It’s Thursday night and we are down to just 30 days before the 2023 college football season. So, today, let’s start with a quiz. What happens to a Group of 5 conference that has 3-4 teams that are so good, the conference almost challenges the weakest Power 5 conference and even had a team make the playoff? If you guessed decimation and rebuild from an historically lesser conference, you win the prize. Over the summer, the American Athletic Conference or AAC or American lost Houston, UCF, and Cincinnati to the Big 12 (who are trying to rebuild to replace Oklahoma’s and Texas’ departure next year – see the news today that Colorado is jumping ship at the Pac 12 to rejoin the Big 12). That promotion for the 3 dropped the conference to 8, which is certainly viable, but they wanted more. So, they grabbed 6 teams from Conference USA (who along with the MAC are usually at the bottom of the power rankings at the end of each season): Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA. Keep in mind, this is not a promotion, but a lateral move – still Group of 5. The 3 had a combined record of 26-14 (.650) and are being replaced by a combined 38-40 (.487) led by UTSA’s 11-3 (27-37 for the other 5). We’ve talked about negative impact this move had on C-USA, and it also has negatively impacted the American.
…..
At least, they get to keep their only 10-game winner from last year, Tulane at 12-2. The average FBS Preseason Strength of Schedule (PS SOS) this season is 7.3955 and the average for the Group of 5 is 6.5305. The 14-member new American averages 6.6157 giving them the 8th place spot for most-challenged conference. In the table below, as a reminder, (P) indicates a Power 5 opponent, (F) indicates an FCS opponent, and (N) indicates a neutral site team. Here they are from UAB to Temple:
| Team/ Conf Rank | PS SOS/ Rank | ’22 Record/ SOS Rank | ’23 Opp’s W-L | Conf Home | Conf Away | Non-Conf Home | Non-Conf Away/ Neutral |
| UAB (1) | 7.876/50 | 7-6/98 | 84-71 (.542) | (16-33) South Florida, Memphis, FAU, Temple | (34-20) Tulane, UTSA, Navy, North Texas | (13-11) (F) North Carolina A&T, Louisiana | (21-7) Ga Southern, (P) Georgia |
| East Carolina (2) | 7.661/58 | 8-5/84 | 87-67 (.565) | (27-24) SMU, Charlotte, Tulane, Tulsa | (25-26) Rice, UTSA, FAU, Navy | (16-10) Marshall, (F) Gardner Webb | (19-7) (P) Michigan, App St |
| FAU (3) | 7.741/64 | 5-7/101 | 86-69 (.555) | (36-17) Tulsa, UTSA, East Carolina, Tulane | (16-34) South Florida, Charlotte, UAB, Rice | (15-10) (F) Monmouth, Ohio | (19-8) (P) Clemson, (P) Illinois |
| UTSA (4) | 7.290/73 | 11-3/99 | 74-76 (.493) | (21-30) UAB, East Carolina, Rice, South Florida | (27-25) Temple, FAU, North Texas, Tulane | (10-14) Texas St, Army | (19-7) (P) Houston, (P) Tennessee |
| Tulane (5) | 6.983/86 | 12-2/71 | 83-71 (.539) | (30-23) UAB, North Texas, Tulsa, UTSA | (25-26) Memphis, Rice, East Carolina, FAU | (21-16) (P) Mississippi, (F) Nicholls, South Alabama | (7-6) Southern Miss |
| South Florida (6) | 6.973/88 | 1-11/66 | 80-73 (.542) | (16-33) Rice, FAU, Temple, Charlotte | (29-23) Navy, UAB, Memphis, UTSA | (20-4) (F) Florida A&M, (P) Alabama | (15-13) W Kentucky, UCONN |
| Tulsa (7) | 6.668/100 | 5-7/106 | 74-79 (.484) | (18-33) Temple, Rice, Charlotte, North Texas | (32-30) FAU, SMU, Tulane, East Carolina | (9-15) (F) Ark Pine Bluff, (P) Oklahoma | (14-11) (P) Washington, N Illinois |
| SMU (8) | 6.542/103 | 7-6/65 | 72-82 (.468) | (19-31) Charlotte, Tulsa, North Texas, Navy | (25-28) East Carolina, Temple, Rice, Memphis | (9-14) LA Tech, (F) Prairie View | (19-9) (P) Oklahoma, (P) TCU |
| Rice (9) | 6.521/104 | 5-8/86 | 79-73 (.520) | (32-20) East Carolina, Tulane, SMU, FAU | (20-30) South Florida, Tulsa, UTSA, Charlotte | (19-18) (P) Houston, (F) Texas Southern, UCONN | (8-5) (P) Texas |
| North Texas (10) | 6.228/110 | 7-7/85 | 74-76 (.493) | (28-24) Temple, Memphis, UTSA, UAB | (28-23) Navy, Tulane, SMU, Tulsa | (11-12) (P) California, (F) Abilene Christian | (7-17) FIU, LA Tech |
| Charlotte (11) | 5.835/120 | 3-9/121 | 63-86 (.423) | (21-29) Navy, FAU, Memphis, Rice | (21-29) SMU, East Carolina, Tulsa, SMU | (7-16) (F) South Carolina St, Georgia St | (14-12) (P) Maryland, (P) Florida |
| Navy (12) | 5.812/122 | 4-8/67 | 69-82 (.457) | (23-29) South Florida, North Texas, UAB, East Carolina | (20-30) Memphis, Charlotte, Temple, SMU | (11-13) (F) Wagner, Air Force | (15-10) (PN) Notre Dame, (N) Army |
| Memphis (13) | 5.470/126 | 7-6/105 | 65-87 (.428) | (24-27) Navy, Tulane, South Florida, SMU | (20-31) UAB, North Texas, Charlotte, Temple | (12-13) (F) Bethune, Boise St | (9-16) Arkansas St, (PN) Missouri |
| Temple (14) | 5.293/129 | 3-9/116 | 62-88 (.413) | (29-23) UTSA, SMU, Navy, Memphis | (20-31) Tulsa, North Texas, South Florida, UAB | (9-26) Akron, (F) Norfolk St, (P) Miami FL | (4-8) (P) Rutgers |
…..
That’s it for this trip. Check out the next post where we discuss the 7th most difficult conference in college football this year. Thank you for reading and especially for sharing with others, G
