Game Name: | American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game |
Subheader: | 5th AAC Championship Game |
Date Game Played: | December 7 |
Year Game Played: | 2019 |
Football Season: | 2019 |
Stadium: | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium |
City: | Memphis, TN |
Visitor School: | University of Cincinnati |
Visitor Name Short: | Cincinnati |
Visitor Nickname: | Bearcats |
Visitor Record: | 10–2 |
Visitor Rank Ap: | 21 |
Visitor Rank Coaches: | 21 |
Visitor Rank Cfp: | 20 |
Visitor Coach: | Luke Fickell |
Visitor 1Q: | 7 |
Visitor 2Q: | 7 |
Visitor 3Q: | 7 |
Visitor 4Q: | 3 |
Home School: | University of Memphis |
Home Name Short: | Memphis |
Home Nickname: | Tigers |
Home Record: | 11–1 |
Home Coach: | Mike Norvell |
Home Rank Coaches: | 16 |
Home Rank Ap: | 16 |
Home Rank Cfp: | 17 |
Home 1Q: | 10 |
Home 2Q: | 0 |
Home 3Q: | 10 |
Home 4Q: | 9 |
Mvp: | Antonio Gibson (RB, Memphis) |
Odds: | Memphis by 9[1] |
Referee: | Charles Lamertina |
Attendance: | 33,008 |
Us Network: | ABC |
Us Announcers: | Dave Pasch (play-by-play), Greg McElroy (analyst) and Tom Luginbill (sideline) |
The 2019 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game was a college football game played on December 7, 2019, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, to determine the 2019 champion of the American Athletic Conference. The conference's 5th championship game featured the champion of its East Division, the Cincinnati Bearcats, against the West Division champion, the Memphis Tigers. The game was televised on ABC.[2]
The game is hosted by the divisional champion with the better winning percentage in conference games.[3] Memphis claimed hosting rights with a 34–24 home win over Cincinnati to close out the regular season on November 29. This left both teams with a 7–1 conference record, with Memphis holding the tiebreaker due to the Tigers' head-to-head win. Navy ultimately tied Memphis for the West Division crown, but the Tigers also held that tiebreaker due to a head-to-head win.[4]
The Cincinnati Bearcats clinched the AAC East, and a berth in the Championship Game, with a win over Temple on November 23.[5] This is Cincinnati's first Championship Game appearance.
Memphis clinched at least a share of the West Division title with their November 29 win over Cincinnati, and also claimed hosting rights by virtue of holding all possible tiebreakers.