American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game

American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game
American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game
Sport	Football
Conference	The American
Played	2015–present
Last contest	2023
Current champion	SMU
Most championships	Cincinnati, UCF (2)
TV partner(s)	ABC
Official website	Official site
Sponsors
	Roofclaim.com (2021–2022)
Host stadiums
	Best conference team's home field (2015–present)

Last updated March 19, 2024

The American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game is a college football game currently held by the American Athletic Conference (The American) each year to determine the conference's season champion. The inaugural game was held on December 5, 2015, at 12:00 pm ET.^[1]

The game previously pitted the champion of the Eastern Division (UCF, Cincinnati, Connecticut, East Carolina, South Florida, and Temple) against the champion of the Western Division (Houston, Memphis, Navy, SMU, Tulane, and Tulsa). The game was played at the home stadium of the division winner with the better conference record.^[2]

In 2020, UConn left the conference, leading to the dissolution of the divisions. Because of new NCAA rules regarding conference championships, the game has become a matchup between the top two teams in the conference.

Television broadcast rights to the game are owned by ESPN, with the game airing on ABC.^[1]

History

800km
500miles

UAB

North Texas

Navy

Tulsa

Tulane

SMU

Memphis

Rice

Temple

USF

East Carolina

UTSA

Florida Atlantic

Charlotte

American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game

The American was reorganized following the tumultuous period of realignment that hobbled the Big East between 2010 and 2013. In all, 14 member schools announced their departure for other conferences, and 15 other schools announced plans to join the conference (eight as all-sports members, and four for football only). In December 2012, the Big East's seven remaining non-FBS schools, all Catholic institutions – DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, and Villanova – announced that they voted unanimously to leave the conference.

After a settlement in 2013 between the non-FBS schools and the FBS schools regarding the use of the conference name, the ten remaining football playing members renamed themselves the American Athletic Conference.^[3] In 2014, Louisville and Rutgers departed the conference and joined the ACC and Big Ten, respectively. Their departure was succeeded on the same day by the entrance of East Carolina, Tulane, and Tulsa for all sports.^[4] In 2015, the U.S. Naval Academy joined the conference for football, bringing the membership total in that sport to twelve teams. At which time, the conference split into two six-team divisions and established a football conference championship game.^[2]

On July 1, 2020, UConn officially left The American, with its football team becoming an FBS independent once the school joined the Big East.^[5] After a brief exploration period, The American elected not to add another team to rebalance divisions. Beginning with the 2020 season, divisions were eliminated, and since then the championship game has been played by the two teams that achieved the best record in regular season conference play. Despite further conference expansion in 2023–24, division play did not return.

Pre-championship game era

The 2013 and 2014 American Athletic Conference football champions were determined by the team(s) with the best conference record. There was no championship game held. In years when two or more teams tied in conference record, co-champions were declared.

Season	Champion(s)	Conference record	Overall record
2013	UCF	8–0	12–1
2014	Memphis	7–1	10–3
	Cincinnati	7–1	9–4
	UCF	7–1	9–4

Results

Below are the results from all AAC Championship Games played. The winning team appears in bold font, on a background of their primary team color. Rankings are from the AP Poll released prior to the game.

Year	West Division		East Division		Site	Attendance	MVP
2015	17 Houston Cougars	24	20 Temple Owls	13	TDECU Stadium • Houston, Texas	35,721	Greg Ward, Houston
2016	20 Navy Midshipmen	10	Temple Owls	34	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, Maryland	22,815	P. J. Walker, Temple
2017	16 Memphis Tigers	55	12 UCF Knights	62^2OT	Spectrum Stadium • Orlando, Florida	41,433	McKenzie Milton, UCF
2018	Memphis Tigers	41	7 UCF Knights	56	Spectrum Stadium • Orlando, Florida	45,176	Darriel Mack Jr., UCF
2019	16 Memphis Tigers	29	21 Cincinnati Bearcats	24	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, Tennessee	33,008	Antonio Gibson, Memphis
Year	No. 1 Seed		No. 2 Seed		Site	Attendance	MVP
2020	6 Cincinnati Bearcats	27	20 Tulsa Golden Hurricane	24	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, Ohio	5,831‡	Desmond Ridder, Cincinnati
2021	3 Cincinnati Bearcats	35	16 Houston Cougars	20	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, Ohio	37,978	Jerome Ford, Cincinnati
2022	18 Tulane Green Wave	45	22 UCF Knights	28	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, Louisiana	30,118	Michael Pratt, Tulane
2023	17 Tulane Green Wave	14	25 SMU Mustangs	26	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, Louisiana	25,206	Isaiah Nwokobia, SMU

