Week Eight of college football is in the books, and it's time for a new edition of the American Athletic Conference Power Rankings. 

11. SMU Mustangs - (0-6 / 0-2 in AAC) - LOST to CINCINNATI 

Easy one. SMU is without a head coach with no light at the end of the tunnel. They have no hope for this season. I just wish they were on our schedule. Next. 

10. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (1-6 / 1-2 in AAC) - LOST to USF 

Tulsa is in a death spiral. Coach Blankenship's program gave up a commanding lead at home to lose to a struggling USF Bulls squad with 17 points allowed in the fourth quarter alone. Yikes. I wish we had that first game back, but so it goes. 

9. UConn Huskies (1-5 / 0-3 in AAC) - No Action 

UConn had a weak to recover from a road loss to our Tulane Green Wave. Until they find a way to compete even against the bottom tier of our conference, UConn will remain in the doghouse. 

8. Tulane Green Wave (2-5 / 1-2 in AAC) - LOST to UCF 

Yargh. Tulane had a real chance to start a run when our defense held UCF to 20 points, but a struggling offense was not able to produce a tying score. Still, they have a bit more upside than those bottom three teams and a few appealing upset matchups on the docket. First up: a home battle with the Cincinnati Bearcats after a week to prepare. Let's roll. 

7. South Florida Bulls (3-4 / 2-1 in AAC) - WIN against TULSA 

Well, the USF managed to earn a winning record in the conference with a huge comeback against Tulsa. Don't get me wrong. The Golden Hurricane is not a strong team, but for the time being, USF has put itself in the middle of the conference. 

6. Memphis Tigers (3-3 / 1-1 in AAC) - No Action 

I've been a fan of Memphis all season, but a home loss to Houston kills the momentum they built from a smackdown at Cincinnati. They have a favorable stretch of SMU, Tulsa, and Temple as their next three games. They will need to win all three to put themselves back into the conversation as a contender for the conference. 

5. Temple Owls (4-2 / 2-1 in AAC) - LOST to HOUSTON 

Owls, Owls, Owls. One of the feel good stories of 2014. A 4-1 start was a great thing for a program that was once straight-up disowned by the Big East (the old Big East, that is). But still, a 31-10 beating at the hands of the Houston Cougars won't cut it. Were wins against Delaware State, Vanderbilt, UConn, and Tulsa great tests, or are we about to see some serious regression? Let's watch. 

4. Cincinnati Bearcats (3-3 / 1-1 in AAC) - WIN against SMU 

The good news? The Bearcats are now coming off of a 41-3 shellacking of a conference opponent. The bad news? They had a three game losing streak coming into that win. I do not believe Cinci is a serious contender to win this conference at this stage, but they are still very dangerous behind QB Gunner Kiel. 

3. Houston Cougars (4-3 / 2-1 in AAC) - WIN against TEMPLE 

Houston just took care of business in back-to-back week by silencing plucky newcomers Memphis and Temple with nice wins. They do have a loss to UCF on their record, but still, they have USF, Tulane, and Tulsa as their next three matchups. Houston controls its own fate if it wants to put itself in the mix, as they do not play ECU. 

2. UCF Knights (4-2 / 2-0 in AAC) - WIN against TULANE 

UCF did not look like a great team against Tulane. In fact, the offensive line looked like a much bigger problem than the absence of big-time QB Blake Bortles. That being said, they are playing at another level than the rest of the teams, and I would say they are the only real viable threat to ECU's run here. 

1. East Carolina Pirates (5-1 / 2-0 in AAC) - No Action 

East Carolina did not have a game this week, but they are up to #18 in the rankings and expect them to keep rising with UConn and Temple as their next two games. 

That's it for now. Hit me on Twitter @fearthewaveblog or leave your comments. 

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.