AAC Power Rankings: Week 5

The Formula

Cougars Den staff place votes from one through twelve on each member of the American conference. We then calculate the weighted average for each team according to each analysts rankings to determine each team's official ranking score. Each team will then be ranked according to their calculated score.

The Panel

Jefferson D. Powell - CougarsDen.com Publisher

Marcus Gutierrez - CougarsDen.com Analyst

Josh Griffin - CougarsDen.com Analyst

Ashton Washington - CougarsDen.com Analyst

1: South Florida (4-0)

USF and Memphis have been the two teams really separating themselves from the rest of the AAC in the first four weeks of the season. South Florida has wins over San Jose State, Stony Brook, Illinois and most recently Temple and comes in this week as the top overall team in the conference according to calculations.

This Week: @ECU as a -23.5 Favorite

2: Memphis (3-0)

Riley Ferguson has Memphis playing some really good football out of the AAC right now. The Tigers boast wins over Louisiana-Monroe, a top 25 UCLA team and Southern Illinois. Ferguson just might be the best quarterback in the conference and should keep Memphis near the top as one of the top teams in the conference.

This Week: @UCF as a +4 Underdog

3: Navy (3-0)

The Midshipmen come in at number three based on their weighted calculation. They are currently 3-0 with two conference wins over Tulane and Cincinnati. Their two conference wins have them atop the AAC West at this point having played more conference games than the rest of their division.

This Week: @Tulsa as a -6 Favorite

4. SMU (3-1)

The Mustangs have been one of the surprising teams from the AAC in the first four weeks of action. Their only loss came from a very impressive looking TCU team while they have wins over Stephen F. Austin, North Texas and Arkansas State. You could argue their wins are against lesser opponents, however the Mustang offense has been rolling. Their average margin of victory in their three wins is 30 points and they look like they could have one of the better offenses in the AAC. We'll have a much better idea of how they stack up as conference play begins.

This Week: Vs UCONN as a -18.5 Favorite

5: Houston (2-1)

The Cougars lost their first game of the season this past weekend falling to Texas Tech 27-24 in a game that wasn't really as close as the scoreboard might indicate, though the Cougars did have a chance late in the game. Their two wins came at the hands of Arizona and Rice. The story with Houston has been inconsistencies and now they have concerns at quarterback heading into the start of conference play.

This Week: @Temple as a -13.5 Favorite

6: UCF (2-0)

Honestly this a team that could be ranked a little higher, but they don't quite have the sample set that the rest of the teams in the conference do having two games either cancelled or rescheduled. They are coming off an impressive 38-10 victory over injury riddled Maryland. This is a team that very easily could climb the ranks over the next few weeks. This week against Memphis will tell us a lot more about how good this team really is.

This Week: Vs Memphis as a -4 Favorite

7: Cincinnati (2-2)

The Bearcats have two wins though just one notable win in which they needed a pick-six to win the game in the final two minutes of action against Miami of Ohio just two weeks ago. Last week they lost to Navy 42-32 in a game that Navy was expected to win. There's room for improvement, but for now they'll have to fight their way up the rankings.

This Week: Vs Marshall as a -5 Favorite

8: Tulsa (1-3)

The Golden Hurricane have just one win under their belt against Louisiana-Lafayette. They fought a vaunted Oklahoma State team tough to open the season, they hung tough and nearly beat a Toledo team in which they were expected to lose. Last week they fell to a New Mexico team in which just about all of us expected them to beat which caused them to slide in the rankings.

This Week: Vs Navy as a +6 Underdog

9: Tulane (2-2)

The Green Wave have two wins, a week one win against Grambling and most recently a 21-17 victory over Army last week. Their two losses came at the hands of Navy and Oklahoma. The Green Wave look like they could be a team that could surprise some folks in the AAC, but we'll find out over the next several weeks just how high they can make it in our rankings.

This Week: Bye

10: Temple (2-2)

The Owls are a team that could be ranked higher based on their two losses at the hands of Notre Dame and USF, however they likely slipped because their two wins against Villanova and UMass were very underwhelming and they could just as easily be sitting at 0-4 if a few plays go different ways.

This Week: Vs Houston as a +13.5 Underdog

11: ECU (1-3)

The Pirates have struggled mightily in their first three games of the season opening up 0-3 with losses to James Madison, West Virginia and Virginia Tech. They finally broke the win column last week with a hard fought 41-38 win over UCONN, which likely spared them from coming in last in this week's rankings.

This Week: Vs USF as a +23.5 Underdog

12: UCONN (1-2)

The Huskies lone win came against FCS foe Holy Cross. Their two losses came against Virginia and our No.11 team in this week's ranking ECU which likely sealed the Huskies fate on the bottom of this week's rankings.

This Week: @SMU as a +18.5 Underdog