| 2013 American Athletic Conference football season | |
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| League: | NCAA Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) |
| Sport: | Football |
| Duration: | August 29, 2013 through January 1, 2014 |
| No Of Teams: | 10 |
| Tv: | ESPN |
| Draft: | 2014 NFL Draft |
| Draft Link: | 2014 NFL Draft |
| Top Pick: | Blake Bortles (UCF) |
| Picked By: | Jacksonville Jaguars, 3rd overall |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Season Champs: | UCF |
| Season Champ Name: | Champion |
| Seasonslistnames: | Football |
| Prevseason Year: | 2012 (Big East) |
| Nextseason Year: | 2014 |
The 2013 American Athletic Conference football season was the 23rd NCAA Division I FBS football season of the American Athletic Conference (The American). The season was the first after the breakup of the former Big East Conference, which lasted in its original form from its creation in 1979 until July 2013. The charter of the former Big East was retained by The American, henceforth the legal status as the 23rd season overall.
UCF as The American's Champion earned the league's last automatic berth for a BCS Bowl Game. Following the 2013 college football season, the BCS (1998–2013) will be replaced by a four team playoff system. Starting in 2014, The American will lose its Automatic Qualifier (AQ) status, and fall into the "Group of Five" with Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, Mountain West Conference, and the Sun Belt Conference.
In its first year, the conference consisted of 10 football members: Cincinnati, Connecticut, Houston, Louisville, Memphis, Rutgers, SMU, South Florida, Temple, and UCF.[1] Conference members began regular-season play on August 29 when UCF hosted Akron. Conference play started on September 7 when Temple hosted Houston. The regular season concluded on December 7.[2] The following match-ups were not seen in conference play in 2013: Cincinnati–UCF, Connecticut–Houston, Louisville–SMU, Memphis–Rutgers, and South Florida–Temple. Louisville–SMU and Memphis–Rutgers will not be seen in any year in The American play as Louisville and Rutgers are leaving for the ACC and Big Ten, respectively, in 2014.
On February 28, 2013, ESPN reported that the conference's seven schools that did not play FBS football, which had announced plans to leave the conference as a bloc no later than July 2015, had reached an agreement to leave in July 2013, and would keep the "Big East" name when they formed a new conference at that time. As a result, the football schools retained the original Big East charter and would operate under a new name in the 2013 football season.[3] The new conference name was officially announced on April 3, 2013.[4]
Cincinnati, Louisville, Rutgers, and Syracuse were co-champions with identical 5–2 records. Louisville received the Big East BCS bid. As the Big East BCS representative, the Cardinals defeated Florida 33–23 in the 2013 Allstate Sugar Bowl. In other bowl games, Cincinnati defeated Duke 48–34 in the Belk Bowl 48–34 with interim coach Steve Stripling. Rutgers lost to Virginia Tech 13–10 in the Russell Athletic Bowl, while Syracuse in their final game as a Big East member defeated former Big East member West Virginia 38–14 in the Pinstripe Bowl. In Pittsburgh's final game as a Big East member, the Panthers lost to Ole Miss 38–17 in the BBVA Compass Bowl.
Three teams have new head coaches for the 2013 season. Tommy Tuberville replaces Butch Jones at Cincinnati, Willie Taggart replaces Skip Holtz at South Florida and Matt Rhule has taken over for Steve Addazio at Temple.
The 2013 American Athletic Conference Preseason Poll was announced at the 2013 American Athletic Conference Media Day in Newport, Rhode Island on July 30, 2013.[5]
| Increase in ranking | ||||
| Decrease in ranking | ||||
| Not ranked previous week | ||||
| align=center style="width:20px; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; background:white;" | RV | Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll |
See main article: 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings.
| 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 | Wk 16 | Final | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati | AP | RV | RV | NR | RV | RV | RV | RV | NR | |||||||||
| C | RV | RV | NR | RV | NR | RV | RV | 25 | 23 | RV | RV | |||||||
| Harris | Not released | RV | RV | RV | RV | |||||||||||||
| BCS | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| Connecticut | AP | |||||||||||||||||
| C | ||||||||||||||||||
| Harris | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| BCS | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| Houston | AP | RV | NR | RV | RV | NR | ||||||||||||
| C | RV | RV | RV | RV | NR | |||||||||||||
| Harris | Not released | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | NR | |||||||||||
| BCS | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| Louisville | AP | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 15 |
| C | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | |
| Harris | Not released | 6 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 16 | ||||||||
| BCS | Not released | 20 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 18 | |||||||||
| Memphis | AP | |||||||||||||||||
| C | ||||||||||||||||||
| Harris | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| BCS | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| Rutgers | AP | RV | RV | RV | RV | NR | ||||||||||||
| C | RV | NR | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | NR | RV | NR | ||||||||
| Harris | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| BCS | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| SMU | AP | |||||||||||||||||
| C | ||||||||||||||||||
| Harris | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| BCS | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| South Florida | AP | |||||||||||||||||
| C | ||||||||||||||||||
| Harris | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| BCS | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| Temple | AP | |||||||||||||||||
| C | ||||||||||||||||||
| Harris | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| BCS | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| UCF | AP | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 21 | 19 | 19 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 10 | |||
| C | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 22 | 21 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 12 | |
| Harris | Not released | RV | 25 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 20 | 18 | 15 | ||||||||
| BCS | Not released | 23 | 23 | 21 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 16 | 15 | |||||||||
| Index to colors and formatting | |
|---|---|
| American member won | |
| American member lost | |
| American teams in bold |
Bye Week: Memphis
Bye Week: Connecticut
Bye Week: Houston, SMU
Bye Week: Temple, South Florida, UCF
Bye Week: Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, Rutgers
Bye Week: Connecticut, Houston
Bye Week: SMU, UCF
Bye Week: Rutgers, South Florida
Bye Week: Cincinnati, Memphis
Bye Week: Connecticut, Louisville, SMU, UCF
Bye Week: Rutgers, South Florida
Bye Week: Cincinnati, Louisville
Bye Week: Temple, Houston
Reference:[6]
Note: The American Athletic Conference did not have enough bowl eligible teams to send a representative to the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl.
