2020 American Athletic Conference football season

The 2020 American Athletic Conference football season is the 29th NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision season of the American Athletic Conference (The American). The season is the eighth since the former Big East Conference dissolved and became the American Athletic Conference and the seventh season of the College Football Playoff in place. The American is considered a member of the Group of Five (G5) together with Conference USA (C–USA), the Mid-American Conference (MAC), the Mountain West Conference and the Sun Belt Conference.

2020 American Athletic Conference football season
League	NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
Sport	Football
Duration	September 2020 through January 2021
Number of teams	11
TV partner(s)	ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and CBS Sports Network
2021 NFL Draft
Top draft pick	Zaven Collins (Tulsa)
Picked by	Arizona Cardinals, 16th overall
Regular season
Season champions	Cincinnati
Runners-up	Tulsa
The American Championship
Football seasons
← 2019 2021 →

2020 American Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 8 Cincinnati y$		6	–	0					9	–	1
Tulsa y		6	–	0					6	–	3
Memphis		5	–	3					8	–	3
UCF		5	–	3					6	–	4
SMU		4	–	3					7	–	3
Houston		3	–	3					3	–	5
Navy		3	–	4					3	–	7
Tulane		3	–	5					6	–	6
East Carolina		3	–	5					3	–	6
Temple		1	–	6					1	–	6
South Florida		0	–	7					1	–	8
Championship: Cincinnati 27, Tulsa 24
$ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll.

Previous season

Memphis secured their third consecutive West division title and faced East champion Cincinnati in the 2019 AAC Championship game.^[1]

Seven teams participated in bowl games during the 2019 season; the league went 4–3.

SMU lost to Florida Atlantic 28–52 in the 2019 Boca Raton Bowl.^[2] UCF defeated Marshall in the Gasparilla Bowl 48–25.^[3] Temple lost to North Carolina 13–55 in the Military Bowl.^[4] No. 23 Navy defeated Kansas State 20–17 in the 2019 Liberty Bowl.^[5] No. 21 Cincinnati defeated Boston College 38–6 in the 2020 Birmingham Bowl after a ninety-minute rain delay.^[6] In the latest addition of the Battle for the Bell, Tulane defeated Southern Miss 30–13 in the Armed Forces Bowl.^[7]

In the New Year's Six Game, No. 17 Memphis lost to No. 10 Penn State 39–53 in the Cotton Bowl Classic.^[8]

Preseason

Departure of UConn

The Huskies' Big East entrance date was confirmed for July 1, 2020 after UConn and The American reached a buyout agreement. At the time this agreement was announced, UConn also announced that its football team would become an FBS independent once it joined the Big East.^[9] The American has no immediate plan to add another team to rebalance division, so divisions have been eliminated from the conference for the time being.

Recruiting classes

Rankings

Team	ESPN^[10]	Rivals^[11]	24/7^[12]
Cincinnati	49	39	40
East Carolina	73	65	74
Houston	71	79	72
Memphis		70	65
Navy		83	127
SMU	68		70
South Florida			109
Temple		77	100
Tulane	67	64	69
Tulsa		84	115
UCF	66	58	75

American Athletic Conference Media Days

The 2020 American Athletic Conference Media Day was originally scheduled for July 12–14 in Newport, Rhode Island. On May 4, 2020 The American Announced due to the COVID-19 Pandemic media day was canceled.^[13]

Preseason media poll

The preseason Poll was released September 1^[14]

Media poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	UCF	204 (10)
2	Cincinnati	201 (7)
3	Memphis	192 (2)
4	SMU	146
5	Navy	125 (1)
6	Tulane	118
7	Houston	114
8	Temple	88
9	Tulsa	49
10	East Carolina	42
11	South Florida	41

Head coaches

Coaching changes

At the end of his third season ended in a 4–8 record, South Florida fired Charlie Strong. On December 9, 2019, Jeff Scott, offensive coordinator for Clemson, was hired as the new head coach.^[15]

