement. On January 10, 2019 Temple announced Rod Carey as head coach.

On December 30, 2018 Major Applewhite was fired after a blowout loss in the 2018 Armed Forces Bowl. Houston replaced Applewhite by hiring Dana Holgorsen from West Virginia.

Coaches

Note: All stats current through the completion of the 2019 season

Team	Head coach	Years at school	Overall record	Record at school	AAC record
Cincinnati	Luke Fickell	3	32–20 (.615)	26–13 (.667)	15–9 (.625)
East Carolina	Mike Houston	1	84–33 (.718)	4–8 (.333)	1–7 (.125)
Houston	Dana Holgorsen	1	65–49 (.570)	4–8 (.333)	2–6 (.250)
Memphis	Mike Norvell	3	38–15 (.717)	38–15 (.717)	24–8 (.750)
Navy	Ken Niumatalolo	12	98–60 (.620)	98–60 (.620)	27–13 (.675)
SMU	Sonny Dykes	1	56–56 (.500)	15–11 (.577)	10–6 (.625)
South Florida	Charlie Strong	3	74–53 (.583)	21–16 (.568)	31–22 (.585)
Temple	Rod Carey	1	60–35 (.632)	8–5 (.615)	5–3 (.625)
Tulane	Willie Fritz	4	177–96 (.648)	23–27 (.460)	12–20 (.375)
Tulsa	Philip Montgomery	5	25–37 (.403)	25–37 (.403)	14–26 (.350)
UCF	Josh Heupel	2	22–4 (.846)	22–4 (.846)	14–2 (.875)
UConn	Randy Edsall	15	102–134 (.432)	80–100 (.444)	24–48 (.333)

Source:^[18]

Rankings

Main article: 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

		Pre	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Final
Cincinnati	AP	RV						25	21	17	17	17	17	18	21	23	21
	C	RV						RV	21	18	17	17	17	17	21	22	21
	CFP	Not released									20	17	19	19	20	21
East Carolina	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Houston	AP
	C	RV
	CFP	Not released
Memphis	AP	RV						23	RV	24	19	18	18	17	16	15	17
	C	RV				RV	23т	20	RV	23	19	18	18	18	16	15	17
	CFP	Not released									21	18	18	18	17	17
Navy	AP									RV	25	21	RV	24	23	21	20
	C					RV		RV	RV	RV	25	21	RV	24	23	21	20
	CFP	Not released									24	23			24	23
SMU	AP					RV	24	21	19	15	23	20	21	RV	RV	RV	RV
	C				RV	RV	RV	22	19	14	23	20	21	RV	RV	RV	RV
	CFP	Not released									25		25
South Florida	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Temple	AP				RV
	C	RV			RV			RV	25			RV			RV
	CFP	Not released
Tulane	AP					RV	RV	RV	RV
	C					RV	RV	RV	RV
	CFP	Not released
Tulsa	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
UCF	AP	17	18	17	15	22	18	RV	RV	RV	RV					RV	24
	C	17т	17	16	16	23	19	RV	RV	RV	RV				RV	RV	24
	CFP	Not released
UConn	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released

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
т		Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

Schedule

Index to colors and formatting
American member won
American member lost
American teams in bold

Regular season

The regular season began on August 29, 2019, and will end on December 14. As a result of the calendar, all teams except Navy will have two bye weeks.

Week 1

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
August 29	7:00 p.m.	UCLA	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPN	W 24–14	38,032
August 29	7:00 p.m.	Wagner	UConn	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	ESPN3	W 24–21	19,648
August 29	7:00 p.m.	Florida A&M	No. 17 UCF	Spectrum Stadium • Orlando, FL	CBSSN	W 62–0	44,073
August 29	7:00 p.m.	FIU	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ESPN3	W 42–14	16,361
August 30	7:15 p.m.	Tulsa	No. 18 Michigan State	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI	FS1	L 7–28	72,005
August 30	7:00 p.m.	No. 19 Wisconsin	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPN	L 0–49	46,704
August 31	12:00 p.m.	East Carolina	NC State	Carter–Finley Stadium • Raleigh, NC (rivalry)	ACCN	L 6–34	57,633
August 31	12:00 p.m.	Ole Miss	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN (rivalry)	ABC	W 15–10	44,107
August 31	12:00 p.m.	Bucknell	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPN3	W 56–12	26,378
August 31	3:30 p.m.	Holy Cross	Navy	Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	CBSSN	W 45–7	28,531
August 31	7:00 p.m.	SMU	Arkansas State	Centennial Bank Stadium • Jonesboro, AR	ESPN+	W 37–30	22,076
September 1	7:30 p.m.	Houston	No. 4 Oklahoma	Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, OK	ABC	L 31–49	84,534
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 2

