Sport Football TV partner(s) ESPN | Number of teams 11 | |
 | ||
League NCAA Division I FBS
(Football Bowl Subdivision) Duration August 28, 2014
through January 2015 League champions UCF, Cincinnati, Memphis | ||
The 2014 American Athletic Conference football season was the 24th NCAA Division I FBS football season of the American Athletic Conference (The American). 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.
Contents
- Previous season
- Coaching changes
- Preseason Poll
- Head coaches
- Schedule
- Week 1
- Week 2
- Week 3
- Week 4
- Week 5
- Week 6
- Week 7
- Week 8
- Week 9
- Week 10
- Week 11
- Week 12
- Week 13
- Week 14
- Week 15
- Bowl eligible
- Bowl ineligible
- Conference awards
- Home game attendance
- References
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 (AQ), and is considered a member of the "Group of Five" (G5) 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, Connecticut, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, SMU, South Florida, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa, and UCF. 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.
Coaching changes
Preseason Poll
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.
- Cincinnati (17)
- UCF (7)
- Houston (6)
- East Carolina
- SMU
- USF
- Memphis
- Temple
- UConn
- Tulane
- Tulsa
Head coaches
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 eligible
Bowl ineligible
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 December 6, 2014.
^* 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.