On December 8, 2019 after Norvell's departure to Florida State, Silverfield served as the interim head coach before being promoted to head coach on December 13, 2019.^[16]

Coaches

Note: All stats current through the completion of the 2020 season

Team	Head coach	Years at school	Overall record	Record at school	AAC record
Cincinnati	Luke Fickell	4	41–21 (.661)	35–14 (.714)	21–9 (.700)
East Carolina	Mike Houston	2	87–39 (.690)	7–14 (.333)	4–12 (.250)
Houston	Dana Holgorsen	2	68–54 (.557)	7–13 (.350)	5–9 (.357)
Memphis	Ryan Silverfield	1	8–4 (.667)	8–4 (.667)	5–3 (.625)
Navy	Ken Niumatalolo	13	101–67 (.601)	101–67 (.601)	30–17 (.638)
SMU	Sonny Dykes	3	63–59 (.516)	22–14 (.611)	14–9 (.609)
South Florida	Jeff Scott	1	1–8 (.111)	1–8 (.111)	0–7 (.000)
Temple	Rod Carey	2	61–41 (.598)	9–11 (.450)	6–9 (.400)
Tulane	Willie Fritz	5	183–102 (.642)	29–33 (.468)	15–25 (.375)
Tulsa	Philip Montgomery	6	31–40 (.437)	31–40 (.437)	19–26 (.422)
UCF	Josh Heupel	3	28–8 (.778)	28–8 (.778)	19–5 (.792)

Source:^[17]

Rankings

Main article: 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

		Pre	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Final
Cincinnati	AP	20	13	14	15	11	8	9	7	6	7	7	7	7	7	6	6	8
	C	22	14	16	15	11	10	10	7	6	7	7	7	7	7	6	6	8
	CFP	Not released											7	7	8	9	8
East Carolina	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Houston	AP		RV				RV
	C						RV		RV
	CFP	Not released
Memphis	AP	RV	16	17	25	RV	RV	RV	RV								RV	RV
	C	RV	15	20	24	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV				RV
	CFP	Not released
Navy	AP	RV
	C	RV
	CFP	Not released
SMU	AP	RV	RV	RV	RV	18	17	16	22	18	19	RV	RV	RV
	C	RV	RV	RV	RV	21	18	16	23	18	19	RV	RV		RV	RV	RV	RV
	CFP	Not released
South Florida	AP		RV
	C		RV
	CFP	Not released
Temple	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Tulane	AP
	C	RV	RV
	CFP	Not released
Tulsa	AP					RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	24	22	18	20	22	RV
	C					RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	22	19	20	25	RV
	CFP	Not released											25	24	24	23	24
UCF	AP	21	14	13	11	RV	RV					RV		RV	RV	RV	RV
	C	21	13	15	12	25	RV	RV	RV	RV				RV
	CFP	Not released

Legend

		Improvement in ranking
		Drop in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
		No change in ranking from previous week
RV		Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
т		Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

Schedule

The regular season will begin on September 5, 2020 and will end on November 28, 2020. The season will conclude with the 2020 American Athletic Conference Championship Game on December 19.^[18]

Regular season

Index to colors and formatting
American member won
American member lost
American teams in bold

Week One

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	4:30 p.m.	SMU	Texas State	Bobcat Stadium • San Marcos, TX	ESPN	W 31–24	7,500
September 5	8:00 p.m.	Arkansas State	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN (Paint Bucket Bowl)	ESPN	W 37–24	4,537
September 7	8:00 p.m.	BYU	Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	ESPN	L 55–3	0
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
September 5	Cincinnati	East Carolina	Houston	South Florida	Temple	Tulane	Tulsa	UCF

Week Two

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 12	7:00 p.m.	The Citadel	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPNU	W 27–6	0
September 12	7:30 p.m.	Tulane	South Alabama	Hancock Whitney Stadium • Mobile, AL	ESPN2	W 27–24	6,000
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
September 12	Cincinnati	East Carolina	Houston	Memphis	Navy	SMU	Temple	Tulsa	UCF

