2015 American Athletic Conference football season

2015 American Athletic Conference football season
League	NCAA Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision)
Sport	Football
Duration	September 3, 2015 through January 2016
Number of teams	12
TV partner(s)	ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and CBS Sports Network
2016 NFL Draft
Top draft pick	William Jackson III (Houston)
Picked by	Cincinnati Bengals, 24th overall
Regular season
East champions	Temple Owls
East runners-up	South Florida Bulls
West champions	Houston Cougars
West runners-up	Navy Midshipmen
The American Championship
Champions	Houston Cougars
Runners-up	Temple Owls
Football seasons
←  2014 2016  →

2015 American Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Temple x		7	–	1					10	–	4
South Florida		6	–	2					8	–	5
Cincinnati		4	–	4					7	–	6
UConn		4	–	4					6	–	7
East Carolina		3	–	5					5	–	7
UCF		0	–	8					0	–	12
West Division
No. 8 Houston xy$		7	–	1					13	–	1
No. 18 Navy x		7	–	1					11	–	2
Memphis		5	–	3					9	–	4
Tulsa		3	–	5					6	–	7
Tulane		1	–	7					3	–	9
SMU		1	–	7					2	–	10
Championship: Houston 24, Temple 13
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant As of December 31, 2015 Rankings from AP Poll

The 2015 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 was the second season with the new College Football Playoff in place. Under the playoff system, The American was no longer an Automatic Qualifying conference (AQ), and is 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, now the highest-ranked member of the G5 receives a bid to one of the six major bowls. ^[1]

The American consisted of 12 members: Cincinnati, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, SMU, South Florida, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa, UCF, UConn, and new football-only member Navy. In June 2015, the Collegiate Commissioner's Association announced that it will 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 is 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. ^[2] This ultimately did not happen, as a late-season loss to Houston left them out of title contention.

Previous season

Memphis, Cincinnati, and UCF were declared co-champions for the 2014 season, with each team having a conference record of 7–1. Memphis finished the season ranked 25th after defeating BYU 55–48 in 2OT in the Miami Beach Bowl. UCF was defeated by NC State in the St. Petersburg Bowl, and Virginia Tech defeated Cincinnati in the Military Bowl. With less than 11 minutes left on the game clock in the Armed Forces Bowl, Houston trailed Pittsburgh by 25 points, but the Cougars went on to win by a score of 35–34. It was the biggest fourth quarter comeback in bowl history. Florida defeated East Carolina 28–20 in the Birmingham Bowl.

American Athletic Conference Media Day

The 2015 American Athletic Conference Media Day was held at the Hyatt Regency Newport in Newport, Rhode Island on August 3, 2015. ^{[3] [4]}

Preseason poll

East Division

1. Cincinnati (29) 179
2. UCF (1) 135
3. Temple 116
4. East Carolina 105
5. South Florida 53
6. Connecticut 42

West Division

1. Memphis (13) 153
2. Houston (10) 149
3. Navy (7) 148
4. Tulane 74
5. SMU 59
6. Tulsa 47

• (First-Place Votes) Points

Predicted American Championship Game Winner

1. Cincinnati 22
2. Memphis 5
3. Houston 2
4. UCF 1

• Points

Head coaches

East Division Tommy Tuberville, Cincinnati – 3rd year Bob Diaco, Connecticut – 2nd year Ruffin McNeill, East Carolina – 5th year Willie Taggart, South Florida – 3rd year Matt Rhule, Temple – 3rd year George O'Leary (resigned after 8 games) / Danny Barrett (interim)*,UCF

West Division Tom Herman, Houston – 1st year Justin Fuente, Memphis – 4th year Ken Niumatalolo, Navy – 13th year Chad Morris, SMU – 1st year Curtis Johnson, Tulane – 4th year Philip Montgomery, Tulsa – 1st year

Coaching changes

Changes after 2014 season

* On December 1, 2014, Chad Morris (formerly Offensive Coordinator at Clemson) was hired by SMU as its new head football coach, replacing June Jones, who resigned on September 8, 2014, citing "personal issues".