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 7	11:00 a.m.	Southern	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	WMCTV	W 55–24	34,487
September 7	12:00 p.m.	Cincinnati	No. 5 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	ABC	L 0–42	104,089
September 7	2:00 p.m.	South Florida	Georgia Tech	Bobby Dodd Stadium • Atlanta, GA	ACCN	L 10–14	46,599
September 7	3:30 p.m.	Illinois	UConn	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	CBSSN	L 23–31	23,108
September 7	6:00 p.m.	Gardner–Webb	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPN3	W 48–9	34,118
September 7	7:00 p.m.	No. 17 UCF	Florida Atlantic	FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL	CBSSN	W 48–14	30,811
September 7	7:00 p.m.	North Texas	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX (Safeway Bowl)	ESPN3	W 49–27	22,766
September 7	7:30 p.m.	Tulane	No. 10 Auburn	Jordan–Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL (rivalry)	ESPN2	L 6–24	85,317
September 7	8:00 p.m.	Prairie View A&M	Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	ESPN3	W 37–17	29,360
September 7	8:00 p.m.	Tulsa	San Jose State	CEFCU Stadium • San Jose, CA	ESPN3	W 34–16	12,471
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
September 7	Navy	Temple

Week 3

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 13	9:15 p.m.	No. 20 Washington State	Houston	NRG Stadium • Houston, TX (Texas Kickoff)	ESPNU	L 24–31	40,523
September 14	12:00 p.m.	No. 21 Maryland	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	CBSSN	W 20–17	30,610
September 14	12:00 p.m.	Miami (OH)	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH (Victory Bell)	ESPNU	W 35–13	35,526
September 14	3:30 p.m.	Oklahoma State	Tulsa	H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK (rivalry)	ABC/ESPN/ESPN2	L 21–40	28,612
September 14	3:30 p.m.	East Carolina	Navy	Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	CBSSN	NAVY 42–10	30,707
September 14	3:30 p.m.	Stanford	No. 17 UCF	Spectrum Stadium • Orlando, FL	ABC/ESPN/ESPN2	W 42–27	45,008
September 14	3:30 p.m.	Memphis	South Alabama	Ladd–Peebles Stadium • Mobile, AL	ESPNU	W 42–6	12,373
September 14	3:30 p.m.	South Carolina State	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPN3	W 55–16	31,368
September 14	7:00 p.m.	Texas State	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX	ESPN3	W 47–17	17,469
September 14	7:30 p.m.	Missouri State	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ESPN3	W 58–6	18,746
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
September 14	UConn

Week 4

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 19	8:00 p.m.	Houston	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ESPN	TUL 38–31	21,032
September 21	12:00 p.m.	UConn	Indiana	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN	BTN	L 3–38	40,084
September 21	3:30 p.m.	No. 15 UCF	Pittsburgh	Heinz Field • Pittsburgh, PA	ABC	L 34–35	42,056
September 21	3:30 p.m.	SMU	No. 25 TCU	Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, TX (Battle for the Iron Skillet)	FS1	W 41–38	41,250
September 21	3:30 p.m.	Wyoming	Tulsa	H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	CBSSN	W 24–21	16,246
September 21	3:30 p.m.	Temple	Buffalo	UB Stadium • Buffalo, NY	ESPNU	L 22–38	17,621
September 21	6:00 p.m.	William & Mary	East Carolina	Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPN3	W 19–7	38,094
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
September 21	Cincinnati	Memphis	Navy	USF

