Memphis is the overwhelming favorite to win the AAC after earning 23 of 30 first-place votes in the preseason media poll, which was released on Tuesday. The Tigers have not won the league since Mike Norvell left for Florida State after the 2019 season.
The Tigers won 10 games last season for the fourth time in a decade under coach Ryan Silverfield, who is heading into his fifth season leading the Tigers. UTSA follows close behind after winning Conference USA titles under Jeff Traylor in 2021 and 2022. Tulane lost coach Willie Fritz to Houston after a 23-5 run over the past two years, but two-time reigning Sun Belt champion coach Jon Sumrall means the Green Wave won’t take much of a step back.
For the first time in 2024, the top team in the Group of Five will earn a trip to the College Football Playoff. The AAC would have clinched that top spot seven times since 2015 if the auto-bid existed in the past. Cincinnati also became the only Group of Five program to make the CFP in the four-team playoff era.
Last year, SMU beat Tulane in the AAC title game to capture its first outright conference title in nearly 40 years. However, the Mustangs ultimately left the conference for the ACC. Tulane, of course, lost Fritz. The power vacuum creates an opening for a program like Memphis or UTSA to climb up the poll ahead of one of the most exciting seasons for any Group of Five league in history.
| Rank | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Memphis (23) |
409 |
|
2 |
UTSA (4) |
368 |
|
3 |
Tulane (2) |
362 |
|
4 |
339 |
|
|
5 |
Army (1) |
236 |
|
6 |
228 |
|
|
T-7 |
219 |
|
|
T-7 |
219 |
|
|
9 |
216 |
|
|
10 |
192 |
|
|
11 |
150 |
|
|
12 |
95 |
|
|
13 |
77 |
|
|
14 |
40 |
