For 7 of the past 8 seasons, the American’s champion earned the Access bid in the NY6 bowls. The only exception was 2016, when Western Michigan was 13-0 and was ranked #15 (CFP), vs. Temple who was 10-3 and ranked #24. (Understandable, although honestly I think the Owls would’ve won head-to-head until Matt Rhule left for Baylor).

All rankings are the final CFP rankings, announced after the CCG’s but before the bowls:

In 2015, Houston had 1 loss and was ranked #15
In 2019, Memphis had 1 loss and was ranked #17
In 2022, Tulane had 2 losses and was ranked #16

In 2017, UCF had 0 losses and was ranked #12
In 2018, UCF had 0 losses and was ranked #8
In 2020, Cincinnati had 0 losses and was ranked #8
In 2021, Cincinnati had 0 losses and was ranked #4

To me, the year-by-year progression shows an increasing amount of respect for the AAC, in the eyes of the CFP Committee. Of course, UC/UH/UCF aren’t going to be in this league from now on. It will be up to the teams who are here to build on this foundation.

2016 they made the right call - if Temple had not have lost to Army maybe a different story.

I agree, the league got more respect as time went on.

With the Expanded CFP, AAC should be among the Top 6 Champions every season. With the Top 6 Champions rule, the Power 6 mantra can finally come to fruition.

IIRC, wasn't the committee openly talking about potentially putting a 2 loss Navy team in over WMU in 2016 until Navy lost to Temple in the CCG? Want to say Navy was ranked like #17 before losing to Temple in that championship game

(01-16-2023 10:22 AM)Nameless Wrote:  IIRC, wasn't the committee openly talking about potentially putting a 2 loss Navy team in over WMU in 2016 until Navy lost to Temple in the CCG? Want to say Navy was ranked like #17 before losing to Temple in that championship game

You have the scenario correct.
Going in to the CCGs, undefeated WMU was #17 and Navy was #19.

Committee chair/spokesperson Kirby Hocutt said:

Quote:Navy has three what the Selection Committee would look at quality wins over Houston, Memphis and Tulsa...Still considerable games in front of the Selection Committee before our final rankings there involving those two teams and the placement of the highest ranked team in the Cotton Bowl.

http://www.asapsports.com/show_conference.php?id=125775

He re-confirmed the scheduled post-Army-Navy conference call - two loss AAC team was definitely a possibility to jump the undefeated MAC champ.

The CFP Committee had Temple at #24 and Navy at #25 after Temple's CCG win.

(01-16-2023 05:50 AM)knightz03 Wrote:  2016 they made the right call - if Temple had not have lost to Army maybe a different story.

Agreed.

Temple that year also played a close game (34-27) against very good (#7 and B1G Champion) Penn State team. If either that or the Army game had turned out different…

Another interesting what-if to me, is that if Temple had, in fact, gotten the Access slot in 2016, would Rhule have still left at that exact time? It’s one thing to bail on the Military Bowl, but would he have done that with an NY6 opportunity just a few days away?

The 2015 season put the league on the map. Still think it was the best year the league ever had.

Great run! Congrats to Tulane and Memphis showing AAC will still be in the game. 2 out of the last 6 years was AAC 2023 and beyond teams.

Now it will mostly be a 3 way race between AAC, MWC and SBC champions.

Kind of like how close MWC was to being “AQ” until realignment took their 3 best teams away.

Helped Boise, Fresno, Nevada, Utah St, Hawaii and San Jose. Just like it will help Charlotte, FAU, UAB, UNT, UTSA and Rice.

(01-17-2023 09:30 AM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  The 2015 season put the league on the map. Still think it was the best year the league ever had.

Was that the year that the AAC had 3-4 top 25 teams at one point?

(01-17-2023 03:55 PM)Fresno Fanatic Wrote:  Great run! Congrats to Tulane and Memphis showing AAC will still be in the game. 2 out of the last 6 years was AAC 2023 and beyond teams.

Now it will mostly be a 3 way race between AAC, MWC and SBC champions.

Kind of like how close MWC was to being “AQ” until realignment took their 3 best teams away.

Helped Boise, Fresno, Nevada, Utah St, Hawaii and San Jose. Just like it will help Charlotte, FAU, UAB, UNT, UTSA and Rice.

