2024 American Athletic Conference Preview

2024 American Athletic Conference Preview

The AAC will look a little different in 2024… 2023 Champion’s SMU will hit the upgrade button and head to The ACC while Army joins a conference for the first time since 2004. Year after year, this conference plays very competitive football and always has a team or two gaining national steam.

The early candidate for that is the Memphis Tigers, as they return a very productive roster and look to have higher aspirations than just winning the American Athletic Conference. Below, we will look at each team and give a prediction in reference to their season-long win total. Here is the 2024 American Athletic Conference Preview.

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2024 American Athletic Conference Football Preview, Picks, and Best Bets

2024 American Athletic Conference Favorite: Memphis +220

Memphis is the preseason favorite to win this conference. The Tigers return their quarterback, Seth Henigan, and have the talent to score at a very high rate. Memphis has the offense and pace to be one of the most electric teams in the entire country. They have a chance to do something crazy playing Florida State early in the year. Memphis will be a confident bunch and should absolutely cruise this season.

I am sure betting their team total over will be a profitable bet all year. FedEx gifted Memphis $25 million to help with that NIL budget. These Tigers are going for that playoff spot. I do not think they will have that good a season, but their goals are set very hight. Sadly for Memphis, their schedule is doing them no favors.

2024 American Athletic Conference Contender: UTSA +450

The biggest question will be how they will ever fill Frank Harris’s shoes. Owen McCown will be the man to try to accomplish that. Yes, that is the son of Josh McCown, and he is a very talented quarterback.

What may have been a bigger loss than McCown was edge rusher Trey Moore. This man was one of the best pass rushers in the nation and made the job a lot easier for the Roadrunners’ offense. The expectations remain high for UTSA, but I do not believe they will be as elite as they have been in the past. Lucky for them, the conference is fairly weak.

2024 American Athletic Conference DarkHorse: rice +1400 / Florida Atlantic +2500

Rice

Rice had an awesome season last year. They won some games as underdogs that they probably should not have. QB JT Daniels will not be back after an extremely storied college career. USC to Georgia to West Virginia to Rice was clearly something!

Filling his shoes will be a tough ask, but EJ Warner from Temple. He is the son of Kurt Warner, who did very solid things last season. Outside of that, they bring on an offensive lineman from Georgia. Rice has gotten better by the year and have their highest hopes this season. Returning most of their offensive production and 95% of their defensive production.

FAU

The athletic programs are on the rise in Boca Raton, but Tom Herman should have the boys on the right track. They got off to a nice start but lost a lot of close games down the stretch. FAU brought in a lot of starters but lost a lot of starters.

They will surely be a new-look team, but I love the ceiling QB Cam Fancher brings from the ceiling. He is a risk, high reward QB. He is not named the starter yet but if he is, look out for the Owls.

Must-bet wins total: Army under 6 wins

Army is finally in a conference! They went away from the traditional triple option, and it did not treat them well last season. Expect that to improve this season. Since they are in a new conference, they have no choice but to beef up their lineup and grow.

Army will have a solid defense and will still try to set the pace offensively. Look for Army to be energized and improve its offensive prowess from last season. QB Bryson Daily will return and need to be the leader, as will their leading rusher, Kanye Udoh.

PREDICTION: Under 6 Wins

 

 

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