Week 12 of action in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) was a crescendo that reverberated loudly within its ranks. All teams were facing conference opponents to help shape the fate of the divisions and the AAC Championship itself.

The West was a horse race where the Mustangs of SMU were looking to represent their division by winning it in a photo finish. However, if SMU were to lose a game, the Tulane Green Wave and Houston Cougars were themselves battling for the right to be the team who could replace them at the top of the division on Thursday night. The Cougars sailed past the Green Wave 48-17 despite playing without their star defense tackle Ed Oliver and losing their talented quarterback D’Eriq King for the rest of the season to a knee injury. King spent many weeks in 2018 in the top of the NCAA rankings for points responsible per game.

The national leader in Points Responsible For per game is @UHCougarFB‘s D’Eriq King, while @UCF_Football‘s McKenzie Milton is third nationally. #AmericanFB pic.twitter.com/YXLDS0QkJl — American Football (@American_FB) November 14, 2018

While the Cougars won their game convincingly through adversity, SMU still held all the cards to win the division. That was before Darrell Henderson and the Memphis Tigers went on the road to pounce on them 28-18, edging into position to sneak their way to the top of the West for the second consecutive year. This means next week’s game between Memphis and Houston serves as an AAC West Championship game to earn the right to play either Cincinnati or UCF to win the conference.

Out East, UCF hosted ESPN’s College Gameday as the Cincinnati Bearcats came to town for a nationally broadcast primetime matchup. In front of an estimated 3.6 million viewers, the Knights declawed the Bearcats 38-13. With this performance, not only was the conference as a whole featured, but UCF clinched themselves as hosts of the AAC Championship Game on December 1st. The national stage also helped UCF gain exposure in the court of public opinion as they try to claw their way up the CFP rankings.

The featured game for the final week of the regular season is the noon matchup on Black Friday between Memphis and Houston to decide the West division. Other contests include UCF stampeding into Tampa to fight the Bulls of USF in a rivalry game, Cincinnati hosting ECU, Navy sailing into New Orleans to face Tulane, SMU going on the road to face Tulsa, and Temple going to UConn the play against the Huskies.

And now Week 11’s top performers:

Offensive Player of the Week

Figuring in five touchdowns and amassing 372 yards of total offense in ECU’s 55-21 win, @ECUPiratesFB‘s Holton Ahlers is the #AmericanFB Offensive Player of the Week. 📝: https://t.co/6m8VFq7Tjp pic.twitter.com/y9GLYNTFwx — American Football (@American_FB) November 19, 2018

ECU quarterback Holton Ahlers turned in a 372-yard performance with five touchdowns on the UConn Huskies to get this week’s award.

Defensive Player of the Week

5 tackles, including 3.0 sacks, 4.0 TFL & a forced fumble for @UCF_Football‘s Titus Davis, and 5 tackles w/ 3.0 sacks, a forced fumble & a fumble recovery for @ECUPiratesFB‘s Nate Harvey earn the pair #AmericanFB Defensive Player of the Week honors. 📝: https://t.co/6m8VFqpuHZ pic.twitter.com/5txJXkx09t — American Football (@American_FB) November 19, 2018

Split honors go out once again in this category. Defensive Ends Nate Harvey of ECU and UCF’s Titus Davis turned in awesome performances wreaking havoc for defense up front. Davis posted five tackles with four for a loss, three sacks, and a forced fumble in the win over Cincy while Harvey had five tackles, three sacks, a forced fumble and a recovery against UConn.

Special Teams Player of the Week

Tallying 117 all-purpose yards, with all but three yards coming on special teams, including a73-yard punt return for a TD in the fourth quarter, @Temple_FB‘s Isaiah Wright is the #AmericanFB Special Teams Player of the Week. 📝: https://t.co/6m8VFqpuHZ pic.twitter.com/sgcRt8ta0W — American Football (@American_FB) November 19, 2018

With 114 special teams yards, Temple wide receiver Isaiah Wright earned the nod this week. His performance was highlighted by a 73-yard punt return in the fourth quarter to help lock up the win over USF.

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.