Seen you guys play in Reno. Go Wolfpack! Fresno has a really good program.

(01-18-2023 10:11 AM)Niner National Wrote:  

(01-17-2023 09:30 AM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  The 2015 season put the league on the map. Still think it was the best year the league ever had.

Was that the year that the AAC had 3-4 top 25 teams at one point?

Yup Navy, Temple, UH, and Memphis were all ranked at one point. The league was also on fire scalping some very respectable P5 programs including Louisville, Ole Miss, Penn St, Pitt, and FSU.

(01-17-2023 09:30 AM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  The 2015 season put the league on the map. Still think it was the best year the league ever had.

The first year of the AAC in 2013....UCF went 8-0 in conf play...obviously won the conf and then beat #6 Big 12 Champion Baylor in the BCS Fiesta Bowl to finish 12-1 that season.

Only loss that season for UCF was a 3 pt loss to South Carolina...who finished the season ranked #4.

Houston beat a good FSU team in the Peach Bowl that didn't even win its division that season....as UH blew a magical season by losing to 4-4 UCONN in conf play.

(01-18-2023 11:29 AM)KnightLight Wrote:  

(01-17-2023 09:30 AM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  The 2015 season put the league on the map. Still think it was the best year the league ever had.

The first year of the AAC in 2013....UCF went 8-0 in conf play...obviously won the conf and then beat #6 Big 12 Champion Baylor in the BCS Fiesta Bowl to finish 12-1 that season.

Only loss that season for UCF was a 3 pt loss to South Carolina...who finished the season ranked #4.

Houston beat a good FSU team in the Peach Bowl that didn't even win its division that season....as UH blew a magical season by losing to 4-4 UCONN in conf play.

^ this. UCF also went on the road and dealt #8 Louisville who was the heavy favorite to win the conference that year their only loss.

(01-18-2023 11:20 AM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  

(01-18-2023 10:11 AM)Niner National Wrote:  

(01-17-2023 09:30 AM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  The 2015 season put the league on the map. Still think it was the best year the league ever had.

Was that the year that the AAC had 3-4 top 25 teams at one point?

Yup Navy, Temple, UH, and Memphis were all ranked at one point. The league was also on fire scalping some very respectable P5 programs including Louisville, Ole Miss, Penn St, Pitt, and FSU.

Haha. I guess y'all forgot about the good USF teams. USF went 11-2 and 10-2 in back to back years, beating power 5 opponents in bowl games and finishing ranked both years. I know it's hard to believe as bad as USF has been recently.

IMO, the 11-2 USF team was the best team in AAC that year (finished tied 7-1 with Temple in conf), and would have won a NY6 bowl, if not for losing at Temple. If only Quinton Flowers hadn't gotten hurt and the backup not throw a pick 6 among other things. Oh well, I know what you're gonna say. Should have found a way to win anyways and you're right. But in my opinion (everyone is entitled to one), USF was hands down the most talented team in AAC that year and was scoring somewhere around 45 points a game for the entire year. Too lazy to look up averages but it was something like that.

USF scored 50 points in one half vs. Cincinnati one game and was absolutely rolling on offense better than any USF team I have ever seen before and since.

(01-18-2023 11:20 AM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  

(01-18-2023 10:11 AM)Niner National Wrote:  

(01-17-2023 09:30 AM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  The 2015 season put the league on the map. Still think it was the best year the league ever had.

Was that the year that the AAC had 3-4 top 25 teams at one point?

Yup Navy, Temple, UH, and Memphis were all ranked at one point. The league was also on fire scalping some very respectable P5 programs including Louisville, Ole Miss, Penn St, Pitt, and FSU.

Boise, Fresno, San Diego, AirForce and Utah St were all ranked during that period, as well.

Go to AAC-18 members and add all but Utah State, since Aresco wants the bigger DMAs.

(01-18-2023 11:29 AM)KnightLight Wrote:  

(01-17-2023 09:30 AM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  The 2015 season put the league on the map. Still think it was the best year the league ever had.

The first year of the AAC in 2013....UCF went 8-0 in conf play...obviously won the conf and then beat #6 Big 12 Champion Baylor in the BCS Fiesta Bowl to finish 12-1 that season.

Only loss that season for UCF was a 3 pt loss to South Carolina...who finished the season ranked #4.

