Week 10 for the American Athletic Conference (AAC) was marked in “civil war” as it was intra-conference action for all the teams. These games were also important as bowl eligibility is on the mind of programs fighting to get to that six-win mark required for postseason play.

In the West division, there was an outcry when the Houston Cougars were snubbed from the College Football Playoff Top 25 rankings after being placed 17th on the AP Poll. However, after SMU upset the Cougs in a convincing 45-31 win, it is unlikely that they will be on the CFP rankings at all. Not to be outdone, Tulane upset the Bulls of USF in a 41-15 blowout while Memphis took care of business over the ECU Pirates and Tulsa soundly beat UConn. That’s not to say that the East didn’t get their licks in with Cincinnati decimating Navy, 42-0.

The game of the week was easily Temple heading into Orlando to battle the UCF Knights. The Knights went into this game ranked 12th in the CFP Poll against the squad that toppled the Cincinnati Bearcats out of undefeated status. While Temple led at the half,34-28, the Owls only scored six points in the remainder of the game in a 52-40 Knights win that featured 1300 yards of combined offense. With that win Thursday, it turns out that UCF gave themselves a solid foothold in their division.

In a second week of total “civil war”, all AAC teams face someone within their same league. Navy sails to Orlando to face the Knights, Tulsa will battle Memphis, SMU will stampede into Connecticut to play UConn, East Carolina goes on the road to face Tulane, USF travels to Cincinnati to battle for second place in the East, and Temple heads into a third consecutive tough game against the West’s top team, Houston.

And now, the top performers for Week 10

Offensive Player of the Week

Throwing four touchdown passes and finishing with 318 passing yards in a win over Houston, @SMU_Football‘s Ben Hicks is the #AmericanFB Offensive Player of the Week. 📝: https://t.co/br7VYJQvoE pic.twitter.com/jeb8X41Tq9 — American Football (@American_FB) November 5, 2018

SMU quarterback Ben Hicks gets the nod this week’s award for his effort in upsetting Houston. Hicks recorded 318 yards passing with four touchdowns.

Defense Player of the Week

A game-high 10 tackles with 1.5 TFL for @GoBearcatsFB‘s Cortez Broughton, and seven tackles to go with 2.0 sacks, 3.0 TFL and two fumble recoveries for @SMU_Football‘s Kyran Mitchell earn the pair #AmericanFB Defensive Player of the Week honors. 📝: https://t.co/br7VYJQvoE pic.twitter.com/Iqyqjhdhhz — American Football (@American_FB) November 5, 2018

Split honors were awarded once again. This week it’s between Cincinnati Bearcats defensive tackle Cortez Broughton and SMU linebacker Kyran Mitchell. Broughton turned in ten tackles featuring 1.5 for a loss while Mitchell posted seven tackles with three for a loss, two sacks, and two fumble recoveries.

Special Teams Player of the Week

Scoring a career-high 11 points, with two field goals and five PATs to help Tulane to a 41-15 win at USF, @GreenWaveFB‘s Merek Glover is the #AmericanFB Special Teams Player of the Week. 📝: https://t.co/br7VYK86gc pic.twitter.com/Ph0hLHPqFP — American Football (@American_FB) November 5, 2018

Tulane kicker Merek Glover had an 11-point day in the USF upset booting in two field goals with five extra points.

Kyle Nash, known as The Student of the Game, covers UCF Football for SportsMediaPass.com and is a special contributor for Break the Fourth. He’s a also a writer for the DolphinsWire of USA Today and co-host of the DinnerTime and Default Assault podcasts.