| Legend | ||
|---|---|---|
| American Win | ||
| American Loss | ||
| Date | Visitor | Home | Winning Team | Opponent Conference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 30 | Texas Tech | SMU | Texas Tech | Big 12 | |
| August 31 | Purdue | Cincinnati | Cincinnati | Big Ten | |
| September 7 | Cincinnati | Illinois | Illinois | Big Ten | |
| September 7 | Duke | Memphis | Duke | ACC | |
| September 7 | South Florida | Michigan State | Michigan State | Big Ten | |
| September 14 | Louisville | Kentucky | Louisville | SEC | |
| September 14 | Maryland | Connecticut | Maryland | ACC | |
| September 14 | UCF | Penn State | UCF | Big Ten | |
| September 21 | Michigan | Connecticut | Michigan | Big Ten | |
| September 21 | Arkansas | Rutgers | Rutgers | SEC | |
| September 21 | SMU | Texas A&M | Texas A&M | SEC | |
| September 28 | SMU | TCU | TCU | Big 12 | |
| September 28 | Miami | South Florida | Miami | ACC | |
| September 28 | South Carolina | UCF | South Carolina | SEC |
| Conference | Record[7] | |
|---|---|---|
| ACC | 1-3 | |
| Big 12 | 1-2 | |
| Big Ten | 2-3 | |
| Independents | 1-3 | |
| Pac-12 | 0-0 | |
| SEC | 2-3 | |
| Total | 7-14 |
Following each week of games, American Athletic Conference officials select the players of the week from the conference's teams.
| Week | Offensive | Defensive | Special teams | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Position | Team | Player | Position | Team | Player | Position | Team | ||
| Aug 31 | Teddy Bridgewater | QB | Louisville | Terrance Plummer | LB | UCF | Richie Leone | P | Houston | |
| Sept 7 | Deontay Greenberry | WR | Houston | Calvin Pryor | S | Louisville | JaBryce Taylor | WR | SMU | |
| Sept 14 | Blake Bortles | QB | UCF | Lorenzo Mauldin | DE | Louisville | Quron Pratt | WR | Rutgers | |
| Sept 21 | Gary Nova | QB | Rutgers | Martin Ifedi | DE | Memphis | Janarion Grant | WR | Rutgers | |
| Sept 28 | John O'Korn | QB | Houston | William Jackson | CB | Houston | Brandon Wilson | DB | Houston | |
| Oct 5 | Garrett Gilbert | QB | SMU | Terrance Plummer | LB | UCF | Marvin Kloss | K | USF | |
| Oct 12 | Brendon Kay | QB | Cincinnati | Calvin Pryor | S | Louisville | Jake Elliott | K | Memphis | |
| Oct 19 | Storm Johnson | RB | UCF | Derrick Matthews | LB | Houston | Paul Layton | P | Temple | |
| Oct 26 | Garrett Gilbert | QB | SMU | Trevon Stewart | S | Houston | Shawn Moffitt | K | UCF | |
| Nov 2 | Gary Nova | QB | Rutgers | Zach Edwards | S | Cincinnati | Marvin Kloss | K | USF | |
| Nov 9 | Garrett Gilbert | QB | SMU | Brandon Alexander | S | UCF | Charles Gaines | CB | Louisville | |
| Nov 16 | J. J. Worton | WR | UCF | Bobby McCain | CB | Memphis | Jake Elliott | K | Memphis | |
| Nov 23 | Brandon Kay | QB | Cincinnati | Yawin Smallwood | LB | Connecticut | Richie Leone | P | Houston | |
| Nov 30 | P. J. Walker | QB | Temple | Taylor Mack | CB | Connecticut | Rannell Hall | WR | UCF | |
| Center | C | Cornerback | CB | Defensive back | DB | Defensive end | DE | |||
| Defensive lineman | DL | Defensive tackle | DT | Guard | G | Kickoff returner | KR | |||
| Offensive tackle | OT | Offensive lineman | OL | Linebacker | LB | Long snapper | LS | |||
| Punter | P | Placekicker | PK | Punt returner | PR | Quarterback | QB | |||
| Running back | RB | Safety | S | Tight end | TE | Wide receiver | WR |
The following individuals received postseason honors as voted by the American Athletic Conference football coaches
| 2013 American Athletic Conference Individual Awards | ||||||