* On December 11, 2014, Philip Montgomery (previously Offensive Coordinator at Baylor) was hired by Tulsa as its new head football coach, replacing Bill Blankenship, who was fired December 2, 2014.

* On December 15, 2014, Tom Herman (formerly Offensive Coordinator at Ohio State) was hired by Houston as its new head football coach, to replace Tony Levine, who was fired after three seasons on December 8, 2014.

Changes during 2015 season

* George O'Leary resigned as UCF's head football coach after twelve seasons. Quarterbacks coach Danny Barrett was named interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

Rankings

Main article: 2015 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	Final
Cincinnati	AP	RV	RV
	C	RV
	CFP	Not released
Connecticut	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
East Carolina	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Houston	AP			RV	RV	RV	RV	24	21	18	18	16	13	21	17	14	8
	C			RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	22	19	18	16	14	21	18	16	8
	CFP	Not released									25	24	19		19	18
Memphis	AP				RV	RV	RV	RV	18	16	15	25	RV		RV	RV
	C		RV	RV	RV	RV	25	22	17	16	16	25	RV		RV	RV	RV
	CFP	Not released									13	21	21
Navy	AP					RV	RV	RV			RV	22	19	16	22	21	18
	C					RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	23	19	15	22	22	18
	CFP	Not released										20	16	15	23	21
SMU	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
South Florida	AP													RV	RV	RV
	C
	CFP	Not released
Temple	AP		RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	22	21	23	21	RV	25	20	24	RV
	C		RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	24	22	23	21	RV	24	21	24	RV
	CFP	Not released									22	22		25	22	24
Tulane	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Tulsa	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
UCF	AP	RV
	C	RV
	CFP	Not released

Schedule

^[5]

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

Week 1

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 3	6:00 p.m.	FIU	UCF	Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, FL	CBSSN	L 14–15	39,184
September 3	7:30 p.m.	Villanova	Connecticut	Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	SNY	W 20–15	26,113
September 3	9:30 p.m.	Duke	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	CBSSN	L 7–37	25,470
September 4	7:00 p.m.	No. 4  Baylor	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, TX	ESPN	L 21–56	32,047
September 5	12:00 p.m.	Colgate	Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	CBSSN	W 48–10	28,015
September 5	3:30 p.m.	Penn State	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPN	W 27–10	69,176
September 5	3:30 p.m.	Florida Atlantic	Tulsa	Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	CBSSN	W 47–44 OT	24,001	[6]
September 5	6:00 p.m.	Towson	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPN3	W 28–20	40,712
September 5	7:00 p.m.	Alabama A&M	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPN3	W 52–10	39,095
September 5	7:00 p.m.	Missouri State	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ESPN3	W 63–7	41,730
September 5	7:00 p.m.	Florida A&M	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPN3	W 51–3	30,434
September 5	8:00 p.m.	Tennessee Tech	Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	ESPN3	W 52–24	30,479
#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	Ref.
September 12	11:30 a.m.	South Florida	Florida State	Doak Campbell Stadium • Tallahassee, FL	ESPN	L 14–34	72,811
September 12	12:00 p.m.	Army	Connecticut	Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	CBSSN	W 22–17	28,260
September 12	3:30 p.m.	Houston	Louisville	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY	RSN	W 34–31	50,019
September 12	3:30 p.m.	Tulane	No. 15  Georgia Tech	Bobby Dodd Stadium • Atlanta, GA	RSN	L 10–65	50,435
September 12	7:00 p.m.	East Carolina	Florida	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	ESPN2	L 24–31	88,034
September 12	7:00 p.m.	Memphis	Kansas	Memorial Stadium • Lawrence, KS		W 55–23	37,798
September 12	7:00 p.m.	North Texas	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, TX (Safeway Bowl)	ESPN3	W 31–13	25,401
September 12	8:00 p.m.	Temple	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPNews	TEMP 34–26	38,112
September 12	8:00 p.m.	Tulsa	New Mexico	University Stadium • Albuquerque, NM	ESPN3	W 40–21	24,167
September 12	10:30 p.m.	UCF	Stanford	Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	FS1	L 7–31	50,420
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
September 12	Navy

