2014 American Athletic Conference football season


The 2014 American Athletic Conference football season was the 24th NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision football season of the American Athletic Conference. The season was the second since the breakup of the former Big East Conference, which lasted in its original form from its creation in 1979 until 2013.
The 2014 season was the first with the new College Football Playoff in place. From 1998 to 2013, FBS postseason football was governed by the Bowl Championship Series. With the move to the new format, The American is no longer an Automatic Qualifying conference, and is considered a member of the "Group of Five" with Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, Mountain West Conference, and the Sun Belt Conference. Whereas under the previous system the champion of The American was guaranteed an automatic berth to a BCS bowl game, now only the highest-ranked member of the "Group of Five" is guaranteed to receive a bid to one of the six major bowls.
The American consisted of 11 members: Cincinnati, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, SMU, South Florida, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa, UCF, and UConn. The regular season and conference play began on August 28, when Temple visited Vanderbilt, and Tulane visited Tulsa.

Previous season

The UCF Knights were the 2013 American Champions, finishing 8–0 in conference and 12–1 overall. The Knights earned the conference's final BCS automatic bid before college football moved to a playoff system. UCF upset No. 6 Baylor 52–42 in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl, and finished the year ranked in the Top–10.
In other bowl games, Cincinnati lost to North Carolina 39–17 in the Belk Bowl. In their final years as members of The American, Louisville defeated Miami 36–9 in the Russell Athletic Bowl, and Rutgers lost to Notre Dame 29–16 in the Pinstripe Bowl.

Preseason

Coaching changes

The 2013 American Athletic Conference Preseason Poll was announced at the 2014 American Athletic Conference Media Day in Newport, Rhode Island on July 29, 2014.
  1. Cincinnati
  2. UCF
  3. Houston
  4. East Carolina
  5. SMU
  6. USF
  7. Memphis
  8. Temple
  9. UConn
  10. Tulane
  11. Tulsa

Schedule

Schedule source:

Week 1

Bye Week: Cincinnati

Week 2

Bye Week: Cincinnati, UCF

Week 3

Bye Week: Memphis, SMU, Temple

Week 4

Bye Week: Tulsa

Week 5

Bye Week: East Carolina, Houston, UCF

Week 6

Bye Week: Connecticut, South Florida, Temple, Tulane

Week 7

Bye Week: SMU

Week 8

Bye Week: Connecticut, East Carolina, Memphis

Week 9

Bye Week: Houston, Tulane, Tulsa

Week 10

Bye Week: SMU

Week 11

Bye Week: Cincinnati, East Carolina, South Florida, UCF

Week 12

Bye Week: Houston, Connecticut

Week 13

Bye Week: Temple

Week 14

Bye Week: Tulane

Week 15

Bye Week: Memphis, South Florida, Tulsa

Bowl games

Bowl eligibility

Bowl eligible

American vs. power conferences

DateVisitorHomeWinning TeamOpponent
Conference
August 28TempleVanderbiltTempleSEC
August 30Penn StateUCFPenn StateBig Ten
August 31SMUBaylorBaylorBig 12
September 6MarylandSouth FloridaMarylandBig Ten
September 6MemphisUCLAUCLAPac 12
September 6East CarolinaSouth CarolinaSouth CarolinaSEC
September 6Georgia TechTulaneGeorgia TechACC
September 6OklahomaTulsaOklahomaBig 12
September 13UCFMissouriMissouriSEC
September 13East CarolinaVirginia TechEast CarolinaACC
September 13North Carolina StateSouth FloridaNorth Carolina StateACC
September 20Texas A&MSMUTexas A&MSEC
September 20North CarolinaEast CarolinaEast CarolinaACC
September 20TulaneDukeDukeACC
September 27TulaneRutgersRutgersBig Ten
September 27MemphisOle MissOle MissSEC
September 27TCUSMUTCUBig 12
September 27South FloridaWisconsinWisconsinBig Ten
September 27CincinnatiOhio StateOhio StateBig Ten
October 11CincinnatiMiami Miami ACC
November 15TemplePenn StatePenn StateBig Ten

American vs. FBS conferences

Players of the week

Position key

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

Home game attendance

as of 2014.
TeamStadiumCapacityGm 1Gm 2Gm 3Gm 4Gm 5Gm 6Gm 7TotalAverage% of Capacity
CincinnatiPaul Brown Stadium65,53531,91241,92625,45630,02419,11324,606173,03728,83944.01%
ConnecticutRentschler Field40,00035,13023,54330,09827,75528,75124,012169,30928,21870.55%
East CarolinaDowdy–Ficklen Stadium50,00042,75851,08245,02940,15248,43341,259268,71344,78689.57%
HoustonTDECU Stadium40,00040,77530,08123,40826,68521,47132,20523,572198,17728,31170.78%
MemphisLiberty Bowl Memorial Stadium61,00827,36146,37832,78426,84634,63535,102203,10633,85157.08%
SMUGerald J. Ford Stadium32,00034,82023,09316,84919,49819,46315,446129,16921,52867.28%
South FloridaRaymond James Stadium65,89031,64228,91527,26928,27331,56729,78236,963214,86130,69446.61%
TempleLincoln Financial Field68,53228,40819,20225,34022,13023,88221,255140,21723,37034.10%
TulaneYulman Stadium30,00030,00026,35823,07621,41428,61420,612129,46225,89286.31%
TulsaH. A. Chapman Stadium30,00019,03229,35721,35318,74414,26915,126117,88119,64765.49%
UCFBright House Networks Stadium45,32344,51041,54735,01539,55435,32330,920226,86937,81283.43%

Cincinnati will be playing all its 2014 Paul Brown Stadium due to ongoing renovations to Nippert Stadium, capacity: 65,535.

Games highlighted in green were sell-outs.