Memphis Shocks Cincinnati and the AAC Braces for Realignment

The American saw a wild weekend of football with no game shocking the nation more than the blowout Memphis delivered to the Bearcats in Cincinnati during Week 6 of the season. Things started off with a close game on Thursday night between the UCF Knights and the UH Cougars that saw O'Leary's team escape Houston with a five point victory.

The game did two things for the Coogs however; Levine pulled the trigger and changed quarterbacks, benching last year's hero O'Korn for Greg Ward Jr. while the team's kicker made a bid for MVP by scoring Houston's only points against UCF (four FGs). SMU came alive in Week 6 during the Mustangs' game against the Pirates at ECU and no one was more surprised than Ruffin McNeill's defense who gave up 24 points to a team that scored a total of 12 points in its first four games combined.

The Stangs were playing like a completely different team and there are a lot of factors at play. Considering the play of SMU so far this season, it was very possible that the Pirates were already looking ahead to games further down the road. ECU fans shouldn't be concerned since the Pirates hung 45 points on a conference opponent that was playing with a chip on it's shoulder under an interim coach looking to prove something. Shane Carden still ended up with a very productive 410 yards passing with 4 touchdowns.

And how about the Tulsa Golden Hurricane? About the only thing going well for Tulsa right now is the fact that the university has less than 4,000 students enrolled. Sure it means the school has the lowest enrollment of and FBS program in the nation, but it also means the Hurricane football team has fewer fans to disappoint. Tulsa fell to Colorado State in a game that wasn't exactly a must-win, but at the same time, every loss to a Group of Five hurts this conference's image. The Rams had little trouble winning, 42-17.

And now back to the Cincinnati and Memphis game mentioned above. Many felt that the Cincinnati defense would struggle after the embarrassing display the Bearcats put on in Columbus, giving up 50 points, 45 first downs and 710 total yards in offense to the Ohio State Buckeyes in Week 5. But no one expected UC to allow 41 points, 30 first downs and 610 total yards by the Memphis offense. And let's not forget, it wasn't just the fact that Tuberville's team looked like Idaho playing against Alabama. Give credit where credit is due - Justin Fuente and his football team played a great game and simply outclassed UC on every aspect of the ball.

So we learned a lot about the American in Week 6. We learned that ECU is the only hope this league has at a New Year's bowl this season. And that might raise some concern's about the future of the AAC, but programs like Cincinnati and Houston have been known to have an off year and then return to win a conference championship the next season.

What this league has to worry about right now is ECU, UC, UCF and USF going to the Big 12 to help create an East Division and get a conference championship game. Details are still very sketchy, but it appears the doors have finally opened to the Big 12 finding regional teams for WVU to assist with travel and also establish a long sought after Florida footprint for the league. Multiple sources have suggested that Mike Aresco is already trying to renegotiate the American's current TV deal for the league in an effort to keep these teams in the conference with more money and a possible Grant of Rights. But Aresco's response is reportedly forcing the hand of the Big 12 even faster.

That is expected to unfold within the next four weeks and isn't something American fans should worry about at the moment. Fans should be more concerned with when their favorite team plays Memphis or ECU, because those programs are on fire right now. Surprisingly, the Tigers and Pirates don't play each other this season, so don't expect the question of who is best to be answered on the gridiron.

We will catch up with the league every morning here on the AAC blog and keep a close eye on realignment as well.