2016 American Athletic Conference football season

Sports season

2016 American Athletic Conference football season

League	NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision)
Sport	Football
Duration	September 1, 2016 through January 2017
Number of teams	12
TV partner(s)	ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and CBS Sports Network
2017 NFL Draft
Top draft pick	Haason Reddick (Temple)
Picked by	Arizona Cardinals, 13th overall
Regular season
Top scorer	Will Worth (150 points)
East champions	Temple
East runners-up	South Florida
West champions	Navy
West runners-up	Tulsa
The American Championship
Champions	Temple
Runners-up	Navy
Football seasons
← 2015 2017 →

2016 American Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
Temple xy$	7	–	1	10	–	4
No. 19 South Florida x	7	–	1	11	–	2
UCF	4	–	4	6	–	7
Cincinnati	1	–	7	4	–	8
UConn	1	–	7	3	–	9
East Carolina	1	–	7	3	–	9
West Division
Navy xy	7	–	1	9	–	5
Tulsa	6	–	2	10	–	3
Memphis	5	–	3	8	–	5
Houston	5	–	3	9	–	4
SMU	3	–	5	5	–	7
Tulane	1	–	7	4	–	8
Championship: Temple 34, Navy 10
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

The 2016 American Athletic Conference football season was the 25th NCAA Division I FBS football season of the American Athletic Conference (The American). The season was the third since the breakup of the former Big East Conference, and the third season with the College Football Playoff in place. The American was considered a member of the "Group of Five" (G5) with Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, Mountain West Conference, and the Sun Belt Conference. Whereas under the previous system the champion of the conference was guaranteed an automatic berth to a BCS bowl game, the highest-ranked champion member of the G5 received a bid to one of the six major bowls.

The American consisted of 12 members: Cincinnati, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, SMU, South Florida, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa, UCF, UConn, Navy. In June 2015, the Collegiate Commissioner's Association announced that it would postpone final rankings until after the annual Army–Navy Game if Navy or Army are in contention for a spot in the semifinals or a New Years Six bowl. If Navy was the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion and loses to Army, it would be replaced by next highest-ranked Group of 5 champion in the New Years Six Bowl.

In the 2016 season, the American had four new coaches. Willie Fritz, formerly the head coach at Georgia Southern, was hired by Tulane to replace Curtis Johnson. After beginning the 2013 season, Johnson lost 22 of his final 27 games against FBS opponents. He finished at Tulane with a 15–4 record through four full seasons. He compiled a 7–9 conference record in the C-USA (2012–2013), and a 3–13 conference record in the American Athletic Conference (2014–2015). On December 1, 2015, UCF hired Oregon offensive coordinator Scott Frost. Frost replaced longtime UCF head coach George O'Leary and interim head coach Danny Barrett, who took over the Knights when O'Leary resigned following an 0–8 start. On December 3, 2015, Memphis hired Arizona State offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Norvell, replacing Justin Fuente who took the job at Virginia Tech. On December 13, 2015, East Carolina hired Duke (OC/QB) Scottie Montgomery. replacing Ruffin McNeill who was relieved of his duties as ECU head coach after finishing the season with a record of 5–7.

American Athletic Conference Media Day

The American Athletic Conference Media Day took place August 12 in Newport, Rhode Island.

Preseason poll

East Division

1. USF (15), 164 pts
2. Temple (9), 144 pts
3. Cincinnati (6), 130 pts
4. UConn, 89 pts
5. East Carolina, 55 pts
6. UCF, 48 pts

West Division

1. Houston (30), 180 pts
2. Navy, 128 pts
3. Memphis, 124 pts
4. Tulsa, 92 pts
5. SMU, 65 pts
6. Tulane, 41 pts

Predicted American Championship Game Winner: Houston (27) was picked to win the American Championship. Others receiving votes were USF (2), Temple (1)

