American Athletic Update

With three squads undefeated on the season and some historic wins over big-time programs, the re-done American Athletic Conference is quietly having a fine season. Those three unbeatens, Memphis, Temple and Houston are all ranked in one poll or another and there is a chance that the conference can still make a ripple or two. But for now the focus is on a competitive conference race, especially out West. Temple already has a 1-game lead in the East race and is the clear favorite. They face struggling UCF this Saturday before embarking on a competitive two-game stretch to close October. On Thursday the 22nd they travel to Greenville, NC to take on an ECU squad that beat Virginia Tech at home by a TD last month. Then on Halloween they host Notre Dame. If Temple is undefeated on November 1, they will have earned it. Houston is getting more mention for what Ohio State is not doing than for anything they are achieving. And that is because new head coach Tom Herman seems to be the missing piece in Columbus after winning the Frank Broyles Award last season there as the nation's top assistant. QB Greg Ward leads the way with 1,301y passing with an 8-1 TD-INT ratio and 554y rushing with 11 scores. On Halloween they get to tangle with a struggling Vandy squad before beginning a tough November conference slate. Memphis and Navy are tied with Houston atop the West with 2-0 records. They square off November 7 in a huge match-up that will feature Memphis's dynamic passing QB Paxton Lynch versus Navy's running star QB Keenan Reynolds. But the Tigers cannot look that far ahead with a game versus Mississippi this Saturday at the Liberty Bowl. That game should be a beauty. The other key game in conference this weekend is up at UConn, where the Huskies take on USF. The loser of that game would already have two losses in conference.