Houston beat a good FSU team in the Peach Bowl that didn't even win its division that season....as UH blew a magical season by losing to 4-4 UCONN in conf play.

Your attempt to talk smack was unnecessary. In 2013 the conference was already on the map because it still possessed AQ status. Then we lost Louisville and Rutgers and replaced them with more CUSA teams and the perception was that the league took a major step back. That narrative was furthered by the league’s collective on field performance the next year and the fact that Boise grabbed the NY6 spot. Heading into 2015 it was not clear at all that the AAC was going to be the dominant G5 conference. Then 2015 happened and the league pulled in a banner year. The fact that we were able to get four teams ranked at once despite y’all going 0-12, speaks to just how good everyone else was. And you can downplay play the FSU win if you want but they were only 2 years removed from a BCS title and 1 year removed from having a 29 game winning streak. They were also ranked #9 at the time, so really any way you slice it, it was a tremendous win. If you need to say the Baylor win was better that’s fine but keep mind the only reason you got to play the Big 12 champ was because of the old AQ bowl tie. In the current system getting matched up with a team like that isn’t even possible. The NY6 spot is always a match up between the best G5 champ and a non P5 champ. Furthermore I wasn’t saying UH beating FSU put the league on the map. Rather it was the leagues collective performance that did it and imo that year still holds up as the strongest the leagues ever been.

(01-18-2023 12:47 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  

(01-18-2023 11:20 AM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  

(01-18-2023 10:11 AM)Niner National Wrote:  

(01-17-2023 09:30 AM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  The 2015 season put the league on the map. Still think it was the best year the league ever had.

Was that the year that the AAC had 3-4 top 25 teams at one point?

Yup Navy, Temple, UH, and Memphis were all ranked at one point. The league was also on fire scalping some very respectable P5 programs including Louisville, Ole Miss, Penn St, Pitt, and FSU.

Haha. I guess y'all forgot about the good USF teams. USF went 11-2 and 10-2 in back to back years, beating power 5 opponents in bowl games and finishing ranked both years. I know it's hard to believe as bad as USF has been recently.

IMO, the 11-2 USF team was the best team in AAC that year (finished tied 7-1 with Temple in conf), and would have won a NY6 bowl, if not for losing at Temple. If only Quinton Flowers hadn't gotten hurt and the backup not throw a pick 6 among other things. Oh well, I know what you're gonna say. Should have found a way to win anyways and you're right. But in my opinion (everyone is entitled to one), USF was hands down the most talented team in AAC that year and was scoring somewhere around 45 points a game for the entire year. Too lazy to look up averages but it was something like that.

USF scored 50 points in one half vs. Cincinnati one game and was absolutely rolling on offense better than any USF team I have ever seen before and since.

No one forgot about y’all. I was specifically referring to 2015 when the four teams I mentioned were ranked in the same week.

(01-18-2023 01:05 PM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  

(01-18-2023 12:47 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  

(01-18-2023 11:20 AM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  

(01-18-2023 10:11 AM)Niner National Wrote:  

(01-17-2023 09:30 AM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  The 2015 season put the league on the map. Still think it was the best year the league ever had.

Was that the year that the AAC had 3-4 top 25 teams at one point?

Yup Navy, Temple, UH, and Memphis were all ranked at one point. The league was also on fire scalping some very respectable P5 programs including Louisville, Ole Miss, Penn St, Pitt, and FSU.

Haha. I guess y'all forgot about the good USF teams. USF went 11-2 and 10-2 in back to back years, beating power 5 opponents in bowl games and finishing ranked both years. I know it's hard to believe as bad as USF has been recently.

IMO, the 11-2 USF team was the best team in AAC that year (finished tied 7-1 with Temple in conf), and would have won a NY6 bowl, if not for losing at Temple. If only Quinton Flowers hadn't gotten hurt and the backup not throw a pick 6 among other things. Oh well, I know what you're gonna say. Should have found a way to win anyways and you're right. But in my opinion (everyone is entitled to one), USF was hands down the most talented team in AAC that year and was scoring somewhere around 45 points a game for the entire year. Too lazy to look up averages but it was something like that.

USF scored 50 points in one half vs. Cincinnati one game and was absolutely rolling on offense better than any USF team I have ever seen before and since.

No one forgot about y’all. I was specifically referring to 2015 when the four teams I mentioned were ranked in the same week.