Week 3

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 19	12:00 p.m.	Connecticut	No. 20  Missouri	Faurot Field • Columbia, MO	ESPNU	L 6–9	70,079
September 19	12:00 p.m.	South Florida	Maryland	Byrd Stadium • College Park, MD	ESPNews	L 17–35	36,827
September 19	12:00 p.m.	Temple	Massachusetts	Gillette Stadium • Foxborough, MA	ESPN3	W 25–23	10,141
September 19	12:00 p.m.	Tulsa	No. 16  Oklahoma	Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, OK	FS1	L 38–52	85,657
September 19	3:00 p.m.	Memphis	Bowling Green	Doyt Perry Stadium • Bowling Green, OH	ASN	W 44–41	21,178
September 19	3:30 p.m.	East Carolina	Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	CBSSN	NAVY 45–21	34,717
September 19	3:30 p.m.	Cincinnati	Miami (OH)	Yager Stadium • Oxford, OH (120th Battle for the Victory Bell)	ESPN3	W 37–33	18,484
September 19	6:00 p.m.	Furman	UCF	Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, FL	ESPN3	L 15–16	36,484
September 19	8:00 p.m.	SMU	No. 3  TCU	Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, TX (Battle for the Iron Skillet)	FSN	L 37–56	48,127
September 19	8:00 p.m.	Maine	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ESPN3	W 38–7	21,114
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
September 19	Houston

Week 4

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 24	7:30 p.m.	Cincinnati	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ESPN	MEM 53–46	45,172
September 26	12:00 p.m.	Navy	Connecticut	Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	CBSSN	NAVY 28–18	33,204
September 26	12:00 p.m.	UCF	South Carolina	Williams-Brice Stadium • Columbia, SC	ESPNU	L 14–31	78,411
September 26	3:30 p.m.	Virginia Tech	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ABC/ESPN2	W 35–28	50,514
September 26	7:00 p.m.	James Madison	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, TX	ESPN3	L 45–48	22,314
September 26	8:00 p.m.	Texas State	Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	ESPN3	W 59–14	35,257
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
September 26	South Florida	Temple	Tulane	Tulsa

Week 5

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 1	7:30 p.m.	Miami (FL)	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPN	W 34–23	40,101
October 2	7:00 p.m.	Memphis	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPN2	MEM 24–17	22,546
October 2	7:00 p.m.	Temple	Charlotte	Jerry Richardson Stadium • Charlotte, NC	CBSSN	W 37–3	13,105
October 2	10:15 p.m.	Connecticut	BYU	LaVell Edwards Stadium • Provo, UT	ESPN2	L 13–30	56,393
October 3	12:00 p.m.	UCF	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ESPNews	TULN 45–31	20,024
October 3	12:00 p.m.	Houston	Tulsa	Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	CBSSN	HOU 38–24	17,146
October 3	3:30 p.m.	Air Force	Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)	CBSSN	W 33–11	32,705
October 3	4:00 p.m.	East Carolina	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, TX	ESPNews	ECU 49–23	17,136
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 6

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 8	8:00 p.m.	SMU	Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX (rivalry)	ESPN2	HOU 49–28	25,204
October 10	12:00 p.m.	Tulane	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPNU	TEMP 49–10	35,179
October 10	3:30 p.m.	Navy	No. 15  Notre Dame	Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, IN (rivalry)	NBC	L 24–41	80,795
October 10	3:30 p.m.	Syracuse	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	CBSSN	W 45–24	27,235
October 10	3:45 p.m.	Connecticut	UCF	Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, FL	ESPNews	CONN 40–13	26,669
October 10	6:00 p.m.	Louisiana–Monroe	Tulsa	Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	ESPN3	W 34–24	17,490
October 10	7:30 p.m.	East Carolina	BYU	LaVell Edwards Stadium • Provo, UT	ESPNU	L 38–45	60,186
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
October 10	Cincinnati	Memphis

