This season, reporters from every American Athletic Conference team are joining forces to compile weekly conference power rankings, with a sentence or two of analysis on each team. Here are the Week 1 rankings (Correspondent Jeff Odom votes for the Tampa Bay Times).
1. Houston (1-0): With its 33-23 shocker over Oklahoma, the Cougars made arguably the loudest statement of the opening weekend that they are serious contenders to become the first Group of Five team to make the College Football Playoff. The win catapulted UH to No. 6 in the Associated Press’ poll, the school's highest ranking in 25 years. Quarterback Greg Ward Jr. is nursing a shoulder injury and likely won't play much Saturday against Football Championship Subdivision school Lamar in what amounts to a tune-up for the Sept. 15 conference-opener at Cincinnati. -- Joseph Duarte, The Houston Chronicle
2. South Florida (1-0): Entering a season of high expectations, the Bulls picked up where they left off in 2015, opening with a 56-20 rout of Towson. Though USF was slow out of the gate with some early hiccups, including an erratic start by junior quarterback Quinton Flowers and a hit that knocked star tailback Marlon Mack out of the game in the second quarter, it eventually settled down to cruise in the second half. The first true test for the Bulls will come Saturday night when they welcome Northern Illinois to Tampa. -- Jeff Odom, Tampa Bay Times
3. Navy (1-0): Navy's offense looked in midseason form, rolling up 550 total yards in a 52-16 rout of Fordham, an FCS school. It was a costly win for the Midshipmen as starting quarterback Tago Smith suffered a knee season-ending knee injury. Smith had performed extremely well in the first quarter, rushing for 97 yards and two touchdowns while completing a 45-yard pass to set up another score. Smith got hurt early in the second quarter when his knee buckled as he planted at the end of a 22-yard run. Junior fullback Chris High made his first career start a memorable one, rushing for 176 yards and two touchdowns. High showed breakaway speed on a 70-yard scoring scamper. Navy's defense showed some leaks, allowing Fordham to amass 464 total yards. However, the Mids stiffened in the red zone, forcing a pair of field goals and two turnovers on downs. Will Worth will start at quarterback in the AAC opener against Connecticut in Annapolis. -- Bill Wagner, Baltimore Sun Media Group
4. Cincinnati (1-0): The Bearcats did not lead until 2:42 remained in the third quarter, but they rallied for a 28-7 win over UT Martin in the opener. The UC defense shut out UT Martin after the game’s first drive, and Hayden Moore threw for 260 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. UC this week visits Purdue. The Bearcats have not beaten a current Big Ten team on the road since 1957 (Indiana), going 0-11 since. -- Tom Groeschen, Cincinnati Enquirer
5. Memphis (1-0): With a 35-17 win over SEMO last week, Mike Norvell became the first Tigers coach to win his debut since Rey Dempsey in 1984. Yes, it was against an FCS team. And yes, Memphis needs to bolster its running game and take better care of the ball moving forward. But a win is a win, and the Tigers were happy to get one here heading into their bye week, with a Sept. 17 meeting against Kansas to follow. -- Tom Schad, The Commercial Appeal
Read the rest of the rankings here:
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/bulls/aac-...-1/2292514
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AAC Sports Reporters Combined Power Rankings
