2015 American Athletic Conference Football Projections

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East

Cincinnati Bearcats 9-4 (6-3)

The Cincinnati Bearcats football program is all about transition. Since 2003, the Bearcats have had five different head football coaches as folks have tended to leave Cincinnati in order to pursue more money at bigger schools. Cincinnati’s current head football coach is Tommy Tuberville who has been there and done that as far as being in charge of a big time college football program. Tuberville has previously been the head football coach at Ole Miss, Auburn, and Texas Tech and he is fitting like a glove at Cincinnati. In two years at Cincy, Tuberville’s record is 18-8 and they’re coming off of winning a share of the American Athletic Conference Title in 2014. As the 2015 college football season is set to begin, the Bearcats have a good shot at participating in the inaugural AAC Title Game.

Gunner Kiel

Gunner Kiel was a highly sought after high school quarterback and after spurning both LSU and Notre Dame, he has settled in with the Bearcats. At 6’4″, 208 lbs., Kiel has good size for a quarterback and there isn’t a throw that he cannot make as he’ll be in the discussion to be the AAC Offensive Player of the Year.

On Halloween, Cincinnati will host the Central Florida Knights in a game that will more than likely decide the winner of the Eastern Division of the AAC.

Central Florida Knights 8-4 (6-2)

George O’Leary

It doesn’t matter which conference that the Central Florida Knights are in under head football coach George O’Leary as they are able compete and be one of the top teams in that league. Central Florida will once again be one of the top teams in the American Athletic Conference in 2015 as they’ll be led by junior quarterback Justin Holman who is one of the conference’s better signal callers.

Central Florida will face a brutal schedule in 2015 as they’ll meet the Stanford Cardinal of the Pac-12 Conference and the South Carolina Gamecocks of the Southeastern Conference in non-conference tilts along with road games in the AAC against the Cincinnati Bearcats and Tulsa Golden Hurricane, but O’Leary’s teams are always battle tested.

East Carolina Pirates 6-6 (5-3)

Ruffin McNeill

Under head football coach Ruffin McNeill, the East Carolina Pirates have had one of the top offenses in the nation. Last year the Pirates were ranked fifth in the nation in total offense and they had five games where they scored at least 40 points. But with most of those explosive players having graduated at East Carolina, it will be back to the drawing board this season for the Pirates. And if the Pirates are going to once again be able to find their groove on offense, junior wide receiver Isaiah Jones will have to step up and be one of the top pass catchers in the American Athletic Conference this season.

East Carolina will more than likely fly under the radar for the majority of the 2015 college football season, but in the end they should still be one of the top teams in the AAC.

Temple Owls 6-6 (4-4)

The Temple Owls enter the 2015 college football season looking to build off of the fact that they are coming off of their first non-losing season since 2011. The Owls went 6-6 in 2014, but they weren’t pegged for a bowl game and the only way for them to change that is to improve their record in 2015 under head football coach Matt Rhule. Any chances for Temple this year in the American Athletic Conference will hinge on the play of junior quarterback P.J. Walker. Walker was able to show flashes last year, but Rhule and Temple will need him to put it all together for a full season in 2015.

Right out of the chute it will be tough for Temple as they’ll host the Penn State Nittany Lions of the Big Ten Conference which will be followed by their first conference game of the season against the Cincinnati Bearcats. After that things will slow down somewhat for Temple as they look for consecutive non-losing seasons for the first time since 2011.

South Florida Bulls 3-9 (2-6)

From 2000-2010, the South Florida Bulls only had one losing season. But since then the Bulls have failed to secure a winning campaign. Willie Taggart is entering his third year as the head football coach at South Florida and he’s fighting an uphill battle in the American Athletic Conference.

For South Florida to contend in the AAC this season, their offense which was ranked 121st in the nation last year must improve drastically. And the Bulls only building block offensively this season is sophomore running back Marlon Mack who will need to gain at least 1,500 yards on the ground for South Florida to have a shot at bowl eligibility.

The Bulls football program is headed in the wrong direction and it won’t get any better in 2015.

