UC could be favorite when AAC East football poll announced
NEWPORT, R.I. – The Cincinnati Bearcats could well be tabbed the favorite in the 2015 American Athletic Conference East division football race here Tuesday, when the preseason league media poll is announced at AAC media day.
UC went 9-4 overall last year and 7-1 in the AAC, and the Bearcats shared the league title with Central Florida and Memphis.
For 2015, several preseason magazines including Athlon and Lindy's Sports have listed UC the favorite in the East. Effective this year, there are 12 AAC football teams split into East and West divisions, with Navy joining as a football-only member.
UC coach Tommy Tuberville, 18-8 overall in two years at the school, is among many coaches who largely ignore preseason polls. In 2014, UC was picked to win the AAC and held up its end.
"Well, they were right last year," Tuberville said. "That's the first time they've been right in my career, where they picked us to win part of the championship and we did. It's a little different this year. We have divisions now. Then you have a championship game. I think it's going to be very competitive."
Joining UC in the East will be Central Florida, UConn, East Carolina, South Florida and Temple. Most see UC, Central Florida and Temple as the top East contenders.
In the West, Memphis, Houston and Navy generally are considered the best. SMU, Tulane and Tulsa also are in the West.
Each team will play the other five teams in its own division, as well as three teams from the other division.
UC begins preseason practice Thursday. The Bearcats open the season Sept. 5 at newly renovated Nippert Stadium, with a non-league game against Alabama A&M (7 p.m., ESPN3). The Bearcats' first AAC game is Sept. 12 against Temple at Nippert.
TITLE GAME: The first AAC football championship game will be Saturday, Dec. 5, at noon (ET) and will be televised nationally on either ABC or ESPN.
The divisional champions will meet in the championship game at the home site of one of the participants, not at a neutral site.
The divisional winners will be determined by the team with the best conference record, with the tiebreaker being head-to-head matchup.
To determine the host for the championship game, the team with the better conference record will host. If both teams have the same record, head-to-head will be the first tiebreaker, followed by best overall record if the two teams did not play each other.
The winner of the AAC championship game will have the opportunity to participate in one of the College Football Playoff New Year's Bowls if it is the highest-ranked team among the champions of Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Conference and Sun Belt Conference.