The American Championship should once again be nothing short of exciting, thanks to two teams with Cotton Bowl aspirations
by Dick Weiss, for TheAmerican.com
MEMPHIS — The American is rising, once again.
In three of the four previous years, the league has been a regular visitor to the New Year’s Six bowls. Houston was 13-1 and ranked eighth in the final 2015 AP poll after defeating Florida State, 38-24, in the Peach Bowl. UCF was ranked sixth by AP after a perfect 13-0 season in 2017 that was punctuated by a 34-27 victory over Auburn in the Peach.
Then, last season UCF had a 12-0 regular season before losing to LSU in the Fiesta Bowl and finishing 11th in the final poll.
This season, the fluid, conference has improved from top to bottom, so a top-10 finish isn’t a given. But that shouldn’t take away from what the league has accomplished again in stating its case as a Power 6 conference, or the fact UCF and Memphis participated in the two most exciting conference championship games in college football in the past two years.
Expect more of the same when 16th-ranked Memphis (11-1) and 21st-ranked Cincinnati (10-2), The American’s two divisional champions, play for the conference championship Saturday at the Liberty Bowl.
The Tigers clinched home field advantage last Saturday when quarterback Brady White threw for 233 yards and two touchdowns — including a 46-yard score to Damonte Coxie off a trick flea-flicker— to give the Tigers a 34-24 victory over the Bearcats.
The game showcased coach Mike Norvell’s offensive genius, which has been evident for the past three years throughout the high scoring Tigers’ resurgence; and validated the job Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell has done re-energizing the Bearcats’ program with an outstanding brand of complimentary football, winning 21 of his last 25 games.
If Memphis wins the rematch, the Tigers are a lock to represent The American in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Dec. 28 in Dallas. If Cincinnati wins, the Bearcats hope to jump ahead of Boise State, which hosts Hawaii in the Mountain West championship, for the spot in the Cotton Bowl.
Memphis will be favored, but it’s hard to beat a team twice when the games are spaced within eight days.
“It should be a battle for the ages,’’ Memphis coach Mike Norvell said. “I expect it to be nothing less than epic.”
“We have one goal in our program we never talk about — playing for a championship,” Fickell said. “Going back to back at Memphis will be tough. But we’re still playing, and a lot of people would love to trade places with us.”
Fickell will have to prepare for the Tigers, but is uncertain who his quarterback will be. Desmond Ridder has been the starter. But Ridder missed the first game with Memphis with an injured shoulder and was replaced by freshman Ben Bryant, who threw for 229 yards and one touchdown and ran in another score in his first career start. But Bryant’s three second-half turnovers — two interceptions and a lost fumble — limited scoring opportunities. If Ridder is healthy, he will start.
No matter happens, American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco has been outspoken in his belief the winner of this game deserves a spot in the Cotton Bowl, based on the level of play in the league.
There are currently three teams — Memphis, Cincinnati and Navy -- ranked in both the Associated Press top 25 and the College Football Playoff Rankings. Aresco thinks that there should be more, pointing to a 10-2 SMU team and a 9-3 UCF team that has three losses by a total of seven points, all on the road.
“I feel strongly that a double standard exists for our teams in the College Football Playoff rankings and the AP poll, although not to the same extent,” he said. “Our conference doesn’t get the respect it deserves. We’ve been right there with the ACC and the Pac-12 in the five computer polls.”