Week 5

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 26	8:00 p.m.	Navy	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ESPN	MEM 35–23	33,909
September 28	3:30 p.m.	Georgia Tech	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	CBSSN	W 24–2	31,094
September 28	4:00 p.m.	SMU	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPNU	SMU 48–21	28,850
September 28	5:00 p.m.	Cincinnati	Marshall	Joan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, WV	CBSSN on Facebook	W 52–14	32,192
September 28	6:00 p.m.	East Carolina	Old Dominion	S.B. Ballard Stadium • Norfolk, VA	ESPN+	W 24–21	18,643
September 28	7:00 p.m.	UConn	No. 22 UCF	Spectrum Stadium • Orlando, FL (Civil Conflict)	CBSSN	UCF 56–21	44,164
September 28	8:00 p.m.	Houston	North Texas	Apogee Stadium • Denton, TX	CBSSN on Facebook	W 46–25	30,123
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
September 28	Tulane	Tulsa

Week 6

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 3	8:00 p.m.	Temple	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPN	TEM 27–17	33,253
October 4	8:00 p.m.	No. 18 UCF	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPN	CIN 27–24	40,121
October 5	12:00 p.m.	South Florida	UConn	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	CBSSN	USF 48–22	18,038
October 5	12:00 p.m.	Tulane	Army	Michie Stadium • West Point, NY	CBSSN	W 42–33	38,019
October 5	3:30 p.m.	Air Force	Navy	Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)	CBSSN	W 34–25	37,957
October 5	3:45 p.m.	Memphis	Louisiana–Monroe	Malone Stadium • Monroe, LA	ESPNU	W 52–33	17,143
October 5	7:30 p.m.	Tulsa	No. 24 SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX	ESPNU	SMU 43–37 3OT	28,142
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

*Note: The UConn/USF Kickoff was moved to noon as a safety precaution after receiving guidance from the Connecticut Department of Public Health regarding the mosquito-borne eastern equine encephalitis virus.^[19]

Date	Bye Week
October 5	Houston

Week 7

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 12	12:00 p.m.	No. 23 Memphis	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPN2	TEM 30–28	34,253
October 12	3:30 p.m.	No. 25 Cincinnati	Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	ESPN2	CIN 38–23	25,716
October 12	3:30 p.m.	BYU	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	CBSSN	W 27–23	35,375
October 12	3:45 p.m.	UConn	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ESPNU	TULN 49–7	17,040
October 12	7:30 p.m.	Navy	Tulsa	H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	ESPNU	NAV 45–17	17,951
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
October 12	East Carolina	SMU	UCF

Week 8

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 19	12:00 p.m.	Houston	UConn	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	ESPNU	HOU 24–17	19,760
October 19	3:30 p.m.	Temple	No. 19 SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX	ESPN2	SMU 45–21	23,132
October 19	3:30 p.m	South Florida	Navy	Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	CBSSN	NAV 35–3	29,774
October 19	3:30 p.m.	Tulsa	No. 21 Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, Ohio	ESPNU	CIN 24–13	33,209
October 19	7:00 p.m.	East Carolina	UCF	Spectrum Stadium • Orlando, FL (rivalry)	CBSSN	UCF 41–28	42,906
October 19	7:00 p.m.	Tulane	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ESPN2	MEM 47–17	30,221
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 9

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 24	8:30 p.m.	No. 16 SMU	Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX (rivalry)	ESPN	SMU 34–31	24,543
October 26	3:30 p.m.	UConn	UMass	Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium • Amherst, MA (rivalry)	NESN	W 56–35	12,234
October 26	3:30 p.m.	Tulane	Navy	Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	CBSSN	NAVY 41–38	31,118
October 26	3:45 p.m.	South Florida	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPNU	USF 45–20	33,088
October 26	7:00 p.m.	UCF	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPN2	UCF 63–21	29,949
October 26	7:00 p.m.	Memphis	Tulsa	Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	CBSSN	MEM 42–41	17,183
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
October 26	Cincinnati