Head coaches

East

Tommy Tuberville, Cincinnati – 4th year
Bob Diaco, Connecticut – 3rd year
Scottie Montgomery, East Carolina – 1st year
Willie Taggart, South Florida – 4th year
Matt Rhule, Temple – 4th year
Scott Frost, UCF – 1st year

West

Tom Herman, Houston – 2nd year
Mike Norvell, Memphis – 1st year
Ken Niumatalolo, Navy – 9th year
Chad Morris, SMU – 2nd year
Willie Fritz, Tulane – 1st year
Philip Montgomery, Tulsa – 2nd year

Recruiting classes

Rankings
Team	ESPN	Rivals	Scout	24/7	Signees
Cincinnati	75	75	73	76	21
Connecticut	–	–	101	98	16
East Carolina	–	81	88	77	22
Houston	30	44	51	40	19
Memphis	72	72	69	63	22
Navy	–	–	98	83	36
SMU	67	74	61	72	22
South Florida	63	70	77	61	16
Temple	59	59	76	57	26
Tulane	–	86	100	89	24
Tulsa	–	87	85	92	20
UCF	66	58	74	66	20

Rankings

Main article: 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

**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

		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
Cincinnati	AP			RV
	C
	CFP	Not released
Connecticut	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
East Carolina	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Houston	AP	15	6	6	6	6	6	13	11	RV	RV	RV	RV	18	RV	RV
	C	13	7	7	7	7	5	12	11	24	RV	RV	RV	21	RV	RV
	CFP	Not released												20	24
Memphis	AP					RV
	C	RV			RV	RV		RV	RV
	CFP	Not released
Navy	AP	RV	RV					25	24	22		RV	RV	RV	20	RV
	C	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV		RV	25	22	RV	RV	RV	RV	20	RV
	CFP	Not released												25	19	25
SMU	AP									RV
	C
	CFP	Not released
South Florida	AP	RV			RV		RV	RV	RV		RV	RV	RV	RV	24	25
	C	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	23	22
	CFP	Not released
Temple	AP													RV	RV	23
	C														RV	24
	CFP	Not released														24
Tulane	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Tulsa	AP										RV	RV			RV
	C							RV	RV	RV	RV	RV		RV	RV
	CFP	Not released
UCF	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released

Schedule

All Times and Dates are Tentative, The 2016 conference football schedule was released February 9

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

Week 1

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	7:00 p.m.	UT Martin	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPN3	W 28–7	28,520
September 1	7:00 p.m.	Maine	Connecticut	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	ASN	W 24–21	29,377
September 1	7:00 p.m.	Tulane	Wake Forest	BB&T Field • Winston-Salem, NC	ESPN3	L 3–7	24,398
September 2	7:00 p.m.	Army	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	CBSSN	L 13–28	34,005
September 3	Noon	No. 3 Oklahoma	No. 15 Houston	NRG Stadium • Houston, TX (Texas Kickoff)	ABC	W 33–23	71,016
September 3	Noon	Fordham	Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	CBSSN	W 52–16	28,238
September 3	6:00 p.m.	Western Carolina	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPN3	W 52–7	44,161
September 3	7:00 p.m.	South Carolina State	UCF	Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, FL	ESPN3	W 38–0	36,260
September 3	7:00 p.m.	No. 24 (FCS) Towson	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ASN	W 56–20	35,976
September 3	7:00 p.m.	Southeast Missouri State	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ESPN3	W 35–17	42,876
September 3	7:00 p.m.	SMU	North Texas	Apogee Stadium • Denton, TX	ASN	W 34–21	24,718
September 3	7:00 p.m.	San Jose State	Tulsa	Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	CBSSN	W 45–10	18,748
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 2

