Welcome back, college football fans, to the latest episode of the GCR. Tonight, we are going to dig into the 8th most difficult college football conference based on our own calculations. It was just a few years ago when the American Athletic Conference (AAC or American) was considered by many pundits to be just outside of the old Power Five (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 before ten teams left, SEC and Notre Dame). Of course, the Pac-2 is no longer the same level, so we just have the Core 4. Since the FBS playoffs first began, the winner of the American was the assumed Group of 5 (American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt, and other independents) team in the New Year’s Six games. Most of the time, things worked out that way. Then the latest great conference realignment sent some of the AAC’s top teams to the Big 12. Those teams (Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF) were replaced by six teams from Conference USA (Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA). Nothing against the six, but they are not the caliber of the defectors. Even so, don’t be surprised if the preseason talk shows push for an American team to earn the 12th spot in the 2025/26 playoffs. Last year, Boise St, of the Mountain West, was the G5 representative in the expanded playoff last year and Liberty, of Conference-USA, was undefeated representing the G5 in the final NY6 bowls vs Oregon.
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Last year, Army joined the conference and set the world on fire with a fast start that was matched by Navy. The Black Knights beat Tulane to take the title, as well as their first ever conference championship. Navy ended up third after a blistering start but were unranked in the polls despite a 10-3 season. Memphis and Army were the only top 25 teams (polls). I suspect those four teams will be in the running again for the conference title, but I think the Sun Belt and Mountain West (if they don’t implode due to internal strife) have a better chance based on strength over the last few years.
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In the table below, (F) indicates a game against an FCS foe, (G) indicates a tryst against a non-conference Group of 5 opponent, (4) indicates a challenge against a Core 4 school, and (N) indicates a neutral site game. Without further ado, JoJo and I are honored to present the 2025 American Athletic Conference, the 8th most challenged conference in college football.
| Team | Home | 2024 Record (Rank) | 2025 PS SOS (Rank) | Home Games | Away/Neutral Games |
| South Florida Bulls (1) | Tampa, FL | 7-6 (100) | 8.59 (31) | Boise St (G), South Carolina St (F), Charlotte, FAU, UTSA, Rice | Florida (4), Miami FL (4), North Texas, Memphis, Navy, UAB |
| UAB Blazers (2) | Birmingham, AL | 3-9 (106) | 8.09 (51) | Alabama St (F), Akron (G), Army, Memphis, North Texas, South Florida | Navy, Tennessee (4), FAU, UCONN (G), Rice, Tulsa |
| Charlotte 49ers (3) | Charlotte, NC | 5-7 (102) | 7.91 (61) | North Carolina (4), Monmouth (F), Rice, Temple, North Texas, UTSA, Tulane | App St (GN), South Florida, Army, East Carolina, Georgia (4), Tulane |
| UTSA Roadrunners (4) | San Antonio, TX | 7-6 (94) | 7.81 (68) | Texas St (G), Incarnate Word (F), Rice, Tulane, East Carolina, Army | Texas A&M (4), Colorado St (G), Temple, North Texas, South Florida, Charlotte |
| Tulane Green Wave (5) | New Orleans, LA | 9-5 (52) | 7.81 (69) | Northwestern (4), Duke (4), East Carolina, Army, FAU, Charlotte | South Alabama (G), Mississippi (4), Tulsa, UTSA, Memphis, Temple |
| Rice Owls (6) | Houston, TX | 4-8 (113) | 7.77 (70) | Houston (4), Prairie View (F), FAU, UCONN (G), Memphis, UAB, North Texas | Louisiana (G), Charlotte, Navy, UTSA, South Florida |
| East Carolina Pirates (7) | Greenville, NC | 8-5 (87) | 7.61 (81) | Campbell (F), BYU (4), Army, Tulsa, Charlotte, Memphis | NC St (4), Coastal Car (G), Tulane, Temple, UTSA, FAU |
| Navy Midshipmen (8) | Annapolis, MD | 10-3 (30) | 7.33 (93) | VMI (F), UAB, Rice, Air Force (G), FAU, South Florida | Tulsa, Temple, North Texas, Notre Dame (4), Memphis, Army (N) |
| North Texas Mean Green (9) | Denton, TX | 6-7 (104) | 7.24 (96) | Lamar (F), Washington St (G), South Alabama (G), UTSA, Navy, Temple | W Michigan (G), Army, Charlotte, UAB, Rice |
| Temple Owls (10) | Philadelphia, PA | 3-9 (114) | 7.22 (99) | Howard (F), Oklahoma (4), UTSA, Navy, East Carolina, Tulane | UMASS (G), Georgia Tech (4), Charlotte, Tulsa, Army, North Texas |
| FAU Owls (11) | Boca Raton, FL | 3-9 (138) | 7.20 (100) | Florida A&M (F), Memphis, UAB, Tulsa, UCONN (G), East Carolina | Maryland (4), FIU (G), Rice, South Florida, Navy, Tulane |
| Army Black Knights (12) | West Point, NY | 12-2 (16) | 7.10 (105) | Tarleton (F), North Texas, Charlotte, Temple, Tulsa | Kansas St (4), East Carolina, UAB, Tulane, Air Force, UTSA, Navy (N) |
| Tulsa Golden Hurricane (13) | Tulsa, OK | 3-9 (141) | 7.06 (109) | Abilene Christian (F), Navy, Tulane, Temple, Oregon St (G), UAB | New Mexico St (G), Oklahoma St (4), Memphis, East Carolina, FAU, Army |
| Memphis Tigers (14) | Memphis, TN | 11-2 (25) | 5.68 (136) | Chattanooga (F), Arkansas (4), Tulsa, South Florida, Tulane, Navy | Georgia St (G), Troy (G), FAU, UAB, Rice, East Carolina |
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That’s it for today. Thank you for reading and, especially, for sharing with others. Please provide comments or suggestions on any of our free and ad-free platforms: http://bit.ly/2019GCR or Gettys Computer Ranking on Facebook or G Robert Gettys on LinkedIn. We get better because of you. See you next time, JoJo and G
