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Is the American Better Than A Power 5 Conference?
Created on Nov. 19, 2015
There’s always been very little respect for the American Athletic Conference in comparison from the Power 5 conferences.
The former Big East didn’t get a whole lot of love before their demise, and frankly, it’s just gotten worse. When the Big East fell apart, the new American Athletic Conference had their automatic qualifying spot in a premier bowl game taken away from them. They’re now basically the equivalent to the MAC or Conference USA, despite the fact that they have more teams in the College Football Playoff Committee’s Top 25 than the ACC. It’s a brutal truth that these teams have to swallow that they simply have no chance to prove their worth, even if they go undefeated, like Houston currently is, sitting at No. 19.
However, it’s time for a real piece of truth: the American is a top five conference in 2015. It’s not a popular thing to say, but across the board, I would take the American overall against the Pac-12.
Now I know that the Pac-12 has a winning record against the American in 2015, but that record is 1-0. And who played in that game? Stanford, the highest ranked team in the Pac-12, and Central Florida, widely considered to be the worst team in college football this season. The point behind what I’m saying is simply the fact that you can’t judge based off of a completely mismatched game in California.
In order to correctly judge how this matchup would go, let’s look at the top teams in each conference that represent their respective conference in the Committee’s Top 25, with the exception of Temple. That would place Navy vs. Stanford, Houston vs. Utah, Memphis vs. Oregon, and Temple vs. USC.
Navy’s defense would certainly have a challenge in stopping Christian McCaffrey, but they present enough challenge for opposing defenses with their flexbone offense. A high scoring affair would be the result, but given how Navy shut down Memphis’ offense and their ability to avoid turning the ball over, they have a legitimate shot to win that game.
Going to Houston vs. Utah, it’s hard to pick against the team with the best player on the field: Greg Ward Jr. Head coach Tom Herman brings a winning attitude, coming off a National Championship with Ohio State. Given the fact that Utah doesn’t look like quite as strong of a team at this point in the season and Houston has an unblemished record, it’s hard not to give some credit for winning the games in front of you.
As for Memphis vs. Oregon, there’s no doubt that Memphis can score. However, so can Oregon. The offenses are predicated on quarterback play, and if you have to pick between Vernon Adams Jr. and Paxton Lynch, I’d take Lynch in a heartbeat. He’s been one of the best pure quarterbacks in college football in 2015. Memphis would need a late touchdown to win against the Ducks, but a win’s a win.
Moving on to Temple vs. USC, Temple’s defense would be the x-factor. That defense clearly didn’t play well this past weekend against South Florida, but an overall top 40 defense, based on total defense, can cause some issues for a USC team that can struggle to score against good defenses. P.J. Walker would need a huge game against a passing defense that has been gives up over 250 yards per game.
A 4-0 record in those games will go a long way in a head to head matchup. USF, Cincinnati, Tulsa, and UConn all could "steal" a win as an underdog, and it's pretty much a crapshoot amongst the bottom teams of who can pull out a win on either side. The first to seven wins pulls out the overall victory, and I'm comfortable saying that these are games that teams in the Pac-12 would overlook.
These may sound hypothetical, but these outcomes could legitimately happen. The American has earned the chance to prove itself, but will likely not get the opportunity, given the bowl tie-ins. I’d love to see the bowl games that put conferences up against each other so we can actually see the American put up a winning record against the Pac-12.
Is the American Better Than A Power 5 Conference?
Created on Nov. 19, 2015
There’s always been very little respect for the American Athletic Conference in comparison from the Power 5 conferences.
The former Big East didn’t get a whole lot of love before their demise, and frankly, it’s just gotten worse. When the Big East fell apart, the new American Athletic Conference had their automatic qualifying spot in a premier bowl game taken away from them. They’re now basically the equivalent to the MAC or Conference USA, despite the fact that they have more teams in the College Football Playoff Committee’s Top 25 than the ACC. It’s a brutal truth that these teams have to swallow that they simply have no chance to prove their worth, even if they go undefeated, like Houston currently is, sitting at No. 19.
However, it’s time for a real piece of truth: the American is a top five conference in 2015. It’s not a popular thing to say, but across the board, I would take the American overall against the Pac-12.
Now I know that the Pac-12 has a winning record against the American in 2015, but that record is 1-0. And who played in that game? Stanford, the highest ranked team in the Pac-12, and Central Florida, widely considered to be the worst team in college football this season. The point behind what I’m saying is simply the fact that you can’t judge based off of a completely mismatched game in California.
In order to correctly judge how this matchup would go, let’s look at the top teams in each conference that represent their respective conference in the Committee’s Top 25, with the exception of Temple. That would place Navy vs. Stanford, Houston vs. Utah, Memphis vs. Oregon, and Temple vs. USC.
Navy’s defense would certainly have a challenge in stopping Christian McCaffrey, but they present enough challenge for opposing defenses with their flexbone offense. A high scoring affair would be the result, but given how Navy shut down Memphis’ offense and their ability to avoid turning the ball over, they have a legitimate shot to win that game.
Going to Houston vs. Utah, it’s hard to pick against the team with the best player on the field: Greg Ward Jr. Head coach Tom Herman brings a winning attitude, coming off a National Championship with Ohio State. Given the fact that Utah doesn’t look like quite as strong of a team at this point in the season and Houston has an unblemished record, it’s hard not to give some credit for winning the games in front of you.
As for Memphis vs. Oregon, there’s no doubt that Memphis can score. However, so can Oregon. The offenses are predicated on quarterback play, and if you have to pick between Vernon Adams Jr. and Paxton Lynch, I’d take Lynch in a heartbeat. He’s been one of the best pure quarterbacks in college football in 2015. Memphis would need a late touchdown to win against the Ducks, but a win’s a win.
Moving on to Temple vs. USC, Temple’s defense would be the x-factor. That defense clearly didn’t play well this past weekend against South Florida, but an overall top 40 defense, based on total defense, can cause some issues for a USC team that can struggle to score against good defenses. P.J. Walker would need a huge game against a passing defense that has been gives up over 250 yards per game.
A 4-0 record in those games will go a long way in a head to head matchup. USF, Cincinnati, Tulsa, and UConn all could "steal" a win as an underdog, and it's pretty much a crapshoot amongst the bottom teams of who can pull out a win on either side. The first to seven wins pulls out the overall victory, and I'm comfortable saying that these are games that teams in the Pac-12 would overlook.
These may sound hypothetical, but these outcomes could legitimately happen. The American has earned the chance to prove itself, but will likely not get the opportunity, given the bowl tie-ins. I’d love to see the bowl games that put conferences up against each other so we can actually see the American put up a winning record against the Pac-12.
