AAC Football Conference Odds - NCAA Betting Lines

AAC NCAA Football Betting

Cincinnati is a significant favorite to win the AAC per the college football betting odds. Luke Fickell might have his sights set on a greater prize though. The Bearcats have a chance to make it to the College Football Playoff if they run the table this season. They will get a chance to impress the public with road games against Indiana and Notre Dame, and if they win those matchups, there will be a lot of talk about putting Cincinnati in the College Football Playoff.

AAC Championship Betting Odds

Cincinnati -230

UCF +450

Tulsa +900

Memphis +1000

Houston +1200

Tulane +1200

SMU +2500

East Carolina +5000

Navy +10000

South Florida +10000

Temple +20000

The Bearcats will bring back Desmond Ridder after he had a breakthrough 2020 season. Cincinnati’s quarterback finally put it all together, and that helped the Bearcats become the best team in the AAC. This defense remains scary under Fickell, and it is loaded with experienced upperclassmen, and Fickell also continues to recruit at a high level too.

For the third time in five seasons, UCF will welcome a new head coach to Orlando. Scott Frost left for Nebraska at the end of the 2017 season and Danny White brought Josh Heupel to Tennessee with him, so the Knights hired former Auburn coach Gus Malzahn. It’s a somewhat fitting move since Malzahn’s Auburn team was who the Knights beat to claim a share of the national championship, but now he will bring his fast-paced offense to the AAC. Dillon Gabriel is back under center, however, a lot of the pieces from last year’s team are missing.

It won’t be easy for Tulsa to replace AAC Defensive Player of the Year Zaven Collins. However, the Golden Hurricane have enough talent that they are considered one of the top teams in the conference. This offense could take another step forward if Seth Boomer proves to be a solid replacement for Zach Smith, as the skill position players are all back, and the defense should be good even though they won’t have Collins in the middle.

Memphis is one of the big question marks entering the 2021 campaign. The Tigers have had two straight superb coaches in Justin Fuente and Mike Norvell, but the jury is still out on Ryan Silverfield. He will turn over a lot of the roster from 2020, so this season will show us if Memphis nailed a third straight coaching hire.

AAC Football Format

The American Athletic Conference was born in 2013 as the football playing schools in the old Big East fractured from their basketball-only counterparts to form their own league. The AAC inherited the Big East’s role as one of six power conferences in the final season of the Bowl Championship Series. With the introduction of the College Football Playoff for the 2014 season, the AAC dropped to become the Group of Five conferences.

Connecticut was an original member of the AAC but left the conference in 2020 in order to join the Big East. The Huskies were the only program in the conference that valued basketball more than football, and that further defined this conference as one designed with football at the forefront.

Conference Champions

The Cincinnati Bearcats have surpassed UCF as the team to beat in the East Division. Luke Fickell has made the Bearcats extremely tough to topple, and it won’t be easy to knock Cincinnati from its perch for as long as Fickell is on campus. The West Division is typically more wide open than the East, although Memphis and Houston are seen as the elite programs.

Most Conference Championships

There haven’t been too many AAC champions since this conference is the newest in the FBS. The American Athletic Conference started play in 2013. The AAC has been around for less than a decade, but UCF has established itself as the team to beat on an annual basis. The Knights also claimed a share of the national championship in 2017 after beating Auburn in the Peach Bowl to finish the year 13-0.

NCAA Football Conferences

• AAC
• ACC
• Big Ten
• Big 12
• C-USA
• MAC
• Mountain West
• Pac-12
• SEC
• Sun Belt

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