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 10	Noon	UCF	No. 5 Michigan	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI	ABC	L 14–51	109,295
September 10	Noon	Cincinnati	Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN	BTN	W 38–20	33,068
September 10	Noon	NC State	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPNU	W 33–30	50,719
September 10	Noon	Lamar	No. 6 Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	ASN	W 42–0	39,402
September 10	1:00 p.m.	Stony Brook	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPN3	W 38–0	22,296
September 10	3:30 p.m.	Connecticut	Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	CBSSN	NAVY 28–24	31,501
September 10	3:30 p.m.	SMU	No. 23 Baylor	McLane Stadium • Waco, TX	FS1	L 13–40	45,499
September 10	3:30 p.m.	Tulsa	No. 4 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	ABC	L 3–48	104,410
September 10	7:00 p.m.	Northern Illinois	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	CBSSN	W 48–17	36,557
September 10	8:00 p.m.	Southern	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ESPN3	W 66–21	27,179
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
September 10	Memphis

Week 3

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 15	7:30 p.m.	No. 6 Houston	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPN	HOU 40–16	40,015
September 17	Noon	Temple	Penn State	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA	BTN	L 27–34	100,420
September 17	Noon	Kansas	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ESPNU	W 43–7	34,448
September 17	1:30 p.m.	Virginia	Connecticut	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	SNY	W 13–10	31,036
September 17	2:00 p.m.	North Carolina A&T	Tulsa	Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	ESPN3	W 58–21	16,111
September 17	3:30 p.m.	South Florida	Syracuse	Carrier Dome • Syracuse, NY	ESPN3	W 45–20	32,288
September 17	4:00 p.m.	East Carolina	South Carolina	Williams-Brice Stadium • Columbia, SC	SEC Network	L 15–20	80,384
September 17	7:00 p.m.	Maryland	UCF	Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, FL	CBSSN	L 24–30	43,197
September 17	7:00 p.m.	Navy	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ASN	NAVY 21–14	21,503
September 17	7:00 p.m.	Liberty	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX	ESPN3	W 29–14	22,127
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 4

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 23	8:00 p.m.	TCU	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX (Battle for the Iron Skillet)	ESPN	L 3–33	30,987
September 24	Noon	No. 13 Florida State	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ABC	L 35–55	61,665
September 24	Noon	Charlotte	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ASN	W 48–20	27,786
September 24	12:30 p.m.	East Carolina	Virginia Tech	Lane Stadium • Blacksburg, VA	ACCN	L 17–54	63,712
September 24	1:00 p.m.	Syracuse	Connecticut	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	CBSSN	L 24–31	31,899
September 24	3:30 p.m.	Miami (OH)	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH (121st Battle for the Victory Bell)	ESPNews	W 27–20	38,112
September 24	4:30 p.m.	Tulsa	Fresno State	Bulldog Stadium • Fresno, CA	MWTV	W 48–41	23,273
September 24	7:00 p.m.	UCF	FIU	FIU Stadium • Miami, FL	BeIN Sports	W 53–14	18,524
September 24	7:00 p.m.	No. 6 Houston	Texas State	Bobcat Stadium • San Marcos, TX	ESPNU	W 64–3	33,133
September 24	8:00 p.m.	Bowling Green	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ESPNews	W 77–3	38,713
September 24	8:00 p.m.	Louisiana–Lafayette	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ESPN3	W 41–39	24,253
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
September 24	Navy

Week 5

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 29	8:00 p.m.	Connecticut	No. 6 Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	ESPN	HOU 42–14	40,873
October 1	Noon	UCF	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC (rivalry)	CBSSN	UCF 47–29	46,042
October 1	Noon	SMU	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPNews	TEM 45–20	22,401
October 1	3:30 p.m.	Navy	Air Force	Falcon Stadium • Colorado Springs, CO (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)	CBSSN	L 14–28	43,063
October 1	3:30 p.m.	Tulane	UMass	Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium • Hadley, MA	ASN	W 31–24	14,892
October 1	7:00 p.m.	South Florida	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPNU	USF 45–20	35,108
October 1	7:00 p.m.	Memphis	No. 16 Ole Miss	Vaught–Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, MS	ESPN2	L 28–48	65,889
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
October 1	Tulsa