Week Three

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 19	12:00 p.m.	Navy	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ABC	NAVY 27–24	0
September 19	12:00 p.m.	Austin Peay	No. 13 Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPN+	W 55–20	0
September 19	12:00 p.m.	Tulsa	No. 11 Oklahoma State	Boone Pickens Stadium • Stillwater, OK	ESPN	L 16–7	14,668
September 19	2:30 p.m.	South Florida	No. 7 Notre Dame	Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, IN	USA	L 52–0	10,085
September 19	3:30 p.m.	No. 14 UCF	Georgia Tech	Bobby Dodd Stadium • Atlanta, GA	ABC	W 49–21	11,000
September 19	6:00 p.m.	SMU	North Texas	Apogee Stadium • Denton, TX (Safeway Bowl)	CBSSN	W 65–35	8,464
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
September 19	East Carolina	Houston	Memphis	Temple

Week Four

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 26	12:00 p.m.	No. 13 UCF	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ABC	UCF 51–28	305
September 26	3:30 p.m.	No. 22 Army	No. 14 Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPN	W 24–10	0
September 26	7:00 p.m.	Tulane	Southern Miss	M. M. Roberts Stadium • Hattiesburg, MS (Battle for the Bell)	Stadium	W 66–24	0
September 26	7:00 p.m.	Stephen F. Austin	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX	ESPN+	W 50–7	7,898
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
September 26	Houston	Memphis	Navy	South Florida	Temple	Tulsa

Week Five

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 3	12:00 p.m.	East Carolina	Georgia State	Center Parc Stadium • Atlanta, GA	ESPNU	L 29–49	3,823
October 3	3:30 p.m.	South Florida	No. 15 Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPN+	CIN 28–7	0
October 3	3:30 p.m.	No. 25 Memphis	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX	ESPN2	SMU 30–27	7,898
October 3	6:00 p.m.	Navy	Air Force	Falcon Stadium • Colorado Springs, CO (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)	CBSSN	L 7–40	5,000
October 3	7:30 p.m.	Tulsa	No. 11 UCF	Bounce House • Orlando, FL	ESPN2	TLSA 34–26	8,874
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
October 3	Houston	Temple	Tulane

Week Six

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 8	7:30 p.m.	Tulane	Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	ESPN	HOU 49–31	8,164
October 10	6:00 p.m.	Temple	Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	CBSSN	NAVY 31–29	4,400
October 10	7:00 p.m.	East Carolina	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPN+	ECU 44–24	6,799
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
October 10	Cincinnati	Memphis	SMU	Tulsa	UCF

Week Seven

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 16	6:00 p.m.	No. 17 SMU	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ESPN2	SMU 37–34 ^OT	0
October 16	9:30 p.m.	No. 14 BYU	Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	ESPN2	L 43–26	10,092
October 17	12:00 p.m.	Navy	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPN2	NAVY 27–23	3,500
October 17	12:00 p.m.	USF	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPN+	TEM 29–27	782
October 17	3:30 p.m.	UCF	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ABC	MEM 50–49	10,554
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
October 17	Cincinnati	Tulsa

Week Eight

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 23	7:30 p.m.	Tulsa	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPN	TLSA 42–13	5,142
October 24	12:00 p.m.	Temple	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ESPN+	MEM 41–29	10,321
October 24	2:00 p.m.	Tulane	UCF	Bounce House • Orlando, FL	ESPN2	UCF 51–34	9,148
October 24	3:30 p.m.	Houston	Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	CBSSN	HOU 37–21	3,600
October 24	9:00 p.m.	No. 9 Cincinnati	No. 16 SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, TX	ESPN2	CIN 42–13	7,898
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
October 24	East Carolina

Week Nine

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 30	9:00 p.m.	East Carolina	Tulsa	H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	ESPN2	TLSA 34–30	0
October 31	12:00 p.m.	Memphis	No. 7 Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH (rivalry)	ESPN	CIN 49–10	0
October 31	12:00 p.m.	Temple	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ESPN+	TULN 38–3	1,200
October 31	2:00 p.m.	UCF	Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	ESPN+	UCF 44–21	8,630
October 31	7:30 p.m.	Navy	No. 22 SMU	Gerald R. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX (Gansz Trophy)	ESPN2	SMU 51–37	7,898
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
October 31	South Florida