| Award | Recipient(s) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offensive Player of the Year | Blake Bortles, UCF | |||||
| Defensive Player of the Year | Marcus Smith, Louisville | |||||
| Special Teams Player of the Year | Tom Hornsey, MemphisDemarcus Ayers, Houston | |||||
| Rookie of the Year | John O' Korn, Houston | |||||
| Coach of the Year | George O' Leary, UCF | |||||
| 2013 All-American Athletic Conference Football Teams | ||||
| First Team | Second Team | |||
| Offense | Defense | Offense | Defense | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WR - Deontay Greenbury Houston WR - DeVante Parker, Louisville OT - Eric Lefeld, ^ Cincinnati OT - Jamon Brown, Louisville OG - Jordan McCray, UCF C - Jake Smith, Louisville TE - Blake Annen, Cincinnati TE - Tyler Kroft, Rutgers QB - Blake Bortles, UCF RB - Storm Johnson, ^UCF RB - Paul James, Rutgers K - Jake Elliot, Memphis RS - Ralph David Abernathy IV, Cincinnati RS - Demarcus Ayers, Houston | DL - Jordan Stepp, Cincinnati DL - Marcus Smith, Louisville DL - Martin Ifedi, Memphis DL - Aaron Lynch, USF LB - Terrance Plummer, UCF LB - Yawin Smallwood, UConn LB - Tyler Matakevich, Temple CB - Jacoby Glenn, UCF CB - Charles Gaines, Louisville S - Calvin Pryor, Louisville S - Hakeem Smith, Louisville P - Tom Hornsey, Memphis | WR - Anthony McClung, Cincinnati WR - J.J. Worton, UCF WR - Jeremy Johnson, SMU OT - Chris Martin, UCF OT - DeAnthony Sims, Houston OG - Sam Longo, Cincinnati OG - John Miller, Louisville C - Betim Bujari, Rutgers QB - Teddy Bridgewater, Louisville TE - Mike McFarland, USF RB - William Stanbeck, UCF RB - Marcus Shaw, USF K - Shawn Moffitt, UCF RS - Janarion Grant, Rutgers | DL - Silverberry Mouhon, Cincinnati DL - Shamar Stephen, UConn DL - Lorenzo Mauldin, Louisville DL - Luke Sager, USF LB - Greg Blair, Cincinnati LB - Preston Brown, Louisville LB - DeDe Lattimore, USF CB - Deven Drane, Cincinnati CB - Zach McMillian, Houston CB - Kenneth Acker, SMU S - Clayton Geathers, UCF P - Trevon Stewart, Houston P - Richie Leone, Houston | |
| ^ - denotes unanimous selection Additional players added to the All-AAC teams due to ties in the voting | ||||
| Team | Stadium | Capacity | Gm 1 | Gm 2 | Gm 3 | Gm 4 | Gm 5 | Gm 6 | Gm 7 | Total | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati | Nippert Stadium | 35,000 | 36,007 | 30,384 | 32,220 | 28,847 | 127,458 | 31,864 | |||
| Connecticut | Rentschler Field | 40,000 | 30,689 | 38,916 | 42,704 | 37,861 | 150,170 | 37,542 | |||
| Houston | Reliant Stadium, BBVA Compass Stadium | 46,846 (Average of Stadiums) | 26,205 1 | 20,103 2 | 33,115 1 | 79,243 | 26,474 | ||||
| Louisville | Papa John's Cardinal Stadium | 55,000 | 55,332 | 53,647 | 55,168 | 55,215 | 270,948 | 54,190 | |||
| Memphis | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium | 61,000 | 44,237 | 36,279 | 30,274 | 16,241 | 127,031 | 31,758 | |||
| Rutgers | High Point Solutions Stadium | 52,454 | 49,111 | 47,604 | 51,969 | 148,684 | 49,561 | ||||
| SMU | Gerald J. Ford Stadium | 32,000 | 34,790 | 10,107 | 19,436 | 14,639 | 78,972 | 23,111 | |||
| South Florida | Raymond James Stadium | 65,857 | 35,470 | 33,792 | 47,562 | 31,077 | 147,091 | 36,975 | |||
| Temple | Lincoln Financial Field | 68,532 | 27,328 | 20,047 | 21,709 | 25,533 | 94,617 | 23,654 | |||
| UCF | Bright House Networks Stadium | 45,323 | 35,115 | 47,605 | 37,924 | 44,665 | 41,244 | 45,952 | 252,505 | 42,084 | |
1 @ Reliant Stadium2 @ BBVA Compass Field