Week 10

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 1	8:00 p.m.	Navy	UConn	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	ESPN2	NAVY 56–10	16,659
November 2	12:00 p.m.	Houston	UCF	Spectrum Stadium • Orlando, FL	ESPN2	UCF 44–29	41,361
November 2	4:00 p.m.	Tulsa	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ESPN2	TULN 38–26	27,417
November 2	7:00 p.m.	No. 17 Cincinnati	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	CBSSN	CIN 46–43	32,276
November 2	7:30 p.m.	No. 15 SMU	No. 24 Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ABC	MEM 54–48	59,506
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
November 2	South Florida	Temple

Week 11

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 7	8:00 p.m.	Temple	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPN	TEM 17–7	26,214
November 8	7:00 p.m.	UCF	Tulsa	H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	ESPN2	TUL 34–31	16,331
November 9	12:00 p.m.	East Carolina	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX	ESPNU	SMU 59–51	29,528
November 9	3:30 p.m.	UConn	No. 17 Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	CBSSN	CIN 48–3	38,919
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
November 9	Houston	Memphis	Navy	Tulane

Week 12

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 16	12:00 p.m.	Tulane	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPNU	TEM 29–21	27,850
November 16	2:30 p.m.	Navy	No. 16 Notre Dame	Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, IN (rivalry)	NBC	L 20–52	74,082
November 16	3:30 p.m.	No. 18 Memphis	Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	ESPN2	MEM 45–27	25,149
November 16	7:00 p.m.	No. 17 Cincinnati	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	CBSSN	CIN 20–17	29,112
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
November 16	East Carolina	SMU	UCF	UConn	Tulsa

Week 13

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 23	12:00 p.m.	UCF	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	CBSSN	UCF 34–31	21,032
November 23	12:00 p.m.	East Carolina	UConn	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	ESPN3	ECU 31–24	12,084
November 23	3:30 p.m.	No. 25 SMU	Navy	Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD (Gansz Trophy)	CBSSN	NAVY 35–28	33,732
November 23	4:00 p.m.	No. 18 Memphis	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPNU	MEM 49–10	25,136
November 23	7:00 p.m.	Temple	No. 19 Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPN2	CIN 15–13	30,101
November 23	7:30 p.m.	Houston	Tulsa	H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	ESPNU	HOU 24–14	16,120
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 14

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 29	3:30 p.m.	No. 19 Cincinnati	No. 18 Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ABC	MEM 24–34	36,472
November 29	8:00 p.m.	South Florida	UCF	Spectrum Stadium • Orlando, FL (War on I–4)	ESPN	UCF 34–7	45,217
November 30	12:00 p.m.	Tulsa	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	CBSSN	TUL 49–24	27,978
November 30	3:00 p.m.	UConn	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPNU	TEM 49–17	26,068
November 30	3:00 p.m.	Tulane	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX	ESPNU	SMU 37–20	20,731
November 30	7:00 p.m.	Navy	Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	ESPN2	NAVY 56–41	22,824
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 15 (American Athletic Conference Championship)

See also: 2019 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
December 7	3:30 p.m.	No. 20 Cincinnati	No. 17 Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ABC	MEM 29–24	33,008
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 16

Main article: Army–Navy Game

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
December 14	3:00 p.m.	Navy	Army	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)	CBS	W NAVY 31–7	68,705
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source:^[20]

Postseason

Bowl games

Legend
	American win
	American loss

See also: 2019–20 NCAA football bowl games

Bowl game	Date	Site	Television	Time (EST)	American team	Opponent	Score	Attendance
Boca Raton Bowl	December 21	FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL	ABC	3:30 p.m.	SMU	Florida Atlantic	28–52	23,187
Gasparilla Bowl	December 23	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPN	2:30 p.m.	UCF	Marshall	48–25	28,987
Military Bowl	December 27	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	ESPN	12:00 p.m.	Temple	North Carolina	13–55	24,242
Liberty Bowl	December 31	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ESPN	3:45 p.m.	No. 23 Navy	Kansas State	20–17	50,515
Birmingham Bowl	January 2, 2020	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL	ESPN	3:00 p.m.	No. 21 Cincinnati	Boston College	38–6	27,193
Armed Forces Bowl	January 4, 2020	Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, TX	ESPN	11:30 a.m.	Tulane	Southern Miss	30–13	38,513
New Year's Six Bowl
Cotton Bowl Classic	December 28	AT&T Stadium • Arlington, TX	ESPN	12:00 p.m.	No. 17 Memphis	No. 10 Penn State	39–53	54,828

