Memphis and Tulane The Teams to Beat in AAC Race

AAC championship Betting Odds Has Memphis As The Favorite After Champion SMU Heads to ACC

Henigan and Hughes Are Among the Players Who Could Impact the AAC Race

These are exciting times for the Group of Five conferences, with at least one team from those conferences guaranteed to be a part of the College Football Playoff field as it expands from four to 12 teams. Looking at the AAC championship betting odds, can the American Athletic Conference winner be in the CFP field?

Among teams from the Group of Five conferences, only Boise State, James Madison, and Liberty have shorter odds than Memphis to make the College Football Playoff according to the NCAA football playoffs odds. Check out BetMGM for the latest odds and betting options, and don’t miss their special promotions.

With last year’s champion SMU joining the ACC, just three of the previous nine AAC champions are still in the conference as this conference continues to see members come and go.

Memphis and Tulane are two of the favorites to win the AAC title as the Tigers and Green Wave go after their second AAC championship.

Things get underway on Aug. 29 when UAB plays host to Alcorn State, Tulane is at home to face Southeast Louisiana, and Tulsa welcomes Northwestern State to town.

The league members deserve credit for their non-conference scheduling with Temple facing Oklahoma, while FAU is listed by the college football point spreads as an 11.5-point underdog against Michigan State in Week 1. The Kansas State-Tulane, Charlotte-North Carolina, and South Florida-Alabama matchups are on the schedule in Week 2.

Keep reading for more on the American Athletic Conference race.

Can Tulane Seal the Deal?

Tulane was a win away from joining UCF and Cincinnati as the only back-to-back winners of the American Athletic Conference championship game.

However, a loss at home to SMU denied the Green Wave a second title.

Now Tulane is second only to Memphis in the AAC championship betting odds, with the Green Wave priced at +400 to win the title. The addition of 23 transfers will help. However, Tulane did see head coach Willie Fritz leave to take the job at Houston.

Tulane will need to replace quarterback Michael Pratt. However, leading rusher Makhi Hughes is back after running for nearly 1400 yards in 2023. Hughes joined offensive lineman Rashad Green, defensive lineman Patrick Jenkins, and linebacker Jesus Machado as players named to the preseason All-AAC team by Athlon.

Seeing receiver Chris Brazzell land at Tennessee and linebacker Corey Platt join Fritz at Houston does sting a bit but the addition of former USC receiver Mario Williams could pay immediate dividends.

The Green Wave should be ready for conference play after meeting Kansas State and Oklahoma in non-conference games. That is something to consider when it comes to the predictions for CFP rankings.

Could the regular-season title come down to the Nov. 28 home date with Memphis?

Tulane is priced at -125 to go over 7.5 wins.

Tigers Look To Live Up To The Hype

Memphis received 23 of 30 first-place votes in the 2024 American Athletic Conference preseason media poll and enters the season as the team to beat at +225 in the AAC championship betting odds.

It all starts with quarterback Seth Henigan after he threw for 3883 yards with 32 touchdowns last season.

Receivers Roc Taylor and Demeer Blankumsee are back after combining for 1984 yards in 2023. Top rusher Blake Watson is off to the NFL.

Memphis had the top-rated group of incoming transfers in the AAC, according to the 247sports.com database, led by South Carolina running back Mario Anderson. Old Dominion safety Tahj Ra-El and Tennessee linebacker Elijah Herring could make an immediate impact on defense.

The Tigers are priced at +600 to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff field.

A Look At the Other Contenders

UTSA (+400) and South Florida (+450) are other teams that could challenge Memphis and Tulane as both teams eye their first AAC title.

Running back Kevorian Barnes (715 yards) and tight end Oscar Cardenas (32 catches) are back to lead the UTSA offense. It won’t be easy to replace quarterback Frank Harris and leading receiver Joshua Cephus.

The Roadrunners don’t face Tulane in the regular season and play Memphis at home. The expected regular-season win total is at 8.5 for UTSA, with -140 odds of going under the total.

Byrum Brown is back after leading USF in both passing and rushing yards as a redshirt freshman, and 1000-yard receiver Sean Atkins also returns for the Bulls. Top tackler Jhalyn Shuler returns to lead the defense.

Some Work to Do

There is a bit of a drop-off after the top four teams with East Carolina (+1000), Rice (+1600), Army (+2000), Florida Atlantic (+2000), North Texas (+2500), Navy (+3000), UAB (+3300), and Tulsa (+4000) hoping to make some noise.

Tulsa running back Anthony Watkins, Rice running back Dean Connors, East Carolina defensive linemen D’Anta Johnson and Chad Stephens, and Navy linebacker Colin Ramos are among the players who hope to lead their teams into title contention.

Army and FAU finished fifth and sixth in the AAC preseason poll, so they could emerge among the best of the rest.

It is a much longer climb for Charlotte and Temple. Charlotte is priced at -130 to go over 3.5 wins with Temple at -110 to exceed 2.5 wins so it would be an accomplishment for either of those NCAAF teams to become bowl-eligible.

For NCAAF betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.


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