Week Ten

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 7	12:00 p.m.	No. 18 SMU	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPN+	SMU 47–23	2,577
November 7	12:00 p.m.	South Florida	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ESPN+	MEM 34–33	10,300
November 7	12:00 p.m.	Tulane	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPN+	TULN 38–21	3,500
November 7	3:30 p.m.	Houston	No. 6 Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ABC	CIN 38–10	0
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
November 7	Navy	Tulsa	UCF

Week Eleven

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 13	7:30 p.m.	East Carolina	No. 7 Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPN2	CIN 55–17	0
November 14	12:00 p.m.	Army	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ESPN2	W 38–12	1,200
November 14	3:30 p.m.	South Florida	Houston	TDECU Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPN2	HOU 56–21	8,266
November 14	7:00 p.m.	No. 19 SMU	Tulsa	H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	ESPN2	TLSA 28–24	3,900
November 14	7:30 p.m.	Temple	UCF	Bounce House • Orlando, FL	ESPNU	UCF 38–13	8,768
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
November 14	Memphis	Navy

Week Twelve

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 19	7:30 p.m.	Tulane	No. 25 Tulsa	H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	ESPN	TLSA 30–24 ^2OT
November 21	12:00 p.m.	East Carolina	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPN+	ECU 28–3
November 21	12:00 p.m.	Stephen F. Austin	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ESPN+	W 56–14	9,684
November 21	3:30 p.m.	No. 7 Cincinnati	UCF	Bounce House • Orlando, FL	ESPN	CIN 36–33	10,668
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
November 21	Houston	Navy	SMU	South Florida

Week Thirteen

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 27	3:30 p.m.	UCF	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL (War on I-4)	ESPN	UCF 58–46	8,801
November 28	12:00 p.m.	SMU	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPN+	ECU 52–38	3,500
November 28	7:00 p.m.	Memphis	Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	CBS Sports Network	MEM 10–7	0
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
November 28	Cincinnati	Houston	Temple	Tulane	Tulsa

Week Fourteen

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
December 5	12:00 p.m.	Memphis	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ESPN+	TULN 35–21	2,400
December 5	3:30 p.m.	No. 24 Tulsa	Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	ESPN2	TLSA 19–6
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
December 5	Cincinnati	East Carolina	Houston	SMU	South Florida	Temple	UCF

Week Fifteen

See also: Army–Navy Game

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
December 12	3:00 p.m.	Navy	Army	Michie Stadium • West Point, NY (121st Army-Navy Game/Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)	CBS	L 0–15	12,722
December 12	3:30 p.m.	Houston	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ESPN2	MEM 27–30	9,475
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
December 12	Cincinnati	Tulsa

Championship game

Further information: 2020 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
December 19	8:00 p.m.	No. 23 Tulsa	No. 9 Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ABC	CIN 27–24	5,831
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Postseason

For the 2020–2025 bowl cycle, The American will annually send teams to the Military Bowl, Fenway Bowl, and a third annual spot alternating between the Armed Forces Bowl and Hawaii Bowl annually. The American will have annually four appearances in the following bowls: Birmingham Bowl, Gasparilla Bowl, Boca Raton Bowl, Frisco Bowl, Cure Bowl, First Responder Bowl, Myrtle Beach Bowl and New Mexico Bowl. The American champion will go to a New Year's Six bowl if a team finishes higher than the champions of Group of Five conferences in the final College Football Playoff rankings. American teams are also eligible for the College Football Playoff if they're among the top four teams in the final CFP ranking.^[19]

Bowl games

Cancelled bowls

The following annual bowl games tied in with the American Athletic Conference had their 2020 editions canceled :

• Frisco Bowl scheduled for December 19 between SMU and UTSA was canceled due to COVID-19 complications within the SMU program. As a result, UTSA accepted a bid to the First Responder Bowl.^[20]
• Military Bowl^[21] and Birmingham Bowl^[22] were canceled due to a lack of available teams to play.