Rankings are from AP Poll. All times Eastern. ^[21]

Selection of teams

• Bowl eligible: Cincinnati, Memphis, Navy, SMU, Temple, Tulane, UCF,
• Bowl-ineligible: Houston, East Carolina, South Florida, Tulsa, UConn

The American vs other conferences

The American vs Power 5 matchups

This is a list of games The American has scheduled versus power conference teams (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12, Notre Dame and SEC). Although the NCAA does not consider BYU a "Power Five" school, the ACC considers games against BYU as satisfying its "Power Five" scheduling requirement. Though the American does not consider BYU a power 5 team they consider them an equally strength opponent. All rankings are from the current AP Poll at the time of the game.

Date	Conference	Visitor	Home	Site	Score
August 29	Pac-12	UCLA	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	W 24–14
August 30	Big Ten	No. 19 Wisconsin	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	L 0–49
August 30	Big Ten	Tulsa	No. 18 Michigan State	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI	L 7–28
August 31	SEC	Ole Miss	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	W 15–10
August 31	ACC	East Carolina	NC State	Carter–Finley Stadium • Raleigh, NC	L 6–34
September 1	Big 12	Houston	No. 4 Oklahoma	Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, OK	L 31-49
September 7	Big Ten	Cincinnati	No. 5 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	L 0–42
September 7	ACC	South Florida	Georgia Tech	Bobby Dodd Stadium • Atlanta, GA	L 10–14
September 7	Big Ten	Illinois	UConn	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	L 23–31
September 7	SEC	Tulane	No. 10 Auburn	Jordan–Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL	L 6–24
September 13	Pac-12	Washington State	Houston	NRG Stadium • Houston, TX	L 24–31
September 14	Big Ten	Maryland	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	W 20–17
September 14	Pac-12	Stanford	UCF	Spectrum Stadium • Orlando, FL	W 42–27
September 14	Big 12	Oklahoma State	Tulsa	H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	L 21–40
September 21	Big 12	SMU	No. 25 TCU	Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, TX	W 41–38
September 21	Big Ten	UConn	Indiana	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN	L 3–38
September 21	ACC	No. 15 UCF	Pittsburgh	Heinz Field • Pittsburgh, PA	L 34–35
September 28	ACC	Georgia Tech	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	W 24–2
November 16	Independent	Navy	Notre Dame	Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN	L 20–52

The American vs Group of Five matchups

The following games include The American teams competing against teams from the C-USA, MAC, Mountain West or Sun Belt.

Date	Conference	Visitor	Home	Site	Score
August 29	C-USA	FIU	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	W 42–14
August 31	Sun Belt	SMU	Arkansas State	Centennial Bank Stadium • Jonesboro, AR	W 37–30
September 7	C-USA	No. 17 UCF	Florida Atlantic	FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL	W 48-14
September 7	Mountain West	San Jose State	Tulsa	CEFCU Stadium • San Jose, CA	W 34-16
September 7	C-USA	North Texas	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, TX	W 49-27
September 14	MAC	Miami (OH)	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	W 35–13
September 14	Sun Belt	Memphis	South Alabama	Ladd–Peebles Stadium • Mobile, AL	W 42–6
September 14	Sun Belt	Texas State	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, TX	W 47–17
September 21	MAC	Temple	Buffalo	UB Stadium • Buffalo, NY	L 22–38
September 21	Mountain West	Wyoming	Tulsa	Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	W 24–21
September 28	C-USA	Cincinnati	Marshall	Joan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, VA	W 52–14
September 28	C-USA	East Carolina	Old Dominion	S.B. Ballard Stadium • Norfolk, VA	W 24–21
September 28	C-USA	Houston	North Texas	Apogee Stadium • Denton, TX	W 46–25
October 5	Sun Belt	Memphis	Louisiana–Monroe	Malone Stadium • Monroe, LA	W 52–33
October 5	Mountain West	Air Force	Navy	Navy–Marines Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	W 34-25

The American vs FBS independents matchups

The following games include The American teams competing against FBS independents other than Notre Dame, which is universally considered a Power Five program, or BYU, which some but not all Power Five leagues consider to be a Power Five opponent for non-conference scheduling purposes. Of the remaining four independents, two are on American member schedules—Army and UMass.