Week 7

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 16	8:00 p.m.	Cincinnati	BYU	LaVell Edwards Stadium • Provo, UT	ESPN	L 24–38	57,612
October 16	9:00 p.m.	No. 24 Houston	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ESPNU	HOU 42–7	21,522
October 17	12:00 p.m.	South Florida	Connecticut	Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	ESPNU	USF 28–20	31,719
October 17	12:00 p.m.	Tulsa	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPNews	ECU 30–17	43,065
October 17	12:00 p.m.	No. 13  Ole Miss	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ABC	W 37–24	60,241
October 17	7:30 p.m.	UCF	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	CBSSN	TEM 30–16	31,372
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
October 17	Navy	SMU

Week 8

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 22	7:00 p.m.	No. 22 Temple	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPN2	TEM 24–14	39,417
October 23	8:00 p.m.	No. 18 Memphis	Tulsa	Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	ESPN	MEM 66–42	20,216
October 24	12:00 p.m.	No. 21 Houston	UCF	Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, FL	ESPNews	HOU 59–10	28,350
October 24	1:00 p.m.	Tulane	Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	CBSSN	NAVY 31–14	32,033
October 24	4:00 p.m.	SMU	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPNews	USF 38–14	24,338
October 24	4:30 p.m.	Connecticut	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	CBSSN	CIN 37–13	40,124
#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	Ref.
October 30	7:00 p.m.	East Carolina	Connecticut	Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	ESPNU	CONN 31–10	23,168
October 31	12:00 p.m.	UCF	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPNews	CIN 52–7	30,131
October 31	12:00 p.m.	South Florida	Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	CBSSN	NAVY 29–17	26,766
October 31	4:00 p.m.	Tulsa	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, TX	ESPNews	TUL 40–10	18,217
October 31	7:00 p.m.	Tulane	No. 16 Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	CBSSN	MEM 41–10	30,381
October 31	7:00 p.m.	Vanderbilt	No. 18 Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	ESPN2	W 34–0	29,565
October 31	8:00 p.m.	No. 9 Notre Dame	No. 21 Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ABC	L 20–24	69,280
#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	Ref.
November 6	8:00 p.m.	No. 22 Temple	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, TX	ESPN2	TEM 60–40	17,232
November 7	12:00 p.m.	UCF	Tulsa	Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	ESPNews	TUL 45–30	16,128
November 7	3:30 p.m.	Cincinnati	No. 25 Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	ESPN2	HOU 33–30	32,889
November 7	4:00 p.m.	Connecticut	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ESPNews	CONN 7–3	26,775
November 7	7:00 p.m.	Navy	No. 13 Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ESPN2	NAVY 45–20	55,212
November 7	7:30 p.m.	South Florida	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	CBSSN	USF 22–17	45,194
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 11

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 14	12:00 p.m.	Tulane	Army	Michie Stadium • West Point, NY	CBSSN	W 34–31	31,217
November 14	3:30 p.m.	SMU	No. 20 Navy	Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD (Gansz Trophy)	CBSSN	NAVY 55–14	35,778
November 14	7:00 p.m.	No. 21 Memphis	No. 24 Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	ESPN2	HOU 35–34	42,159
November 14	7:00 p.m.	No. 22 Temple	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	CBSSN	USF 44–23	28,393
November 14	7:30 p.m.	Tulsa	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPNews	CIN 49–38	35,015
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
November 14	UCF	Connecticut	East Carolina

Week 12

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 19	7:30 p.m.	East Carolina	UCF	Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, FL (rivalry)	ESPN	ECU 44–7	23,734
November 20	8:00 p.m.	Cincinnati	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	CBSSN	USF 65–27	26,522
November 21	12:00 p.m.	No. 21 Memphis	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPNU	TEM 31–12	31,708
November 21	3:30 p.m.	No. 19 Houston	Connecticut	Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	ESPNU	CONN 20–17	26,879
November 21	7:00 p.m.	No. 16 Navy	Tulsa	Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	CBSSN	NAVY 44–21	22,749
November 21	8:00 p.m.	Tulane	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, TX	ESPNews	SMU 49–21	30,075
#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	Ref.
November 26	7:30 p.m.	South Florida	UCF	Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, FL (War on I–4)	ESPN	USF 44–3	25,967
November 27	12:00 p.m.	No. 16 Navy	No. 19 Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	ABC	HOU 52–31	40,562
November 27	8:00 p.m.	Tulsa	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ESPNU	TULSA 45–34	22,672
November 28	12:00 p.m.	Cincinnati	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	CBSSN	CIN 19–16	40,743
November 28	12:00 p.m.	SMU	No. 21 Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	ESPNews	MEM 63–0	30,075
November 28	7:00 p.m.	Connecticut	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA (7:05 p.m.)	ESPNU	TEMP 27–3	28,236
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