Legend
	American win
	American loss

See also: 2020–21 NCAA football bowl games

Bowl game	Date	Site	Television	Time (EST)	AAC team	Opponent	Score
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl	December 22	Albertsons Stadium, Boise, ID	ESPN	3:30 p.m.	Tulane	Nevada	27–38
Boca Raton Bowl	December 22	FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, FL	ESPN	7:00 p.m.	UCF	BYU	23–49
Montgomery Bowl	December 23	Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, AL	ESPN	7:00 p.m.	Memphis	Florida Atlantic	25–10
New Mexico Bowl	December 24	Toyota Stadium, Frisco, TX	ESPN	3:30 p.m.	Houston	Hawaii	14–28
Armed Forces Bowl	December 31	Amon G. Carter Stadium, Ft. Worth, TX	ESPN	12:00 p.m.	No. 24 Tulsa	Mississippi State	26–28
New Year's Six bowl game
Peach Bowl	Jan. 1, 2021	Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia	ESPN	12:30 p.m.	No. 8 Cincinnati	No. 9 Georgia	21–24

Rankings are from CFP rankings.^[23] All times Eastern Time Zone. American teams shown in bold.

^[24]

American vs other conferences

American vs Power 5 matchups

The following games include American teams competing against Power Five conferences teams from the (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, Notre Dame, BYU and SEC). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most power five games for the American have been canceled, All of the Power Five conferences initially announced that they would go on with their season as scheduled, but with cuts to non-conference games in order to overcome logistical concerns and reduce travel. The Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC were all limiting play to in-conference opponents only.^[25][26] The ACC and Big 12 are allowing one non-conference game each.^[27] The Big Ten and Pac 12 have postponed fall sports due to COVID-19 concerns.^[28]

Date	Conference	Visitor	Home	Site	Score
September 7	Independent	BYU	Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	55–3
September 19	Big 12	Tulsa	Oklahoma State	Boone Pickens Stadium • Stillwater, OK	16–7
September 19	ACC	UCF	Georgia Tech	Bobby Dodd Stadium • Atlanta, GA	49–21
September 19	ACC	South Florida	Notre Dame	Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, IN	52–0
October 16	Independent	BYU	Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	46–23

American vs Group of Five matchups

The following games include American teams competing against teams from C-USA, MAC, Mountain West or Sun Belt. On August 8, the MAC announced the postponement of all fall sports for the 2020 season, including football.^[29] On August 10, the Mountain West followed the MAC as the second Group of Five conference to postpone fall sports indefinitely.^[30] On August 10, Rice announced it was the delaying the start of it season until September 26.^[31]

Date	Conference	Visitor	Home	Site	Score
September 5	Sun Belt	SMU	Texas State	Bobcat Stadium • San Marcos, TX	31–24
September 5	Sun Belt	Arkansas State	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	37–24
September 12	Sun Belt	Tulane	South Alabama	Hancock Whitney Stadium • Mobile, AL	27–24
September 19	C-USA	SMU	North Texas	Apogee Stadium • Denton, TX	65–35
September 26	C-USA	Tulane	Southern Miss	M.M Roberts Stadium • Hattiesburg, MS	66–24
October 3	Sun Belt	East Carolina	Georgia State	Center Parc Stadium • Atlanta, GA	29–49
October 3	MWC	Navy	Air Force	Falcon Stadium • Colorado Springs, CO	7–40

American vs FBS independents matchups

The following games include American teams competing against FBS Independents which include Army, Liberty, New Mexico State, UConn and UMass. UConn, announced that they would opt out of the 2020 season.^[32][33] UMass announced that they would opt of playing fall football and hopes to construct a season in spring 2021.^[34] New Mexico State announced that they would opt out of playing fall football and try to play in spring 2021.^[35]