Date	Visitor	Home	Site	Score
October 6	Tulane	Army	Mitchie Stadium • West Point, NY	W 42–33
October 12	BYU	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	W 27–23
October 26	UConn	UMass	Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium • Amherst, MA	W 56–35
December 14	Navy	Army	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	W 31–7

The American vs FCS matchups

Date	Visitor	Home	Site	Score
August 29	Wagner	UConn	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	W 24–21
August 29	Florida A&M	No. 17 UCF	Spectrum Stadium • Orlando, FL	W 62–0
August 31	Bucknell	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	W 56–12
August 31	Holy Cross	Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	W 45–7
September 7	Gardner–Webb	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, SC	W 48-7
September 7	Prairie View A&M	Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	W 37-17
September 7	Southern	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	W 55-24
September 14	South Carolina State	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	W 55–16
September 14	Missouri State	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	W 58–6
September 21	William & Mary	East Carolina	Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	W 19–7

Records against other conferences

Regular Season Power 5 Conferences Record ACC 1–3 Big Ten 1–5 Big 12 1–2 BYU/Notre Dame 1–1 Pac-12 2–1 SEC 1–1 Power 5 Total 7–13 Other FBS Conferences Record C–USA 6–0 Independents (Excluding BYU/Notre Dame) 2–0 MAC 1–1 Mountain West 3–0 Sun Belt 4–0 Other FBS Total 16–1 FCS Opponents Record Football Championship Subdivision 10–0 Total Non-Conference Record 33–14

Post Season Power Conferences 5 Record ACC 1–1 Big Ten 0–1 Big 12 1–0 BYU/Notre Dame 0–0 Pac-12 0–0 SEC 0–0 Power 5 Total 2–2 Other FBS Conferences Record C–USA 2–1 Independents (Excluding BYU/Notre Dame) 0–0 MAC 0–0 Mountain West 0–0 Sun Belt 0–0 Other FBS Total 2–1 Total Bowl Record 4–3

Awards and honors

Player of the week honors

Week		Offensive				Defensive				Specialist
		Player	Team	Position		Player	Team	Position		Player	Team	Position
Week 1 (Sept. 2)		Justin McMillan	Tulane	QB		Bryce Huff	Memphis	DE		C.J. Sanders	SMU	WR/KR
Week 2 (Sept. 9)		Xavier Jones	SMU	RB		Patrick Nelson	SMU	LB		Dalton Witherspoon	Houston	PK
Week 3 (Sept. 16)		Dillon Gabriel Malcolm Perry	UCF Navy	QB		Harrison Hand	Temple	CB		Adam Williams	Memphis	P
Week 4 (Sept. 23)		Jalen McCleskey	Tulane	WR		Cooper Edmiston	Tulsa	LB		Jake Verity	East Carolina	PK
Week 5 (Sept. 30)		Desmond Ridder Shane Buechele	Cincinnati SMU	QB		Benny Walls	Temple	S		Gabriel Rogers	Memphis	KR
Week 6 (Oct. 7)		James Proche	SMU	WR		Jarell White	Cincinnati	LB		James Smith	Cincinnati	P
Week 7 (Oct. 14)		Malcolm Perry (2)	Navy	QB		Ja'Von Hicks	Cincinnati	S		Will Mobley	Temple	PK
Week 8 (Oct. 21)		Kenneth Gainwell Shane Buechele (2)	Memphis SMU	RB QB		Jacob Springer	Navy	LB		Dane Roy	Houston	P
Week 9 (Oct. 28)		Kevin Mensah Jamale Carothers	UConn Navy	RB		Patrick Nelson (2)	SMU	LB		Bijan Nichols	Navy	PK
Week 10 (Nov. 4)		Antonio Gibson	Memphis	WR		P.J. Hall	Tulane	S		Riley Patterson	Memphis	PK
Week 11 (Nov. 11)		Tyler Snead	East Carolina	WR		Reggie Robinson	Tulsa	CB		Thomas Bennett	Tulsa	P
Week 12 (Nov. 18)		Brady White	Memphis	QB		Quincy Roche	Temple	DB		Sam Crosa	Cincinnati	PK
Week 13 (Nov. 25)		Malcolm Perry (2)	Navy	QB		Darrick Forrest	Cincinnati	S		Dane Roy (2)	Houston	P
Week 14 (Dec. 1)		Jamale Carothers	Navy	FB		Bryce Huff (2)	Memphis	DE		Chris Claybrooks	Memphis	CB/KR