The American Championship

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
December 5	12:00 p.m.	No. 20 Temple	No. 17 Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX (The American Championship)	ABC	HOU 24–13	35,721
#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 12	3:00 p.m.	Army	No. 21 Navy	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA (116th Army–Navy Game/Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)	CBS	W 21–17	69,722
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

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

Bowl games

Legend
	The American win
	The American loss

See also: 2015–16 NCAA football bowl games

Bowl game	Date	Site	Television	Time	American team	Opponent	Score	Attendance
Miami Beach Bowl	December 21	Marlins Park • Miami, FL	ESPN	2:30 p.m.	South Florida	WKU	35–45	21,712
Boca Raton Bowl	December 22	FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL	ESPN	7:00 p.m.	#24 Temple	Toledo	17–32	25,908
Hawaiʻi Bowl	December 24	Aloha Stadium • Honolulu, HI	ESPN	8:00 p.m.	Cincinnati	San Diego State	7–42	22,793
St. Petersburg Bowl	December 26	Tropicana Field • St. Petersburg, FL	ESPN	11:00 a.m.	UConn	Marshall	10–16	14,652
Independence Bowl	December 26	Independence Stadium • Shreveport, LA	ESPN	5:45 p.m.	Tulsa	Virginia Tech	52–55	31,289
Military Bowl	December 28	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	ESPN	2:30 p.m.	#21 Navy	Pittsburgh	44–28	36,352
Birmingham Bowl	December 30	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL	ESPN	12:00 p.m.	Memphis	Auburn	10–31	59,430
New Years Six bowl games
Peach Bowl	December 31	Georgia Dome • Atlanta, GA	ESPN	12:00 p.m.	#18 Houston	#9 Florida State	38–24	71,007

(Rankings from final CFP Poll; All times Eastern)

Selection of teams

• Bowl eligible ^[7]

Cincinnati, Connecticut, Houston, Memphis, Navy, South Florida, Temple, Tulsa

• Bowl-ineligible ^[8]

East Carolina, SMU, Tulane, UCF

Records against FBS conferences

2015 records against FBS conferences:

Conference	Record
ACC	6–4
Big Ten	1–1
Big 12	1–3
C-USA	3–3
Independents	3–5
MAC	3–1
Mountain West	2–1
Pac-12	0–1
SEC	2–4
Sun Belt	2–0
Total	22–23

The American vs. Power Conferences

Legend
	The American win
	The American loss

Date	Visitor	Home	Winning Team	Opponent Conference
September 3	Duke	Tulane	Duke	ACC
September 4	Baylor	SMU	Baylor	Big 12
September 5	Penn State	Temple	Temple	Big Ten
September 12	USF	Florida State	Florida State	ACC
September 12	Houston	Louisville	Houston	ACC
September 12	Tulane	Georgia Tech	Georgia Tech	ACC
September 12	Memphis	Kansas	Memphis	Big 12
September 12	UCF	Stanford	Stanford	Pac 12
September 12	East Carolina	Florida	Florida	SEC
September 19	Tulsa	Oklahoma	Oklahoma	Big 12
September 19	SMU	TCU	TCU	Big 12
September 19	UConn	Missouri	Missouri	SEC
September 19	USF	Maryland	Maryland	Big Ten
September 26	East Carolina	Virginia Tech	East Carolina	ACC
September 26	UCF	South Carolina	South Carolina	SEC
October 1	Miami (FL)	Cincinnati	Cincinnati	ACC
October 10	Navy	Notre Dame	Notre Dame	IND
October 10	Syracuse	USF	USF	ACC
October 17	Ole Miss	Memphis	Memphis	SEC
October 31	Vanderbilt	Houston	Houston	SEC
October 31	Notre Dame	Temple	Notre Dame	IND
December 26‡	Virginia Tech	Tulsa	Virginia Tech	ACC
December 28‡	Pittsburgh	Navy	Navy	ACC
December 30‡	Auburn	Memphis	Auburn	SEC
December 31‡	Florida State	Houston	Houston	ACC

‡This game was played at a neutral site.

