Well, there wasn't much discussion of the first week's post on the Mountain West. It's not a conference we talk much about, to be sure, and with 9 FCS games on the schedule, it wasn't all that interesting to boot. (Or it could be that there just isn't any interest by our board in discussing other conferences.)

But I'm going to finish what I started and post the first week for all G5 conferences between now and the first official "Lines in the Sand" pick-em contest scheduled for August 23. This week, the American Athletic Conference - AAC. Again, top-heavy with FCS openers, but some very interesting match-ups that include our Conference, as well.

First weeks games for the AAC include:

Missouri State @ Memphis
Alabama A@M @ Cincinnati
FIU @ UCF
Tennessee Tech @ Houston
Colgate @ Navy
Penn State @ Temple
Towson @ East Carolina
Florida A@M @ USF
Duke @ Tulane
Villanova @ Connecticut
Baylor @ SMU
FAU @ Tulsa

Enjoy!

The AAC presented a couple challeging entries, worthy of discussion. My personal picks include the following:

Missouri State @ Memphis - The Tigers are certainly on a roll, and Missouri State not likely to prove much of a challenge.
Alabama A@M @ Cincinnati - Likely to be a blow out win for Bearcats
FIU @ UCF - unless the Kights are sleeping into this one, should beat an improved FIU team.
Tennessee Tech @ Houston - Blowout likely. TT couldn't score last year.
Colgate @ Navy - Don't expect the Midshipmen to stumble here
Penn State @ Temple - My upset pick. If improving Owls win this they will be in the hunt for AAC crown, in my opinion.
Towson @ East Carolina - Should be easy win, although Towson has been decent in recent years. Runner up to NDSU in 2013.
Florida A@M @ USF - They shouldn't lose, but if Bulls lose to Rattlers, Taggart's history. First of many must win games for Bulls.
Duke @ Tulane - Excellent opening home game for the Green Wave, but Duke's running game will win out.
Villanova @ Connecticut - Villanova is NO easy out for the Huskies, but I'll pick it for the Home team. But don't be surprised at the closeness.
Baylor @ SMU - OUch! Tough home opener for the Mustangs
FAU @ Tulsa - Another close, tough game, but I think the Owls are a bit better to offset home field advantage.

If I had to bet

Penn St 16 returning starters wins by 7

Tulsa 17 returning starters and home field makes it too close to call

jmo

At worse AAC goes 8-4 week one. At best 10-2. My guess is 9-3