Week 6

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 6	8:00 p.m.	Temple	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ESPN	MEM 34–27	34,743
October 7	8:00 p.m.	Tulane	UCF	Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, FL	ESPNU	Postponed
October 7	8:00 p.m.	SMU	Tulsa	Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	ESPN2	TLSA 43–40	20,089
October 8	11:30 a.m.	Cincinnati	Connecticut	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	CBSSN	CONN 20–9	24,169
October 8	Noon	East Carolina	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPNews	USF 38–22	30,397
October 8	3:00 p.m.	No. 6 Houston	Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	CBSSN	NAVY 46–40	34,531
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

The October 7th game in Orlando between Tulane and UCF was postponed due to Hurricane Matthew and rescheduled for November 5, a date which both teams had open.

Week 7

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 13	7:30 p.m.	No. 25 Navy	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPN	Postponed
October 14	8:00 p.m.	Memphis	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ESPNU	MEM 24–14	21,098
October 15	7:00 p.m.	Connecticut	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	CBSSN	USF 42–27	30,297
October 15	7:00 p.m.	Tulsa	No. 13 Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	ESPN2	HOU 38–31	38,221
October 15	7:30 p.m.	Temple	UCF	Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, FL	ESPNU	TEM 26–25	38,299
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
October 15	Cincinnati	SMU

The October 13th game in Greenville, NC between Navy and East Carolina was postponed due because of flooding associated with Hurricane Matthew, the game will be rescheduled for November 19, a date which both teams had open.

Week 8

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 21	7:00 p.m.	South Florida	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPN	TEM 46–30	25,950
October 22	Noon	UCF	Connecticut	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT (Civil Conflict)	ESPNews	UCF 24–16	28,008
October 22	3:30 p.m.	Memphis	No. 24 Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	CBSSN	NAVY 42–28	35,943
October 22	3:45 p.m.	Tulane	Tulsa	Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	ESPNU	TLSA 50–27	22,349
October 22	7:00 p.m.	East Carolina	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	CBSSN	CIN 31–19	32,022
October 22	7:00 p.m.	No. 11 Houston	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX (rivalry)	ESPN2	SMU 38–16	25,079
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 9

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 28	7:00 p.m.	No. 22 Navy	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPN2	USF 52–45	31,824
October 29	Noon	UCF	Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	ESPNU	HOU 31–24	35,846
October 29	Noon	Connecticut	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPNews	ECU 41–3	41,370
October 29	3:30 p.m.	Cincinnati	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	CBSSN	TEM 34–13	29,763
October 29	4:00 p.m.	SMU	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ESPNews	SMU 35–31	25,780
October 29	8:00 p.m.	Tulsa	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ESPNews	TLSA 59–30	36,894
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 10

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 4	7:00 p.m.	Temple	Connecticut	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	ESPN2	TEM 21–0	22,316
November 5	11:30 a.m.	Notre Dame	Navy	EverBank Field • Jacksonville, FL (Rip Miller Trophy)	CBS	W 28–27	50,867
November 5	3:30 p.m.	BYU	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	CBSSN	L 3–20	37,522
November 5	4:00 p.m.	Memphis	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX	ESPNews	MEM 51–7	24,379
November 5	5:00 p.m.	Tulane	UCF	Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, FL	ESPN3	UCF 31–6	31,571
November 5	8:00 p.m.	East Carolina	Tulsa	Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	ESPNews	TLSA 45–24	17,557
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
November 5	South Florida	Houston

Week 11

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 12	Noon	Tulsa	Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	CBSSN	NAVY 42–40	36,397
November 12	Noon	Cincinnati	UCF	Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, FL	ESPNU	UCF 24–3	30,346
November 12	Noon	SMU	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPNews	SMU 55–31	42,908
November 12	3:30 p.m.	Tulane	Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	CBSSN	HOU 30–18	36,552
November 12	7:00 p.m.	South Florida	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ESPNU	USF 49–42	37,218
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
November 12	Connecticut	Temple