Players of the Week

Week	Offensive			Defensive			Special teams
	Player	Position	Team	Player	Position	Team	Player	Position	Team
Week 1	Keevan Lucas	WR	TUL	Tyler Matakevich	LB	TEM	Roderick Proctor	WR	MEM
Week 2	Greg Ward Jr.	QB	HOU	Tyler Matakevich	LB	TEM	Brandon Wilson Jahad Thomas	CB RB	HOU TEM
Week 3	Keenan Reynolds	QB	NAVY	Eric Wilson	LB	CIN	Jake Elliott	K	MEM
Week 4	Keenan Reynolds	QB	NAVY	William Jackson III	CB	HOU	Spencer Smith	P	MEM
Week 5	Greg Ward Jr.	QB	HOU	Montese Overton	LB	E CAR	Nick Jacobs	P	MEM
Week 6	Greg Ward Jr.	QB	HOU	Steven Taylor	LB	HOU	Arkeel Newsome	RB	CONN
Week 7	Paxton Lynch	QB	MEM	Josh Hawkins	CB	E CAR	Demarcus Ayers	WR	HOU
Week 8	Gunner Kiel	QB	CIN	Steven Taylor	LB	HOU	Jake Elliott	K	MEM
Week 9	Chris Swain	FB	NAVY	Jamar Summers	CB	CONN	Alex Barta	P	NAVY
Week 10	Marlon Mack	RB	USF	Elandon Roberts	LB	HOU	Andrew DiRocco	K	TUL
Week 11	Noel Thomas	WR	CONN	Deatrick Nichols	CB	USF	Davis Plowman	K	ECU
Week 12	Paxton Lynch	QB	MEM	Tyler Matakevich	LB	TEMP	Andrew Gantz	K	CIN

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 ^[9]

2015 American Athletic Conference Individual Awards
Award	Recipient(s)
Offensive Player of the Year	Keenan Reynolds, QB, Navy
Defensive Player of the Year	Tyler Matakevich, LB, Temple
Special Teams Player of the Year	Jake Elliott, K, Memphis
Rookie of the Year	Tre'Quan Smith, WR, UCF
Coach of the Year	Tom Herman, Houston Ken Niumatalolo, Navy

2015 All-American Athletic Conference Football Teams
First Team		Second Team
Offense	Defense	Offense	Defense
WR – Demarcus Ayers, HOU WR – Keyarris Garrett, TUL OT – Parker Ehinger, CIN OT – Taylor Fallin, MEM OG – E.K. Binns, NAVY OG – Eric Lofton, TEMP C – Kyle Friend, TEMP TE – Bryce Williams, ECU QB – Paxton Lynch, MEM QB – Keenan Reynolds, NAVY RB – Marlon Mack, USF RB – Jahad Thomas, TEMP K – Jake Elliott, MEM RS – Demarcus Ayers, HOU	DL – Will Anthony, NAVY DL – Matt Ioannidis, TEMP DL – Nate D. Smith, TEMP DL – Tanzel Smart, TULN LB – Zeek Bigger, ECU LB – Elandon Roberts, HOU LB – Tyler Matakevich ^, TEMP LB – Nico Marley, TULN CB – Jamar Summers, CONN CB – Deatrick Nichols, USF S – Trevon Stewart, HOU S – Alex Wells, TEMP P – Spencer Smith, MEM	WR – Shaq Washington, CIN WR – Zay Jones, ECU OT – Alex Cooper, HOU OT – Dion Dawkins, TEMP OG – Ryan Leahy, CIN OG – Thor Jozwiak, USF C – Deyshawn Bond, CIN TE – Sean Price, USF QB – Greg Ward, HOU RB – Kenneth Farrow, HOU RB – Chris Swain, NAVY K – Andrew Gantz, CIN RS – Rodney Adams, USF	DL – Silverberry Mouhon, CIN DL – Julian Campenni, CONN DL – B.J. Singleton, HOU DL – Eric Lee, USF DL – Eric Wilson, CIN LB – Montese Overton, ECU LB – Steven Taylor, HOU LB – Auggie Sanchez, USF CB – William Jackson III, HOU CB – Sean Chandler, TEMP S – Andrew Adams, CONN S – Adrian McDonald, HOU P – Caleb Houston, UCF P – Mattias Ciabatti, USF
^- denotes unanimous selection  Additional players added to the All-American teams due to ties in the voting

