The AAC has had more AP Top 25 FB teams than some Power conferences have had.
.
As most CFB fans know, the Big East FB Conference was considered the equivalent of a "Power" Conference, by virtue of its long-running status as one of the nation's six BCS Playoff Conferences.
However, the American Athletic Conference has had more AP Top 25 teams in the past five years than The Big East Conference had over the course of its existence, from 1991 to 2012:
Big East Average (1991-2012): 2.32 Final AP Top 25 Teams
AAC Average (2015-2019): 2.50 Final AP Top 25 Teams
.
Further, the FB track record of AAC since 2015 is highly comparable with that of the Atlantic Coast Conference (2.50 vs. 2.63 Final AP Top 25 teams per year) - - since 1980.
Moreover, with an average of 3 Final AP Top 25 teams per year since 2017, the AAC has had as many or more Final AP Top 25 teams per year as the PAC-12 (2.33 Top 25 teams) Big-12 (3 Top 25 teams)) have had in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
.
Question: In terms of the number of these Top 25 AP rankings, on what basis can it be disputed that, over the past three years, the AAC has become a de facto, if not a de jure official FB "power conference?"
.
=============================================
Here's a year-by-year breakdown over the past five years of the AAC
and the last five years of the Big East FB Conference:
=============================================
.
AAC (2015-2019):
2015
Final AP Top 25 Teams: Houston (#8), Navy (#18)
Highest AP Rankings:
Houston (#8), Memphis (#15), Navy (#16), Temple (#20)
2016
Final AP Top 25 Teams: USF (#19)
Highest AP Rankings:
Houston (#6), Navy (#20), USF (#19), Temple (#23)
2017
Final AP Top 25 Teams: UCF (#6), USF (#21), Memphis (#25)
Highest AP Rankings:
UCF (#6), USF (#16), Memphis (#16), Navy (#25)
2018
Final AP Top 25 Teams: UCF (#11), Cincinnati (#24)
Highest AP Rankings:
UCF (#7), Houston (#17), Cincinnati (#19), USF (#21)
2019
Final AP Top 25: Memphis (#17), Navy (#20), Cincy (#21), UCF #24)
Highest AP Rankings:
Memphis (#15), UCF (#15), SMU (#15), Cincy (#17), Navy (#20)
.
Average Number of Final AP Top 25 Teams Per Year: 2.5
Average Number of Teams Per/Yr. That Appeared in the AP Top 25: 4.2
=============================================
.
Big East Conference (last 5 seasons, 2008-2012)
2008
Final AP Top 25 Teams: Cincinnati (#17), WVA (#23)
Highest AP Rankings:
WVA (#8), USF (#10), Cincy (#12), Pitt (#17), UConn (#24)
2009
Final AP Top 25 Teams: Cincy (#8), Pitt (#15), WVA (#25)
Highest AP Rankings:
Cincy (#4), Pitt (#8), WVA (#18), USF (#21), Rutgers (#25)
2010
Final AP Top 25 Teams: None.
Highest AP Rankings:
Pitt (#15), WVA (#20), Connecticut (#25)
2011
Final AP Top 25 Teams: WVU (#17), Cincinnati (#25)
Highest AP Rankings:
WVU (#11), USF (#16), Cincinnati (#23)
2012
Final AP Top 25 Teams: Louisville (#13)
Highest AP Rankings:
Louisville (#11), Rutgers (#18), Cincy (#21)
.
Average Number of Final AP Top 25 Teams Per Year: 1.6
Average Number of Teams Per/Yr. That Appeared in the AP Top 25: 3.8
(This post was last modified: 09-04-2020 11:42 PM by jedclampett.)
|