It’s a brand new start to the AAC in 2023 as they welcome Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA. This new-look 14-team conference should be fun to watch. Here is our AAC betting preview for the upcoming season.
AAC Betting Preview: One Bet for Every AAC Team
Charlotte 49ers
2022 Record: 3-9
2023 Win Total: 3.5
2023 Conference Odds: +20000
Impact Player: Jaden Bradley, WR (transfer from Pitt)
First up in our AAC betting preview is Charlottle. Charlotte will not win many games this year – but they should win more than three. They should be favorites in home games against SC State and Georgia State to start the season. Past that, they should be able to find two more wins in the conference schedule – especially with the final two games against Rice and USF.
Bet: Charlotte OVER the 3.5 win total.
East Carolina Pirates
2022 Record: 8-5
2023 Win Total: 5.5
2023 Conference Odds: +3500
Impact Player: Tymir Brown, CB (transfer from UNC)
East Carolina has 14 new three-star transfers leading into 2023. Most notable are Tymir Brown, Dontavius Nash, and RaRa Dillworth, all out of North Carolina. These additions should give the Pirates a good shot at winning at least one game hosting SMU in October or Tulane in November. The conference championship odds here are too good to pass up.
Bet: East Carolina to WIN the AAC Championship.
Florida Atlantic Owls
2022 Record: 5-7
2023 Win Total: 7.5
2023 Conference Odds: +900
Impact Player: Ben Ballard, QB
It’s hard to see Florida Atlantic winning eight games next season. Games in September against Clemson and Illinois mean they’ll need to win eight out of ten games. Florida Atlantic is a decent team, but they shouldn’t hit this win total.
Bet: Florida Atlantic will go UNDER the 7.5 win total.
Memphis Tigers
2022 Record: 7-6
2023 Win Total: 8.5
2023 Conference Odds: +600
Impact Player: Blake Watson, RB
The Tigers are a strong team with an easy schedule in 2023. The hardest opponents that they will play are in-conference. In their favor, Memphis will host both Tulane and SMU during the second half of the season. It’s much harder to count losses on the Tiger’s schedule than finding games they can win.
Bet: Memphis Tigers to go OVER the 8.5 win total.
Navy Midshipmen
2022 Record: 4-8
2023 Win Total: 5.5
2023 Conference Odds: +4200
Impact Player: Justin Reed, DE
Year after year, Navy is always an interesting team to watch. They have an affinity for running the ball, and somehow teams cannot stop them. Notre Dame is almost three touchdown favorites in Week 1, but this game should be closer than that. Notre Dame won’t be running at full strength out of the gate, and Navy’s running game should slow things down enough to keep it from getting out of hand.
Bet: Navy to COVER the +20.5 spread against Notre Dame in Week 1.
North Texas Mean Green
2022 Record: 7-7
2023 Win Total: 6.5
2023 Conference Odds: +2500
Impact Player: Taylor Starling, DB
North Texas had a .500 record last season and should track about the same in 2023. Even so, they have a decent shot here to start with a big-impact win against California in Week 1. Cal was bad last season, and they aren’t expected to be any better this year. While North Texas shouldn’t be the favorites in this game, there is no question that getting +315 for the win is a good value bet.
Bet: North Texas to WIN (+315) against Cal in Week 1.
Rice Owls
2022 Record: 5-8
2023 Win Total: 4.5
2023 Conference Odds: +7500
Impact Player: JT Daniels, QB
Rice, without question, should be starting this season 0-2. On the road against Texas and hosting Houston is a hell of a start to the season. After that, the path to five wins gets easier. The two tough games, Tulane and SMU, are both at home. In every other game, they have a decent chance to win.
Bet: Rice Owls to go OVER the 4.5 win total.
SMU Mustangs
2022 Record: 7-6
2023 Win Total: 7.5
2023 Conference Odds: +400
Impact Player: Jordan Hudson, WR (transfer from TCU) and LJ Johnson, RB (transfer from Texas A&M)
The only team to outdo East Carolina in the transfer portal this season was the Mustangs. The additions of Jordan Hudson and LJ Johnson will make an immediate impact on a team that was already great. SMU has some tough out-of-conference matchups with Oklahoma and TCU, but the only team that should stand in the way of a conference title will be Tulane.
Bet: SMU to WIN the AAC Championship.
South Florida Bulls
2022 Record: 1-11
2023 Win Total: 4.5
2023 Conference Odds: +5000
Impact Player: Nay’Quan Wright, RB (Transfer from Florida)
This team only won one game last season. This year, the AAC will be even tougher with the new additions. It’s hard to find an argument that the Bulls will improve by four games going into 2023.
Bet: USF to stay UNDER the 4.5 win total.
Temple Owls
2022 Record: 3-9
2023 Win Total: 5.5
2023 Conference Odds: +4500
Impact Players: EJ Wilson, RB, and Landon Morris, WR
Temple’s schedule is a mixed bag this season. Out-of-conference contests against Rutgers and Miami will be true tests. That being said, they’ve avoided games against conference favorites like Tulane and UTSA, and the hardest in-conference matchup will be a home game against SMU. They’ve got a good shot at winning six games in 2023.
Bet: Temple to go OVER the 5.5 win total.
Tulane Green Wave
2022 Record: 12-2
2023 Win Total: 9.5
2023 Conference Odds: +270
Impact Player: Michael Pratt, QB
Tulane had a huge year last season, capped off with a bowl game win against the USC Trojans. Tulane is the conference favorite for a reason in 2023. They are loaded with talent and ready to win some games. They have legit top-25 hype coming into next season and are a great bet to win the AAC.
Bet: Tulane to WIN the AAC Championship.
Tulsa Golden Hurricanes
2022 Record: 5-7
2023 Win Total: 4.5
2023 Conference Odds: +5500
Impact Player: Braylon Presley, RB/WR (transfer from Oklahoma State)
Here’s what seems to be one of the easiest AAC football bets. Tulsa has a brutal schedule in 2023. The out-of-conference games include Washington and Oklahoma. In-conference matchups include visits to SMU, Tulane, and East Carolina. Mark all of those as losses. Should we expect Tulsa to win five of the outstanding seven matchups? That’s a tough one.
Bet: Tulsa will go UNDER the 4.5 win total.
UAB Blazers
2022 Record: 7-6
2023 Win Total: 4.5
2023 Conference Odds: +4500
Impact Player: Jacob Zeno, QB
Thanks to out-of-conference matchups, UAB should start their season 3-0 following matchups with NC A&T, Georgia Southern, and Louisiana. There are some tough matchups to follow against Georiga, Tulane, and UTSA – but UAB should be able to find the two more wins they need in the back half of the season.
Bet: UAB to go OVER the 4.5 win total.
UTSA Roadrunners
2022 Record: 11-3
2023 Win Total: 7.5
2023 Conference Odds: +450
Impact Player: Frank Harris, QB
Last in our AAC betting preview is UTSA. UTSA goes into 2023 as the back-to-back Conference USA champions in a new conference. They were 11-3 last year and are +450 to win the AAC this season. So why is the win total only at 7.5? Their toughest games on the season are out-of-conference against Tennessee and on the road against Tulane. Outside of that, there’s no reason UTSA shouldn’t stack up wins and bust through this win total.
Bet: UTSA will go OVER the 7.5 win total.