Date	Visitor	Home	Site	Score
September 26	Army	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	24–10
November 14	Army	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	38–12
December 12	Navy	Army	Michie Stadium • West Point, NY	0–15

American vs FCS matchups

The Football Championship Subdivision comprises 13 conferences and two independent programs. All conferences and teams have postponed their fall conference schedules,^[36] The Big South, (James Madison, Elon, Villanova from the CAA), Missouri Valley Football Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, SoCon, and Southland Conference^[37] are allowing the option of playing out-of-conference games only

Date	Visitor	Home	Site	Score
September 12	The Citadel	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	27–6
September 19	Austin Peay	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	55–20
September 19	Stephen F. Austin	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX	50–7
November 21	Stephen F. Austin	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	56–14

Records against other conferences

Regular Season Power 5 Conferences Record ACC 1–1 Big Ten — Big 12 0–1 Pac-12 — SEC — Power 5 Total 1–2 Other FBS Conferences Record BYU 0–2 C–USA 2–0 Independents (Excludes BYU & Notre Dame) 2–1 MAC — Mountain West 0–1 Sun Belt 3–1 Other FBS Total 7–5 FCS Opponents Record Football Championship Subdivision 4–0 Total Non-Conference Record 12–7

Post Season Power Conferences 5 Record ACC — Big Ten — Big 12 — Pac-12 — SEC 0–2 Power 5 Total 0–2 Other FBS Conferences Record BYU 0–1 C–USA 1–0 Independents (Excluding BYU & Notre Dame) — MAC — Mountain West 0–2 Sun Belt — Other FBS Total 1–3 Total Bowl Record 1–5

Awards and honors

Player of the week honors

Week		Offensive				Defensive				Specialist
		Player	Team	Position		Player	Team	Position		Player	Team	Position
WEEK 1 & WEEK 2 (Sept. 12)^[38]		Brady White	Memphis	QB		Cameron Sample	Tulane	DE		Chris Naggar	SMU	K
WEEK 3 (Sept. 19)^[39]		Dillon Gabriel	UCF	QB		Diego Fagot	Navy	LB		Bijan Nichols Chris Naggar (2)	Navy SMU	K K
WEEK 4 (Sept. 26)^[40]		Dillon Gabriel (2)	UCF	QB		Jarell White	Cincinnati	LB		Daniel Obarski	UCF	K
WEEK 5 (Oct. 3)^[41]		Shane Buechele	SMU	QB		Zaven Collins	Tulsa	LB		Chris Naggar (3) Lachlan Wilson	SMU Tulsa	K P
WEEK 6 (Oct. 10)^[42]		Marquez Stevenson	Houston	WR		Terrell Adams	Navy	LB		Jake Verity	East Carolina	K
WEEK 7 (Oct. 17)^[43]		Dillon Gabriel (3) Brady White (2)	UCF Memphis	QB QB		Arnold Ebiketie	Temple	DE		Chris Naggar (4)	SMU	K
WEEK 8 (Oct. 24)^[44]		Desmond Ridder	Cincinnati	QB		Zaven Collins (2)	Tulsa	LB		Dalton Witherspoon	Houston	K
WEEK 9 (Oct. 31)^[45]		Desmond Ridder (2)	Cincinnati	QB		Myjai Sanders	Cincinnati	DE		Daniel Obarski (2)	UCF	K
WEEK 10 (Nov. 7)^[46]		Brady White (3)	Memphis	QB		Patrick Johnson	Tulane	DE		Spencer Shrader	South Florida	K
WEEK 11 (Nov. 14)^[47]		Desmond Ridder (3)	Cincinnati	QB		Jarell White (2) Zaven Collins (3)	Cincinnati Tulsa	LB LB		Marcus Jones	Houston	PR
WEEK 12 (Nov. 21)^[48]		Desmond Ridder (4) Davis Brin	Cincinnati Tulsa	QB QB		Zaven Collins (4)	Tulsa	LB		Tyler Snead	East Carolina	KR
WEEK 13 (Nov. 28)^[49]		Holton Ahlers	East Carolina	QB		Quindell Johnson	Memphis	S		Riley Patterson	Memphis	K
WEEK 14 (Dec. 5)^[50]		Michael Pratt	Tulane	QB		Jaxon Player	Tulsa	DT		Zack Long	Tulsa	K