‡ 2020 game attendance limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results by team

Appearances	School	Wins	Losses	Pct.	Year(s) Won	Year(s) Lost
3	UCF Knights	2	1	.667	2017, 2018	2022
	Cincinnati Bearcats	2	1	.667	2020, 2021	2019
	Memphis Tigers	1	2	.333	2019	2017, 2018
2	Houston Cougars	1	1	.500	2015	2021
	Temple Owls	1	1	.500	2016	2015
	Tulane Green Wave	1	1	.500	2022	2023
1	SMU Mustangs	1	0	1.000	2023
	Navy Midshipmen	0	1	.000		2016
	Tulsa Golden Hurricane	0	1	.000		2020

Charlotte, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, South Florida, UAB and UTSA have yet to make an appearance in an AAC Football Championship Game.
UConn never made an appearance in an AAC Football Championship Game prior to the move to FBS Independent status in 2020.

Game records

Team	Record, Team vs. Opponent	Year
Most points scored (one team)	62, UCF vs. Memphis	2017
Most points scored (losing team)	55, Memphis vs. UCF	2017
Most points scored (both teams)	117, UCF (62) vs. Memphis (55)	2017
Fewest points scored (winning team)	24, Houston vs. Temple	2015
Fewest points allowed	10, Temple vs. Navy	2016
Fewest points scored (both teams)	37, Houston (24) vs. Temple (13)	2015
Most points scored in a half	38, Memphis (1st half) vs. UCF	2018
Most points scored in a half (both teams)	59, UCF vs. Memphis (1st half)	2018
Largest margin of victory	24, Temple (34) vs. Navy (10)	2016
Smallest margin of victory	3, Cincinnati (27) vs. Tulsa (24)	2020
Total yards	753, Memphis (471 passing, 282 rushing) vs. UCF	2017
Rushing yards	401, Memphis vs. UCF	2018
Passing yards	494, UCF vs. Memphis	2017
First downs	34, UCF vs. Memphis	2018
Fewest yards allowed	306, Temple vs. Navy (138 passing, 168 rushing)	2016
Fewest rushing yards allowed	98, Houston vs. Temple	2015
Fewest passing yards allowed	106, Temple vs. Houston	2015
Individual	Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent	Year
All-purpose yards	558, McKenzie Milton, UCF vs. Memphis	2017
Touchdowns (all-purpose)	6, McKenzie Milton, UCF vs. Memphis	2017
Rushing yards	210, Darrell Henderson, Memphis vs. UCF	2018
Rushing touchdowns	4, Darriel Mack Jr., UCF vs. Memphis	2018
Passing yards	494, McKenzie Milton, UCF vs. Memphis	2017
Passing touchdowns	5, McKenzie Milton, UCF vs. Memphis	2017
Receiving yards	195, Anthony Miller, Memphis vs. UCF	2017
Receiving touchdowns	3, Anthony Miller, Memphis vs. UCF	2017
Tackles	14, Curtis Akins, Memphis vs. UCF	2018
Sacks	2, shared by: Shaquem Griffin, UCF vs. Memphis Treyvon Reeves, Tulsa vs. Cincinnati	2017 2020
Interceptions	1, shared by fourteen players, most recent: Davonte Brown, UCF vs. Tulane	2022
Long Plays	Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent	Year
Touchdown run	82, Darrell Henderson, Memphis vs. UCF	2018
Touchdown pass	68, Anthony Miller from Riley Ferguson, Memphis vs. UCF	2017
Kickoff return	32, Tony Pollard, Memphis vs. UCF	2017
Punt return	42, Otis Anderson Jr., UCF vs. Memphis	2018
Interception return	70, Ja'Von Hicks, Cincinnati vs. Memphis	2019
Fumble return	6, Justin Wright, Tulsa vs. Cincinnati	2020
Punt	63, Alex Barta, Navy vs. Temple	2016
Field goal	52, Riley Patterson, Memphis vs. Cincinnati	2019
Miscellaneous	Record, Team vs. Team	Year
Game attendance	45,176, UCF vs. Memphis	2018

Source:^[6]

Selection criteria

Team selection

The two teams with the best winning percentage in conference play will play in the Championship Game. If there's a two-team tie for first place, both teams will play in the Championship Game. In the event that two teams are tied for second place, head-to head result would break the tie. If the two teams did not play, the team with higher CFP Rankings will be in the Championship game. If a team or teams lose in the final weekend of the Conference play to create a tie, and there are subsequent CFP rankings, those subsequent rankings break ties.

