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 (5-0)

The Bulls are coming off of a bye week. USF last cruised to a 61-31 win over ECU the week before and continue to show that they are one of the top team's in the conference. Quinton Flowers is making a strong case for being the conference's most dynamic playmaker at the quarterback position.

This Week: Vs. Cincinnati as a -24.5 Point Favorite

2: UCF (4-0)

UCF only needed three quarters to jump out to a 51-23 lead over the Bearcats. The game would be called due to lightning with 4 seconds left int he third, giving UCF yet another statement victory against conference foe Cincinnati. UCF appear to be the best team to contend with USF based on what we've seen thus far.

This Week: Vs. ECU as a -34 Point Favorite

3: Navy (5-0)

The Midshipmen took all they could from service academy rival Air Force in a narrow 48-45 victory at home. Navy continues to show it has one of the best rushing attacks in college football led by quarterback Zach Abey who has 870 yards and nine touchdowns on 146 rushing attempts. They'll face a much stiffer opponent this week in Memphis and will likely need to execute their ball control offense to perfection against a pretty potent Tiger passing attack.

This Week: @ Memphis as a +3.5 Point Underdog

4: Memphis (4-1)

Memphis got their offense back on track against UCONN putting 70 points on the board in a 70-31 route against the Huskies on Friday night. Riley Ferguson had 431 yards passing and seven touchdowns against the Husky defense. They'll have the opportunity to climb back up the ranks if they top our No.3 team in Navy this week at home.

This Week: Vs. Navy as a -3.5 Point Favorite

5: Houston (4-1)

The Cougars climb back into the top five of our power ranking this week after an impressive 35-22 win over conference rival SMU on Saturday night. The Cougars were fueled by Duke Catalon's 177 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 22 rushing attempts. They'll hit the road this week against a Tulsa team that appears to be on the verge of falling apart in it's chase for a bowl bid.

This Week: @ Tulsa as a -13.5 Point Favorite

6. SMU (4-2)

The Mustangs drop back down to No. 6 in our rankings this week following the above mentioned 35-22 defeat at the hands of Houston. SMU was competitive in the game, but just didn't have enough fire power to top a Houston team that showed up and played one of their better games of the season. But we still believe this is a team that could surprise some in conference play this season and the loss to Houston was only their first in-conference loss, so they are still in the hunt for things out of the AAC West.

This Week: BYE

7: Tulane (3-2)

The Green Wave move up another spot after a blowout win over Tulsa last weekend. The Greenwave ran away from the Golden Hurricane topping Tulsa 62-28 in New Orleans. The Greenwave were led by Dontrell Hilliard's 175 rushing yards and four touchdowns. This could be one of those sneaky teams this season.

This Week: @ FIU as a -14 Point Favorite

8: Temple (3-3)

The Owls climb the ranks by two spots this week after finally putting together an impressive offensive performance, granted that was against ECU but that could be just what the Owls needed to get them headed in the right direction. Logan Marchi passed for 321 yards and two touchdowns in the 34-10 win over ECU.

This Week: Vs. UCONN as a -10 Point Favorite

9: Cincinnati (2-4)

The Bearcats drop a few spots this week, but it was a combination of their embarrassing loss to UCF as well as what the teams that jumped them were able to do this week. Things won't get any easier for them as they'll travel down to Tampa to take on arguably the best team int he conference in USF.

This Week: @ USF as a +24.5 Underdog

10: Tulsa (1-5)

The Golden Hurricane continue to face struggles through the first half of the 2017 schedule. They're fresh off of a 62-28 loss at the hands of Tulane and this week they've got another tough matchup with the visiting Houston Cougars. They'll be facing an up-hill battle in even trying to reach a bowl game this season.

This Week: Vs. Houston as a +13.5 Underdog

11: ECU (1-5)

The Pirates lost their second straight game last week against Temple 34-10. This is another team that looks like they'll be fighting to even stay alive in the hunt for a bowl game and after this week they may be forced to win out to even have a chance at getting a bowl bid because they're hitting the road to take on a UCF squad that's been on fire over the last two weeks.

This Week: @ UCF as a +34 Point Underdog

12: UCONN (1-4)

The Huskies still have just one win against FCS foe Holy Cross. They showed some flashes of offensive production last Friday against Memphis before eventually conceding a 70-31 win to Memphis. This game was still within reach at halftime as the Huskies trailed the Tigers 34-24, but Memphis pulled away in the second half and UCONN had no answers for Riley Ferguson and Co. in the second half.

This Week: @ Temple as a +10 Point Underdog