American Athletic Individual Awards

The following individuals received postseason honors as chosen by the league's head coaches.^[51]

Award	Player	School
Offensive Player of the Year	Desmond Ridder, QB	Cincinnati
Defensive Player of the Year	Zaven Collins, LB	Tulsa
Special Teams Player of the Year	Chris Naggar, K	SMU
Rookies of the Year	Rahjai Harris Ulysses Bentley IV	East Carolina SMU
Coach of the Year	Luke Fickell	Cincinnati

All-Conference Teams

Position Player Team First Team Offense WR Jaylon Robinson UCF WR Marlon Williams UCF WR Calvin Austin Memphis OT James Hudson Cincinnati OT Tyler Smith Tulsa OG Cole Schneider UCF OG Peter Nestrowitz Navy C Matthew Lee UCF TE Kylen Granson SMU QB Desmond Ridder Cincinnati RB Gerrid Doaks Cincinnati RB Rahjai Harris East Carolina RB Ulysses Bentley IV SMU First Team Defense DL Myjai Sanders Cincinnati DL O’Bryan Goodson Memphis DL Cameron Sample Tulane DL Jaxon Player Tulsa LB Jarell White Cincinnati LB Grant Stuard Houston LB Patrick Johnson Tulane LB Zaven Collins * Tulsa CB Sauce Gardner Cincinnati CB Coby Bryant Cincinnati S Richie Grant * UCF S James Wiggins Cincinnati First Team Special Teams K Chris Naggar SMU P Ryan Wright Tulane RS Marcus Jones Houston

Position Player Team Second Team Offense WR Michael Young Jr. Cincinnati WR Tyler Snead East Carolina WR Keylon Stokes Tulsa OT Jaylon Thomas SMU OT Chris Paul Tulsa OG Hayden Howerton SMU OG Corey Dublin Tulane C Sincere Haynesworth Tulane TE Josh Whyle Cincinnati QB Dillon Gabriel UCF RB Otis Anderson Jr. UCF RB Stephon Huderson Tulane Second Team Defense DL Marcus Brown Cincinnati DL Elijah Ponder Cincinnati DL Payton Turner Houston DL Arnold Ebiketie Temple LB Darrian Beavers Cincinnati LB Diego Fagot Navy LB Antonio Grier South Florida LB Dorian Williams Tulane LB Justin Wright Tulsa CB Aaron Robinson UCF CB Ja’Quan McMillian East Carolina S Quindell Johnson Memphis S Cristian Williams Tulsa Second Team Special Teams K Zack Long Tulsa P James Smith Cincinnati RS Tre Tucker Cincinnati RS Tyler Snead East Carolina

* Denotes Unanimous Selection

All Conference Honorable Mentions:

• UCF: Lokahi Pauole (OG)
• Cincinnati: Darrick Forrest (S), Darius Harper (OT)
• ECU: Xavier Smith (LB)
• Houston: Braylon Jones (OG), Damarion Williams (CB)
• Memphis: Sean Dykes (TE), Morris Joseph (DL)
• SMU: Richard McBryde (LB)
• Temple: Jadan Blue (WR)
• Tulane: Joey Claybrook (OT)
• Tulsa: Dante Bivens (OG), Dylan Couch (OG), Allie Green IV (CB), Kendarin Ray (S), Gerard Wheeler (C)

All-Americans

For the complete All-America selections, see 2020 College Football All-America Team.