Week 12

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 17	8:00 p.m.	No. 3 Louisville	Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	ESPN	W 36–10	42,822
November 18	8:00 p.m.	Memphis	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	CBSSN	MEM 34–7	25,796
November 19	1:00 p.m.	Connecticut	Boston College	Alumni Stadium • Chestnut Hill, MA	ACCN Extra	L 0–30	36,220
November 19	3:30 p.m.	Temple	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ASN	TEM 31–0	16,497
November 19	4:00 p.m.	Navy	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPNews	NAVY 66–31	39,480
November 19	7:00 p.m.	South Florida	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX	CBSSN	USF 35–27	18,417
November 19	8:00 p.m.	Tulsa	UCF	Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, FL	ESPNews	TLSA 35–20	35,141
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 13

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 25	Noon	No. 18 Houston	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ABC	MEM 48–44	36,527
November 25	8:30 p.m.	Cincinnati	Tulsa	Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	ESPNU	TLSA 40–37	18,550
November 26	Noon	UCF	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL (War on I-4)	CBSSN	USF 48–31	36,056
November 26	3:30 p.m.	Navy	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX (Gansz Trophy)	ESPNU	NAVY 75–31	21,283
November 26	4:00 p.m.	Tulane	Connecticut	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	ESPNews	TULN 38–13	20,764
November 26	7:30 p.m.	East Carolina	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPNews	TEM 37–10	28,373
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

American Athletic Conference Championship Game

Main article: 2016 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
December 3	Noon	Temple	No. 20 Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	ABC	TEM 34–10	22,815
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 15

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
December 10	3:00 p.m.	Army	Navy	M&T Bank Stadium • Baltimore, MD (117th Army–Navy Game/Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)	CBS	L 17–21	71,600
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Bowl games

American Athletic Conference bowl games for the 2016 season are:

Bowl game	Date	Site	Television	Time (EST)	AAC team	Opponent	Score	Attendance
Las Vegas Bowl	December 17	Sam Boyd Stadium • Whitney, NV	ABC	3:30 p.m.	Houston	San Diego State	10–34	29,286
AutoNation Cure Bowl	December 17	Camping World Stadium • Orlando, FL	CBSSN	5:30 p.m.	UCF	Arkansas State	13–31	27,213
Miami Beach Bowl	December 19	Marlins Park • Miami, FL	ESPN	2:30 p.m.	Tulsa	Central Michigan	55–10	15,262
Marmot Boca Raton Bowl	December 20	FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL	ESPN	7:00 p.m.	Memphis	WKU	31–51	24,726
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl	December 23	Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, TX	ESPN	4:30 p.m.	#25 Navy	Louisiana Tech	45–48	40,542
Military Bowl	December 27	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	ESPN	3:30 p.m.	#24 Temple	Wake Forest	26–34	26,656
Birmingham Bowl	December 29	Legion Field • Birmingham, Alabama	ESPN	2:00 p.m.	South Florida	South Carolina	46–39	31,229

Rankings are from CFP Poll. All times Eastern Time Zone.

Selection of teams

Bowl eligible: Houston, Memphis, Navy, South Florida, Temple, Tulsa, UCF
Bowl-ineligible: Cincinnati, Connecticut, East Carolina, Tulane, SMU

Records against FBS conferences

2016 records against FBS conferences

Through Dec 29, 2016

Conference	Record
ACC	4–6
Big Ten	1–4
Big 12	2–2
C-USA	3–2
Independents	2–3
MAC	4–0
Mountain West	2–2
SEC	1–2
Sun Belt	2–1
Total	21–22