If regular season ends and the Championship Game is scheduled for the next Saturday, the following tiebreakers are used:

if one of the tied teams wins in the final week it will be in the Championship. If that team loses, a composite average of selected computer rankings are used to determine participants.
If both teams are ranked in the latest CFP Rankings, the higher ranked team that wins in the final weekend will be in the Championship.
If neither of the tied teams ranked in the latest CFP Rankings win, a composite average of selected computer rankings are used to determine participants.
If no teams are ranked in the latest CFP Rankings rankings, a composite average of selected computer rankings are used to determine participants.

The following procedures are used when there's a multiple team tie.

Conference Records of tied teams in a mini round-robin
The team with higher CFP Ranking; If a team or teams lose in the final weekend of the Conference season to create a tie, and there are subsequent CFP rankings, those subsequent rankings break ties.

If regular season ends and the Championship Game is scheduled for the next Saturday, the following tiebreakers are used to break multi-team ties:

if the highest ranked team in the latest CFP Rankings wins in the final week it will be in the Championship. If that team loses, a composite average of selected computer rankings are used to break ties.
If there are multiple teams ranked in the latest CFP Rankings, the higher ranked team or teams that wins will be in the Championship.
If neither of the tied teams are ranked in the latest CFP Rankings win, a composite average of selected computer rankings are used to break ties.
If no teams are ranked in the latest CFP Rankings ranked, a composite average of selected computer rankings are used to break ties.

Site selection

The team with the highest winning percentage in Conference play will host. If both participants are tied, Head-to-head is the tie breaker. If the two teams did not play, the team with the higher CFP Ranking will host. The latest CFP Rankings will be used to break ties. If a team or teams lose in the final weekend of the Conference season to create a tie, and there are subsequent CFP rankings, those subsequent rankings break ties.^[7]

If regular season ends and the Championship Game is scheduled for the next Saturday, the following tiebreakers are used:

if one of the tied teams wins in the final week it will host. If that team loses, a composite average of selected computer rankings will be used to determine host.
If both teams are ranked in the latest CFP Rankings multiple, the higher ranked team that wins in the final weekend will host.
If neither of the tied teams ranked in the latest CFP Rankings win, a composite average of selected computer rankings are used to determine host.
If no teams are ranked in the latest CFP Rankings rankings, a composite average of selected computer rankings are used to determine host.

*Note: If the number one seed is unable to host, the other team will host.

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References

1 2 "The American Championship Central". American Athletic Conference. June 4, 2015.
1 2 "American Announces Football Schedule Format for 2015-18". USA Today . December 18, 2012.
↑ Wolken, Dan (May 29, 2013). "American Athletic Conference unveils its primary logos". USA Today . Beyond the challenge of avoiding something that looked corporate, the league also couldn't build the logo around an acronym. From the very beginning, the conference office has been adamant that it wants to be known as The American instead of the AAC to avoid confusion with the Atlantic Coast Conference.
↑ "At a glance: Latest wave of conference realignment". USA Today . June 29, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
↑ Borzello, Jeff (July 26, 2019). "UConn leaving AAC in '20, will owe $17M exit fee". ESPN . Retrieved July 26, 2019.
↑ "2021 Football Media Guide" (PDF). theamerican.org. p. 81. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
↑ "2020 Football Tiebreakers" (PDF). American Athletic Conference. October 26, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.

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[AACCG-1] 1 2 "The American Championship Central". American Athletic Conference. June 4, 2015.

[game-2] 1 2 "American Announces Football Schedule Format for 2015-18". USA Today . December 18, 2012.

[logo-3] Wolken, Dan (May 29, 2013). "American Athletic Conference unveils its primary logos". USA Today . Beyond the challenge of avoiding something that looked corporate, the league also couldn't build the logo around an acronym. From the very beginning, the conference office has been adamant that it wants to be known as The American instead of the AAC to avoid confusion with the Atlantic Coast Conference.

[4] "At a glance: Latest wave of conference realignment". USA Today . June 29, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2014.

[5] Borzello, Jeff (July 26, 2019). "UConn leaving AAC in '20, will owe $17M exit fee". ESPN . Retrieved July 26, 2019.

[6] "2021 Football Media Guide" (PDF). theamerican.org. p. 81. Retrieved November 23, 2021.

[7] "2020 Football Tiebreakers" (PDF). American Athletic Conference. October 26, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.

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v t e American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game
Years	2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Venues	TDECU Stadium (2015) Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (2016) Spectrum Stadium (2017–18) Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (2019) Nippert Stadium (2020–21) Yulman Stadium (2022–2023)