The 2020 College Football All-America Team is composed of the following College Football All-American first teams chosen by the following selector organizations: Associated Press (AP), Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Walter Camp Foundation (WCFF), The Sporting News (TSN), Sports Illustrated (SI), USA Today (USAT) ESPN, CBS Sports (CBS), FOX Sports (FOX) College Football News (CFN), Bleacher Report (BR), Scout.com, Phil Steele (PS), SB Nation (SB), Athlon Sports, Pro Football Focus (PFF), The Athletic, and Yahoo! Sports (Yahoo!).

Currently, the NCAA compiles consensus all-America teams in the sports of Division I-FBS football and Division I men's basketball using a point system computed from All-America teams named by coaches associations or media sources. The system consists of three points for a first-team honor, two points for second-team honor, and one point for third-team honor. Honorable mention and fourth team or lower recognitions are not accorded any points. Football consensus teams are compiled by position and the player accumulating the most points at each position is named first team consensus all-American. Currently, the NCAA recognizes All-Americans selected by the AP, AFCA, FWAA, TSN, and the WCFF to determine Consensus and Unanimous All-Americans. Any player named to the First Team by all five of the NCAA-recognized selectors is deemed a Unanimous All-American.^[52][53]

Position	Player	School	Selector	Unanimous	Consensus
First Team All-Americans
LB	Zaven Collins	Tulsa	AFCA, AP, ESPN, FWAA, TSN, WCFF	*
DB	Sauce Gardner	Cincinnati	AFCA, AP, FWAA, TSN, WCFF
KR	Marcus Jones	Houston	AFCA, AP, FWAA, TSN, WCFF

Position	Player	School	Selector	Unanimous	Consensus
Second Team All-Americans
LB	Zaven Collins	Tulsa	PS
DB	Sauce Gardner	Cincinnati	PS, USAT
DB	James Wiggins	Houston	Athletic

*CBS Sports All-America Team
*ESPN All-America Team
*The Athletic All-America Team
*USA Today All-America Team
*AP All-America Team
*The Sporting News All-America Team
*Football Writers' Association of America All-America Team
*American Football Coaches Association All-America Team
*2020 Walter Camp Football Foundation All-America Team
*Phil Steele All-America Team

National award winners

See also: 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season § Awards and honors

Lombardi Award (top player):
Zaven Collins, Tulsa

Campbell Trophy ("academic Heisman")
Brady White, Memphis

Bronko Nagurski Trophy (Best Defensive Player)
Zaven Collins, Tulsa

Chuck Bednarik Award (defensive player)
Zaven Collins, Tulsa ^[54]

NFL Draft

The following list includes all AAC players who were drafted in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Player	Position	School	Draft Round	Round Pick	Overall Pick	Team
Zaven Collins	LB	Tulsa	1	16	16	Arizona Cardinals
Payton Turner	DE	Houston	1	28	28	New Orleans Saints
Richie Grant	S	UCF	2	8	40	Atlanta Falcons
Aaron Robinson	CB	UCF	3	7	71	New York Giants
Brandon Stephens	CB	SMU	3	40	104	Baltimore Ravens
James Hudson	OT	Cincinnati	4	5	110	Cleveland Browns
Cameron Sample	DE	Tulane	4	6	111	Cincinnati Bengals
Kylen Granson	TE	SMU	4	22	127	Indianapolis Colts
D'Ante Smith	OT	East Carolina	4	34	139	Cincinnati Bengals
Jacob Harris	WR	UCF	4	36	141	Los Angeles Rams
Kenneth Gainwell	RB	Memphis	5	6	150	Philadelphia Eagles
Darrick Forrest	S	Cincinnati	5	19	163	Washington Football Team
Marquez Stevenson	WR	Houston	6	19	203	Buffalo Bills
Tay Gowan	CB	UCF	6	39	223	Arizona Cardinals
Patrick Johnson	DE	Tulane	7	6	234	Philadelphia Eagles
Tre Nixon	WR	UCF	7	14	242	New England Patriots
James Wiggins	S	Cincinnati	7	15	243	Arizona Cardinals
Gerrid Doaks	RB	Cincinnati	7	16	244	Miami Dolphins
Grant Stuard	LB	Houston	7	31	259	Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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