The American vs. Power Conferences

Index to colors and formatting
American member won
American member loss

Date	Visitor	Home	Winning Team	Opponent Conference
September 1	Tulane	Wake Forest	Wake Forest	ACC
September 3‡	#3 Oklahoma	#15 Houston	Houston	Big 12
September 10	Cincinnati	Purdue	Cincinnati	Big Ten
September 10	UCF	#5 Michigan	Michigan	Big Ten
September 10	NC State	East Carolina	East Carolina	ACC
September 10	SMU	#23 Baylor	Baylor	Big 12
September 10	Tulsa	#4 Ohio State	Ohio State	Big Ten
September 17	Maryland	UCF	Maryland	Big Ten
September 17	Virginia	Connecticut	Connecticut	ACC
September 17	East Carolina	South Carolina	South Carolina	SEC
September 17	Kansas	Memphis	Memphis	Big 12
September 17	South Florida	Syracuse	South Florida	ACC
September 17	Temple	Penn State	Penn State	Big Ten
September 24	Syracuse	Connecticut	Syracuse	ACC
September 24	East Carolina	Virginia Tech	Virginia Tech	ACC
September 24	TCU	SMU	TCU	Big 12
September 24	#13 Florida State	South Florida	Florida State	ACC
October 1	Memphis	#16 Ole Miss	Ole Miss	SEC
November 5‡	Notre Dame	Navy	Navy	IND
November 17	#3 Louisville	Houston	Houston	ACC
November 19	Connecticut	Boston College	Boston College	ACC
December 27‡	Wake Forest	#23 Temple	Wake Forest	ACC
December 29‡	South Carolina	#25 South Florida	South Florida	SEC

‡This game was played at a neutral site

Players of the Week

Week	Offensive			Defensive			Special Teams
Week	Player	Position	Team	Player	Position	Team	Player	Position	Team
Week 1	Greg Ward Jr.	QB	Houston	Trent Martin	LB	Tulsa	Brandon Wilson	CB	Houston
Week 2	Quinton Flowers	QB	USF	Alohi Gilman	LB/DB	Navy	Sherman Badie	RB	Tulane
Week 3	Greg Ward Jr.	QB	Houston	Steven Taylor	LB	Houston	Bobby Puyol	K	UConn
Week 4	Riley Ferguson	QB	Memphis	Jeremy Brady	S	Tulsa	Andrew DiRocco	K	Tulane
Week 5	Greg Ward Jr.	QB	Houston	Haason Reddick	DE	Temple	Adrian Killins	RB	UCF
Week 6	Will Worth	QB	Navy	Josiah Powell	LB	Navy	Bennett Moehring	K	Navy
Week 7	Will Worth	QB	Navy	Jarvis Pruitt	DE	SMU	Aaron Boumerhi	K	Temple
Week 8	James Flanders	RB	Tulsa	Shaquem Griffin	LB	UCF	Jake Elliott	K	Memphis
Week 9	Riley Ferguson	QB	Memphis	Drico Johnson	DB	UCF	Aaron Boumerhi	K	Temple
Week 10	Quinton Flowers	QB	USF	Horace Richardson	CB	SMU	Dane Roy	P	Houston
Week 11
Week 12

Awards and honors

Conference awards

The following individuals received postseason honors as voted by the American Athletic Conference football coaches at the end of the season

Award	Recipient(s)
2016 American Athletic Conference Individual Awards
Offensive Player of the Year	Quinton Flowers
Defensive Player of the Year	Shaquem Griffin
Special Teams Player of the Year	Tony Pollard
Rookie of the Year	Ed Oliver
Coach of the Year	Ken Niumatalolo