Connecticut Huskies 3-9 (1-7)

Ever since Randy Edsall resigned as the head football coach of the Connecticut Huskies in 2010, the program hasn’t been able to stand up on its own. In Edsall’s last two years at UConn, the Huskies won 16 games, but since they’ve only won 15. Bob Diaco is in his second year as the head football coach at Connecticut, but he has been unable to land some of the top high school football talent from the New England area as he’s been overshadowed by schools from the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big Ten Conference. And until Diaco is able to establish himself as a recruiter in the New England area, the Huskies will continue to falter in the American Athletic Conference.

West

Navy Midshipmen 10-3 (7-2)

Things will be different for the Navy Midshipmen football program in 2015. For the first time in the 122-year history of Navy’s football program, they will be in a football conference. Navy agreed to join the American Athletic Conference as a football-only member and they could find themselves in the conference’s inaugural title game. Ken Niumatalolo in entering his eighth full season as the head football coach at Navy and he’s only had one losing season there. Due to the service commitment to the United States Military that cadets must give once their eligibility is done, Navy doesn’t get the blue-chip talent coming to Annapolis, Maryland. But the Midshipmen run a triple-option attack on offense that will test their opponent’s endurance and it should once again be tough with senior quarterback Keenan Reynolds leading the way.

It won’t take the Midshipmen that long to get indoctrinated into the American Athletic Conference as they’ll host the East Carolina Pirates in their second game of the season in what could become a good rivalry for the conference due to the proximity between the two schools.

Tulsa Golden Hurricane 8-4 (4-4)

Bill Blankenship

The Tulsa Golden Hurricane were only able to go 2-10 in 2014 for head football coach Bill Blakenship, but there is reason to believe that they’ll be able to turn things around in 2015. The Golden Hurricane had six games last season where they scored at least 30 points and they return some talent on offense for 2015 in the form of junior quarterback Dane Evans, senior running back Zack Langer, and junior wide receiver Keevan Lucas as all three players have the ability to be amongst the best at their respective positions this season in the American Athletic Conference. And a favorable schedule will play a big part in the potential turnaround this year for Tulsa.

Houston Cougars 7-5 (4-4)

Unfortunately for the Houston Cougars, they were unable to live up to expectations of winning the American Athletic Conference in 2014. The Cougars  were able to record their second consecutive eight-win season which they’re hopeful will propel them to bigger things in 2015. And for Houston head football coach Tony Levine, any chance that his team will have this season will come down to the right arm of junior quarterback Greg Ward Jr. and the legs of senior running back Kenneth Farrow.

The Cougars don’t have too many layups in their schedule as it will be tough for them to win the Western Division of the AAC and get to the conference title game.

Memphis Tigers 7-5 (4-4)

The Memphis Tigers saw a huge improvement in 2014 as they saw their win total increase by seven games from the previous year and they also finished ranked in the top 25 poll of the Associated Press for the first time in school history. Now Memphis head football coach Justin Fuente is looking to lead the Tigers to consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 2005.

The Tigers emergence can be attributed to the improved play of quarterback Paxton Lynch. And now as a junior, Lynch is ready to once again lead Memphis in 2015.

The Tigers find themselves with a relatively easy non-conference schedule, but their first conference game will find them hosting the Cincinnati Bearcats which could give them the confidence to contend for the Western Division Title in the American Athletic Conference.

SMU Mustangs 2-10 (1-7)

After a brief glimpse of success, the losing has once again set in around the football program of the Southern Methodist University Mustangs. The Mustangs have only won six games in the last two years and they are hopeful that new head football coach Chad Morris will be able to get things turned around as he is going to have to build this program from the ground up. But luckily for Morris and SMU, the school is in Dallas and the State of Texas is loaded with high school football talent as he looks to build a contender. As Morris attempts to turn SMU into a contender, he can only hope that his squad will be competitive in 2015.

Tulane Green Wave 4-8 (1-7)

The Tulane Green Wave’s football program has been around for 111 years, but they have failed to maintain any consistent success since their days in the Southern Conference and then in the Southeastern Conference as Tulane hasn’t has consecutive winning seasons since 1998. Curtis Johnson is set to begin his fourth season as the head football coach of the Green Wave and he’ll need his team to compete more in 2015 as they lost six games last season by at least 17 points. But Johnson and Tulane will once again be fighting an uphill battle in the American Athletic Conference in 2015.

AAC Title Game: Cincinnati vs. Navy

Conference Champion: Navy

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