American Athletic Individual Awards

The following individuals received postseason honors as voted by the American Athletic Conference football coaches at the end of the season

Award	Player	School
Offensive Player of the Year	Malcolm Perry, Sr, QB	Navy
Defensive Player of the Year	Quincy Roche, Jr, DL	Temple
Special Teams Player of the Year	Dane Roy, Sr., P Antonio Gibson, WR/PR	Houston Memphis
Rookie of the Year	Kenneth Gainwell, RB	Memphis
Coach of the Year	Ken Niumatalolo	Navy

All-conference teams

Position Player Team First Team Offense WR Gabe Davis, Jr. UCF WR Marquez Stevenson, Jr. Houston WR *James Proche, Sr. SMU OT Jake Brown, Sr. UCF OT Matt Peart, Sr. UConn OG Morgan James, Gr. Cincinnati OG David Forney, Sr. Navy C Matt Hennessy, Jr. Temple TE Josiah Deguara, Gr. Cincinnati QB Malcolm Perry, Sr. Navy QB Shane Buechele, Jr. SMU RB *Kenneth Gainwell, Fr. Memphis RB Xavier Jones, Sr. SMU First Team Defense DL Elijah Ponder, Jr. Cincinnati DL Ifeanyi Maijeh, So. Temple DL Quincy Roche, Jr. Temple DL Trevis Gipson, Sr. Tulsa LB Bryan Wright, Gr. Cincinnati LB Perry Young, Sr. Cincinnati LB Diego Fagot, So. Navy LB Patrick Nelson, Sr. SMU LB Shaun Bradley, Sr. Temple CB Sauce Gardner, Fr. Cincinnati CB Reggie Robinson, Sr. Tulsa S Richie Grant, Jr. UCF S Darrick Forrest, Jr. Cincinnati First Team Special Teams K Riley Patterson, Jr. Memphis P Dane Roy, Sr. Houston RS Antonio Gibson Memphis

Position Player Team Second Team Offense WR Damonte Coxie, Jr. Memphis WR Antonio Gibson Memphis WR Jaden Blue, So. Temple OT Josh Jones, Sr. Houston OT Jaylon Thomas, So. SMU OG Cole Schneider, So. UCF OG Jovahn Fair, Gr. Temple C Dustin Woodard, Sr. Memphis TE Joey Magnifico, Sr. Memphis TE Kylen Granson, Jr. SMU QB Brady White, Jr. Memphis RB Adrian Killins, Sr. UCF RB Michael Warren II, Jr. Cincinnati RB Shamari Brooks, Jr. Tulsa Second Team Defense DL Brendon Hayes, Sr. UCF DL Kendall Futrell, Sr. East Carolina DL Bryce Huff, Sr. Memphis DL Delontae Scott, Sr. SMU LB Nate Evans, Sr. UCF LB Patrick Johnson, Jr. Tulane LB Cooper Edmiston, Sr. Tulsa LB Zaven Collins, So. Tulsa CB Aaron Robinson, Jr. UCF CB KJ Sails, Jr. South Florida S Grant Stuard, Jr. Houston S Rodney Clemons, Sr. SMU Second Team Special Teams K Jake Verity, Jr. East Carolina P James Smith, Jr. Cincinnati RS C. J. Sanders, Sr. SMU

*Denotes Unanimous Selection

All Conference Honorable Mentions:

• UCF: Otis Anderson Jr. (RB), Nevelle Clarke (CB), Tre Nixon (WR), Kenny Turnier (DL)
• Cincinnati: Sam Crosa (K), Ja'Von Hicks (S)
• ECU: CJ Johnson (WR), D'Ante Smith (OT)
• Memphis: T.J. Carter (CB), Joseph Dorceus (DL), O'Bryan Goodson (DL), Austin Hall (LB), Dylan Parham (OG)
• Navy: Billy Honaker (OT), Jacob Springer (LB)
• South Florida: Mitchell Wilcox (TE)
• Tulane: Corey Dublin (OG), BoPete Keyes (CB), P.J. Hall (S)

All-Americans

For the complete All-America selections, see 2019 College Football All-America Team.