OK You're right. I guess that was in the 2016-17 time frame. USF was actually good in 2015 also, going 6-2 in conference and receiving votes in polls, but I don't think ever cracked top 25 that year. But USF was still really good in 2015 also, as evidenced by the 6-2 conf. record.

(01-18-2023 01:09 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  

(01-18-2023 01:05 PM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  

(01-18-2023 12:47 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  

(01-18-2023 11:20 AM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  

(01-18-2023 10:11 AM)Niner National Wrote:  Was that the year that the AAC had 3-4 top 25 teams at one point?

Yup Navy, Temple, UH, and Memphis were all ranked at one point. The league was also on fire scalping some very respectable P5 programs including Louisville, Ole Miss, Penn St, Pitt, and FSU.

Haha. I guess y'all forgot about the good USF teams. USF went 11-2 and 10-2 in back to back years, beating power 5 opponents in bowl games and finishing ranked both years. I know it's hard to believe as bad as USF has been recently.

IMO, the 11-2 USF team was the best team in AAC that year (finished tied 7-1 with Temple in conf), and would have won a NY6 bowl, if not for losing at Temple. If only Quinton Flowers hadn't gotten hurt and the backup not throw a pick 6 among other things. Oh well, I know what you're gonna say. Should have found a way to win anyways and you're right. But in my opinion (everyone is entitled to one), USF was hands down the most talented team in AAC that year and was scoring somewhere around 45 points a game for the entire year. Too lazy to look up averages but it was something like that.

USF scored 50 points in one half vs. Cincinnati one game and was absolutely rolling on offense better than any USF team I have ever seen before and since.

No one forgot about y’all. I was specifically referring to 2015 when the four teams I mentioned were ranked in the same week.

OK You're right. I guess that was in the 2016-17 time frame. USF was actually good in 2015 also, going 6-2 in conference and receiving votes in polls, but I don't think ever cracked top 25 that year. But USF was still really good in 2015 also, as evidenced by the 6-2 conf. record.

If my memory serves 2015 was the year Quinton broke out as a possible star. I think yall started like 1-3 and then had a really good record down the stretch to close out the year with an 8 win season.

(01-18-2023 01:15 PM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  

(01-18-2023 01:09 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  

(01-18-2023 01:05 PM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  

(01-18-2023 12:47 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  

(01-18-2023 11:20 AM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  Yup Navy, Temple, UH, and Memphis were all ranked at one point. The league was also on fire scalping some very respectable P5 programs including Louisville, Ole Miss, Penn St, Pitt, and FSU.

Haha. I guess y'all forgot about the good USF teams. USF went 11-2 and 10-2 in back to back years, beating power 5 opponents in bowl games and finishing ranked both years. I know it's hard to believe as bad as USF has been recently.

IMO, the 11-2 USF team was the best team in AAC that year (finished tied 7-1 with Temple in conf), and would have won a NY6 bowl, if not for losing at Temple. If only Quinton Flowers hadn't gotten hurt and the backup not throw a pick 6 among other things. Oh well, I know what you're gonna say. Should have found a way to win anyways and you're right. But in my opinion (everyone is entitled to one), USF was hands down the most talented team in AAC that year and was scoring somewhere around 45 points a game for the entire year. Too lazy to look up averages but it was something like that.

USF scored 50 points in one half vs. Cincinnati one game and was absolutely rolling on offense better than any USF team I have ever seen before and since.

No one forgot about y’all. I was specifically referring to 2015 when the four teams I mentioned were ranked in the same week.

OK You're right. I guess that was in the 2016-17 time frame. USF was actually good in 2015 also, going 6-2 in conference and receiving votes in polls, but I don't think ever cracked top 25 that year. But USF was still really good in 2015 also, as evidenced by the 6-2 conf. record.

If my memory serves 2015 was the year Quinton broke out as a possible star. I think yall started like 1-3 and then had a really good record down the stretch to close out the year with an 8 win season.

That's exactly what happened. USF started 1-3 and then finished 8-4 during the regular season. Taggart was on the hot seat so he basically just handed the entire offense over to Flowers and he just busted out as never before. USF beat #21 Temple 44-23 that year, and also beat UCF 44-3, and Cincinnati 65-27. That was the game USF scored 51 points in the first half.