Week Three of the American Athletic Conference's 2014 campaign is in the books, and the Tulane Green Wave has nabbed its first win of the season. Let's see where the rest of the AAC's teams fell this week after quite a few losses and very few wins.
AAC Football Power Rankings: Week 3
11. SMU Mustangs - LW #11, 0-2 Record, No Action
SMU had a much needed week off following their coach's resignation. They will need it, as they are hosting #6 Texas A&M this week. Ouch.
10. Tulsa Golden Hurricane - LW #9, 1-2, L to FLORIDA ATLANTIC
Not a huge fan of ranking Tulsa under Tulane, but hey, they survived a double OT thriller at home and have been broken ever since. Most recently, the Florida Atlantic Owls drubbed the Golden Hurricane 50-21. Tulsa is out of sorts, and they will need some spark to get their season back on track. Stock falling.
9. Tulane Green Wave - LW #10, 1-2, W against SOUTHEASTERN
We are going to know Tanner Lee has clicked when second half Tanner looks like first half Tanner. They aren't there yet, but this team has upside. Sherman Badie, the freshman from John Curtis, is averaging 9.4 yards per carry right now. That wasn't a typo. The win over a strong FCS team definitely pumps some momentum into this season, especially given the widespread hype that Tulane would be upset by the Southeastern Louisiana Lions. That said, Tulane is a heavy underdog on a road trip to see the 3-0 Duke Blue Devils this Saturday. They will need stability from start to finish to hang in there with a talented and tested Duke team.
8. UConn Huskies - LW #9, 1-2 Record, L to BOISE STATE
UConn took a beating at home against a decent Boise State team, which drops the Huskies to 1-2 on the year. They will have a shot at a win when they head to South Florida to play a struggling Bulls squad. So far, UConn has come out flat, so they will look to make a move against the AAC competition.
7. South Florida Bulls - LW #7, 1-2 Record, L to NC STATE
Are you getting a sense yet that the American Conference had a bad week? South Florida looked terrible in an absolute smackdown at the hands of NC State. They have an opportunity to rebuild this week when they host a struggling UConn.
6. Temple Owls - LW #5, 1-1 Record, No Action
5. Houston Cougars - LW #4, 1-2 Record, L to BYU
Houston suffered a blowout in the first half against a very solid BYU Cougar team (in a Cougars vs. Cougars weeknight matchup). They managed to make it competitive in the second half, but honestly, Houston has not been sharp at all so far. They will need to really change their trajectory to have a chance to win the conference, as some expected going into this year.
4. Memphis Tigers - LW #5, 1-1 Record, No Action
This is ridiculous. But Memphis didn't play this week, and pretty much everyone decided to lose if they feature a big A on their field. Moreover, the Tigers are coming off a near road upset of a highly ranked UCLA team, so I'll just leave them here. Next.
3. UCF Knights - LW #2, 0-2 Record, L to MISSOURI
UCF is going to be the last team in the American Conference to get a win in the 2014 college football season. Just let that sink in, and you will understand the woes of our conference in this early season. They lost a gimmicky game in Ireland to Penn State and got wrecked by a strong Missouri team. They are a cut above the rest of the AAC, but the Knights are definitely a shell of last year's team. That said, Teenage Mutant Ninja Bortles has been one of the stronger fantasy football names of this season. So they have that.
2. Cincinnati Bearcats - LW #1, 1-0 Record, W against AKRON
Wooooo! Competence! And yes, Cinci finally decided to play a game of football, and they won! And their quarterback throws a lot of touchdowns. We may actually have a two horse race in this conference, after all. They should have another warmup game against a Miami (OH) team that just was crushed by a weak Michigan Wolverines squad.
1. East Carolina Pirates - LW #3, 2-1 Record, W against #17 VIRGINIA TECH
Whoa. East Carolina laid out a Virginia Tech team coming off a momentous win at Ohio State. Not only did they steal VT's thunder, but ECU became the first AAC to take down a ranked team this season. More importantly, it turns out South Carolina is pretty damn good, so their performance last week against USC looks even better. Look for ECU to seriously contend this season while riding Shane Carden's impressive quarterback play toward the postseason.
0 comments:
Post a Comment