The 2019 College Football All-America Teams are composed of the following College Football All-American first teams chosen by the following selector organizations: Associated Press (AP), Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Walter Camp Foundation (WCFF), The Sporting News (TSN), Sports Illustrated (SI), USA Today (USAT) ESPN, CBS Sports (CBS), FOX Sports (FOX) College Football News (CFN), Bleacher Report (BR), Scout.com, Phil Steele (PS), SB Nation (SB), Athlon Sports, Pro Football Focus (PFF) and Yahoo! Sports (Yahoo!).

Currently, the NCAA compiles consensus all-America teams in the sports of Division I-FBS football and Division I men's basketball using a point system computed from All-America teams named by coaches associations or media sources. The system consists of three points for a first-team honor, two points for second-team honor, and one point for third-team honor. Honorable mention and fourth team or lower recognitions are not accorded any points. Football consensus teams are compiled by position and the player accumulating the most points at each position is named first team consensus all-American. Currently, the NCAA recognizes All-Americans selected by the AP, AFCA, FWAA, TSN, and the WCFF to determine Consensus and Unanimous All-Americans. Any player named to the First Team by all five of the NCAA-recognized selectors is deemed a Unanimous All-American.^[22][23]

Position	Player	School	Selector	Unanimous	Consensus
First Team All-Americans
DL	Quincy Roche	Temple	SI

Position	Player	School	Selector	Unanimous	Consensus
Second Team All-Americans
WR	James Proche	SMU	FWAA
C	Matt Hennessy	Temple	USAT
AP	Kenneth Gainwell	Memphis	AFCA, TSN
DL	Quincy Roche	Temple	USAT, TSN

Position	Player	School	Selector	Unanimous	Consensus
Third Team All-Americans
C	Matt Hennessy	Temple	AP

*AFCA All-America Team (AFCA)
*Walter Camp Football Foundation All-America Team (WCFF)
*Associated Press All-America Team (AP)
*The Sporting News All-America Team (TSN)
*Football Writers Association of America All-America Team (FWAA)
*Sports Illustrated All-America Team (SI)
*Bleacher Report All-America Team (BR)
*College Football News All-America Team (CFN)
*ESPN All-America Team (ESPN)
*CBS Sports All-America Team (CBS)
*Athlon Sports All-America Team (Athlon)

National award winners

2019 College Football Award Winners

NFL Draft

The following list includes all AAC players who were drafted in the 2020 NFL draft.

Round #	Pick #	NFL Team	Player	Position	College
3	66	Washington Redskins	Antonio Gibson	RB	Memphis
3	72	Arizona Cardinals	Josh Jones	OT	Houston
3	78	Atlanta Falcons	Matt Hennessy	C	Temple
3	94	Green Bay Packers	Josiah Deguara	TE	Cincinnati
3	99	New York Giants	Matt Peart	OT	UConn
4	123	Dallas Cowboys	Reggie Robinson	CB	Tulsa
4	128	Buffalo Bills	Gabe Davis	WR	UCF
5	155	Chicago Bears	Trevis Gipson	OLB	Tulsa
5	169	Minnesota Vikings	Harrison Hand	CB	Temple
5	173	Chicago Bears	Darnell Mooney	WR	Tulane
6	196	Philadelphia Eagles	Shaun Bradley	LB	Temple
6	201	Baltimore Ravens	James Proche	WR	SMU
7	223	Jacksonville Jaguars	Chris Claybrooks	CB	Memphis
7	230	New England Patriots	Dustin Woodard	C	Memphis
7	237	Kansas City Chiefs	BoPete Keyes	CB	Tulane
7	241	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Chapelle Russell	OLB	Temple
7	246	Miami Dolphins	Malcolm Perry	RB	Navy