Week 4 power rankings

[CaliforniaBull]

This ranking is based on who I personally think would fare the best in a bowl game to represent the conference. Not necessarily who has the best resume or who has the best record.

1. Houston 3-0 I have said all along, I just want to see Greg Ward be a QB, and not be a converted WR. Well he is proving to be a Michael Vick in his prime out there, and this team can put up points with a serviceable defense. Easily my pick to win the AAC this year.

2. Memphis 4-0 I hesitate putting them here, due to a blown call essentially giving them the win against Cincinnati. Still, the nation's third longest active winning streak in FBS at 11 (behind only Ohio St's 15 and TCU's 13) should be respected. (No clue how they are not ranked)

3. Navy 3-0 Keenan Reynolds has put this team on his shoulders while only throwing 17 passing attempts in 3 games. But who needs to throw it when him and the 'Swain Train' are averaging 5.5 yards per rush?

4. Temple 3-0 I hate to penalize a team for winning, especially when they played so well down the stretch to pull it off, but is pulling off a late game win against UMass impressive? For a team who has undefeated aspirations, they will need to beat Notre Dame, a team who just put up 62 on UMass.

5. Cincinnati 2-2 Watching their freshman QB Hayden Moore go out and hang 550 passing yards in less than a full game makes me cry, when it takes a full on miracle for a USF QB to eclipse the 100 yard mark. Like I said earlier, a blown call ruined this team's probable win in Memphis. While I still love me some Cincy, it is hard to be overly confident in a team who has only beat the bad Alabama and Miami teams.

6. Tulsa 2-1 My first surprise of the power rankings, and its at #6 with Tulsa! I don't think anybody right now can hold this team under 40 points, as they just proved it vs Oklahoma, but coming up short. QB Dane Evans is averaging 392 passing yards per game.

7. East Carolina 2-2 It is difficult to grade a team out when a new QB comes in and sparks the offense. Does Summers come in next week and provide the same spark? Either way, it was a great win over Virginia Tech, and their new QB will have a chance to prove his value next week against SMU.

8. UConn 2-2 Was hard giving the edge to UConn over USF. They are both build in similar ways and starts with the defense. USF gets the edge in the front 7, while UConn gets the edge in the secondary. But offensively, UConn finally has a serviceable QB this year in Bryant Shirreffs who has the 6th best passing efficiency in the conference (Flowers at 10th) and has thrown for almost 3 times as many yards in only one more game.

9. USF 1-2 Do I have to talk about USF? No, no thanks. It is too depressing. Lets just go get a new coach already.

10. SMU 1-3 This is the one team I am going to tell TBP I told you so. Everybody wanted to crown SMU as being MUCH improved after scoring points against Baylor and TCU, and to that, I will say YES, they have improved. But improvement from a 1 win team last year isn't saying much. Don't get me wrong, Matt Davis is an electric QB who is actually leading the conference in rushing yards (granted SMU has played one more game than most of the competing leading rushers), but their o line got pushed around by FCS James Madison ala McCheese style vs USF. Not to mention they generate ZERO pass rush, with only 5 sacks in 4 games.

11. UCF 0-4 There is no explaining the collapse of the Knights. After week one, I said once they find a running game, they will be fine. Now with Justin Holman out, they can't pass the ball either. The team is a mess. A decisively bigger one than USF in my opinion.

12. Tulane 1-2 The worst idea for a conference addition ever, gets to prove this week that they are worth something more than the AAC cellar dweller by playing UCF. Prediction : Both team jerseys will be brown by the end of this one, with UCiF pulling out a squeaker 4 to 3

[Brad]

Thanks for boldy taking this on..  It's a great read and I appreciate your time on it.

However, I'm very worried about our chances against SMU.

[CaliforniaBull]

Still not understanding the SMU love, but I guess we will see when game time comes

[smazza]

how can we be this bad for so long?

it isnt easy

 

 

[Hem]

Man that was a depressing read...thanks for putting it up though...

[Bear]

Is the WESTERN division of the AAC

 

actually doing better? (please exclude Tulane)