Offense	Defense	Offense	Defense
2016 All-American Athletic Conference Football Teams
First Team		Second Team
WR – Zay Jones, East Carolina WR – Courtland Sutton, SMU WR – Keevan Lucas, Tulsa OT – Kofi Amichia, South Florida OT – Dion Dawkins, Temple OG – Adam West, Navy OG – Black Belcher, Tulsa C – Chandler Miller, Tulsa TE – Daniel Montiel, Memphis QB – Quinton Flowers, South Florida RB – Marlon Mack, South Florida K – Jake Elliott, Memphis RS – Tony Pollard, Memphis	DL – Haason Reddick, Temple* DL – Ed Oliver, Houston* DL – Tanzel Smart, Tulane DL Justin Lawler, SMU LB – Shaquem Griffin, UCF LB – Eric Wilson, Cincinnati LB – Steven Taylor, Houston LB – Genard Avery, Memphis LB – Nico Marley, Tulane CB Horace Richardson, SMU CB – Howard Wilson, Houston S – Darrion Millines, SMU S – Obi Melifonwu, UConn P – Spencer Smith, Memphis	WR – Noel Thomas, UConn WR – Anthony Miller, Memphis WR – Rodney Adams, South Florida OT – Blake Copeland, Navy OT – Evan Plagg, Tulsa OG – Dominique Threatt, South Florida OG – Tyler Bowling, Tulsa C – Maurice Morris, Navy TE – Mitchell Wilcox, South Florida QB – Greg Ward Jr., Houston RB – Jahad Thomas, Temple RB – D'Angelo Brewer, Tulsa K – Aaron Boumerhi, Temple RS – D'Ernest Johnson, South Florida	DL – Jamiyus Pittman, UCF DL – Cortez Broughton, Cincinnati DL – Deadrin Senat, South Florida DL – Praise Martin-Oguike, Temple LB – Tyus Bowser, Houston LB – Micah Thomas, Navy LB – Auggie Sanchez, South Florida LB – Avery Williams, Temple CB – Shaquill Griffin, UCF CB – Brandon Wilson, Houston CB – Deatrick Nichols, South Florida CB – Parry Nickerson, Tulane S – Garrett Davis, Houston S – Sean Chandler, Temple P – Worth Gregory, ECU
- denotes unanimous selection Additional players added to the all-conference teams due to ties in the voting.

NFL Draft

The American had a conference-record 15 players selected in the 2017 NFL draft, which placed it as the fifth most prolific conference in the draft. The American made headlines by having more selections than the Big 12 Conference, a Power 5 Conference.

The following list includes all AAC players who were drafted in the 2017 NFL draft.

Player	Position	School	Draft Round	Round Pick	Overall Pick	Team
Haason Reddick	LB	Temple	1	13	13	Arizona Cardinals
Zay Jones	WR	East Carolina	2	5	37	Buffalo Bills
Tyus Bowser	OLB	Houston	2	15	47	Baltimore Ravens
Obi Melifonwu	S	UConn	2	24	56	Oakland Raiders
Dion Dawkins	G	Temple	2	31	63	Buffalo Bills
Shaquill Griffin	CB	Central Florida	3	26	90	Seattle Seahawks
Howard Wilson	CB	Houston	4	19	126	Cleveland Browns
Marlon Mack	RB	South Florida	4	36	143	Indianapolis Colts
Jake Elliott	K	Memphis	5	9	153	Cincinnati Bengals
Nate Hairston	CB	Temple	5	14	158	Indianapolis Colts
Rodney Adams	WR	South Florida	5	26	170	Minnesota Vikings
Michael Tyson	S	Cincinnati	6	3	187	Seattle Seahawks
Tanzel Smart	DT	Tulane	6	5	189	Los Angeles Rams
Brandon Wilson	CB	Houston	6	23	207	Cincinnati Bengals
Kofi Amichia	OT	South Florida	6	28	212	Green Bay Packers