NFL Draft

The following list includes all AAC players who were drafted in the 2016 NFL draft.

Player	Position	School	Draft Round	Round Pick	Overall Pick	Team
William Jackson III	CB	Houston	1	24	24	Cincinnati Bengals
Paxton Lynch	QB	Memphis	1	26	26	Denver Broncos
Tavon Young	CB	Temple	4	6	104	Baltimore Ravens
Parker Ehinger	OG	Cincinnati	4	7	105	Kansas City Chiefs
Chris Moore	WR	Cincinnati	4	9	107	Baltimore Ravens
Matt Ioannidis	DT	Temple	5	13	152	Washington Redskins
Keenan Reynolds	RB	Navy	6	7	182	Baltimore Ravens
Elandon Roberts	ILB	Houston	6	39	214	New England Patriots
DeMarcus Ayers	WR	Houston	7	8	229	Pittsburgh Steelers
Tyler Matakevich	OLB	Temple	7	25	246	Pittsburgh Steelers

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	39,095	38,112	40,101	40,124	30,131	35,015	—	222,578	37,096	92.74%
Connecticut	Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field	40,642	26,113	28,260	33,204	31,719	23,168	26,879	—	169,343	28,224	69.44%
East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium	50,000	40,712	50,514	43,065	39,417	45,194	40,743	—	218,902	43,780	87.56%
Houston	TDECU Stadium	40,000	30,749	35,257	25,204	29,565	32,889	42,159	40,562	195,553	32,592	81.48%
Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium	59,308	41,740	45,172	60,241	30,381	55,212	30,075	—	232,736	46,547	78.48%
Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium	34,000	28,015	34,717	32,705	32,033	26,766	35,778	—	190,014	31,669	93.14%
SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium	32,000	32,047	25,401	22,314	17,136	18,217	17,232	14,954	147,301	21,043	65.76%
South Florida	Raymond James Stadium	65,890	30,034	22,546	27,235	39,417	28,393	26,522	—	159,468	26,578	40.34%
Temple	Lincoln Financial Field	69,176	69,176	35,179	31,372	69,280	31,708	28,236	—	236,715	47,343	68.44%
Tulane	Yulman Stadium	30,000	25,470	21,114	20,024	21,522	26,775	22,672	—	137,577	22,930	76.43%
Tulsa	Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium	30,000	24,001	17,146	17,490	20,216	16,128	22,749	—	117,730	19,622	65.41%
UCF	Bright House Networks Stadium	44,206	39,184	36,484	26,669	28,350	23,734	25,967	—	180,388	30,065	68.01%

^* Games highlighted in green were sell-outs. ^[10]

References

1. About the College Football Playoff. ESPN.
2. "Playoff committee will wait for Army-Navy game if necessary". FOXSports. FOXSports.com. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
3. "Cincinnati Chosen As 2015 American Athletic Conference Favorite". American Athletic Conference. Sidearm Sports. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
4. American Kickoff Media Day Central
5. "American Athletic Conference 2015 Composite Football Schedule". TheAmerican.org. Sidearmsports. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
6. "Tulsa tops FAU in Overtime, 47–44" (Press release). Athletics Site of the University of Tulsa. September 5, 2015. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
7. "College football 2015 bowl eligibility tracker: 41 teams have qualified". CBS Sports. CBS Sports. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
8. "NCAA FBS (Division I-A) Football Standings – 2015". ESPN. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
9. "2015 Football Postseason Honors". American Athletic Conference. SideArm Sports. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
10. "2015 NCAA FBS Stats". NCAA National Rankings. NCAA.