Attendance

Team	Stadium	Capacity	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Game 6	Game 7	Total	Average	% of Capacity
Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium	40,000	28,520	40,015†	38,112	35,108	32,022	37,522	25,796	237,095	33,870	84.68%
Connecticut	Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field	40,642	29,377	31,036	31,899†	24,169	28,008	22,316	20,764	187,569	26,795	65.93%
East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium	50,000	44,161	50,719†	46,042	41,370	42,908	39,480	—	264,680	44,113	88.23%
Houston	TDECU Stadium	40,000	39,402	40,873	38,221	35,846	36,552	42,822†	—	233,716	38,953	97.38%
Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium	59,308	42,876†	34,448	38,713	34,743	36,894	37,218	36,527	261,419	37,345	62.97%
Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium	34,000	28,238	31,501	34,531	35,943	36,397†	—	—	166,610	33,322	98.01%
SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium	32,000	22,127	30,987†	25,079	24,379	18,417	21,283	—	142,272	23,712	74.10%
South Florida	Raymond James Stadium	65,890	35,976	36,557	61,665†	30,397	30,297	31,824	36,056	262,772	37,538	56.97%
Temple	Lincoln Financial Field	69,176	34,005†	22,296	27,786	22,401	25,950	29,763	28,373	190,574	27,225	39.36%
Tulane	Yulman Stadium	30,000	27,179†	21,503	24,253	21,098	25,780	16,497	—	136,310	22,718	75.73%
Tulsa	Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium	30,000	18,748	16,111	20,089	22,349†	17,557	18,550	—	113,404	18,900	63.00%
UCF	Bright House Networks Stadium	44,206	36,260	43,197	38,299†	31,571	30,346	35,141	—	214,814	35,802	80.99%

Games highlighted in green were sell-outs
†Season High

Attendance for neutral site games

September 3 – Houston vs. Oklahoma, NRG Stadium: 71,016
November 5 – Navy vs. Notre Dame, EverBank Field: 50,867
December 10 – Navy vs. Army, M&T Bank Stadium: 71,600

References

About the College Football Playoff. ESPN.
"Playoff committee will wait for Army-Navy game if necessary". FOXSports.com. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
"Frost a Knight - UCF Knights - Official Athletics Site". www.ucfknights.com. Archived from the original on December 3, 2015.
Calkins, Geoff (December 3, 2015). "ASU's Mike Norvell tapped to coach U of M football". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
Keeley, Laura (December 13, 2015). "Duke offensive coordinator Scottie Montgomery named ECU head coach". The News & Observer. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
ESPN.com news services (December 4, 2015). "East Carolina fires Ruffin McNeill". ESPN. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
2016 Football Media Day
"RecruitingNation Class Rankings top75-ESPN". ESPN. Archived from the original on March 28, 2014. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
"2016 Rivals Team Rankings". Rivals.com. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
"2016 Scout.com College Football Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
"2016 Football Recruiting Composite Team Rankings". 247sports.com. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
"AAC Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. FBSchedules.com. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
"American Athletic Conference Athletic Directors Conclude Winter Meetings". American Athletic Conference. SideArm Sports. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
"Hurricane Matthew forces Knights to move football, volleyball contests". UCFKnights.com. Sidearm Sports. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
"Navy-East Carolina Football Game Rescheduled For Nov. 19". ECUPirates.com. SideArm Sports. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
"American Bowl Lineup 2014–2019". American Athletic Conference. SideArm Sports.
"American Athletic Conference Announces 2016 Football Honors".
"Record Haul from the American in the 2017 NFL Draft".
"NCAA Football Attendance Report". NCAA. NCAA.

v t e American Athletic Conference football
Current teams	Army Black Knights Charlotte 49ers East Carolina Pirates Florida Atlantic Owls Memphis Tigers Navy Midshipmen North Texas Mean Green Rice Owls South Florida Bulls Temple Owls Tulane Green Wave Tulsa Golden Hurricane UAB Blazers UTSA Roadrunners
Championships & awards	1991-2012 standings 1991-2012 awards Conference champions 2013- 2013- standings 2015-Championship Game 2013-Awards
Seasons (1991-2012)	1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Seasons (post-breakup)	2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season
Conference seasons	The American ACC Big 12 Big Ten Conference USA MAC Mountain West Pac-12 SEC Sun Belt
Inter-conference	Bowl games Rankings
All-Americans	2016 College Football All-America Team

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