American Athletic Conference Bowl Grades
2020-2021 Team, Conference Bowl Grades
ACC | American | Big Ten | Big 12 | C-USA | Ind
MAC | Mountain West | Pac-12 | SEC | Sun Belt
American Athletic Conference Bowl Grade: D+
American Athletic Conference Straight Up: 1-5
American Athletic Conference Against The Spread: 2-4
The individual team grades don’t add up to the D+, but going 1-5 doesn’t deserve any better grade as a whole with four of the six teams favored to win.
Yeah, Cincinnati played well against Georgia … and lost. If the goal overall was to make a statement that the conference needs to be included in the College Football Playoff discussion, that perception – TOTALLY unfair as it might be that everyone isn’t realistically in the mix – took a monster hit.
UCF got blasted, Houston was bad, and Tulsa went from losing the AAC championship game to losing to a horrible SEC team. Memphis was great, but this was the bowl season to rise up. The ACC was bad, the Pac-12 was worse, and the AAC wasn’t able to make up any ground in the battle to win hearts and minds.
Cincinnati Bowl Grade: B-
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
Line: Georgia -8.5, o/u: 53
Prediction: Georgia 34, Cincinnati 26
Final Score: Georgia 24, Cincinnati 21
– 5 Thoughts Reaction, Analysis: Peach Bowl
Yeah, Georgia had more talent, and yeah, Cincinnati was a big underdog, and … yeah, Cincinnati wanted to be the No. 4 team in the College Football Playoff and couldn’t beat the fourth-best team in the SEC.
The Bearcats proved they could hang with a top ten-caliber powerhouse, but that wasn’t really the point. The played well enough, they had this won, and thanks to poor clock management and a missed third down play, they couldn’t close.
Houston Bowl Grade: D+
New Mexico Bowl
Line: Houston -10, o/u: 60
Prediction: Houston 34, Hawaii 20
Final Score: Hawaii 28, Houston 14
– 10 Things To Know from the New Mexico Bowl
The Cougars had a rocky season that could’ve and should’ve been made better by finishing off with a good bowl win up the road in Frisco against an okay Mountain West team that struggled on the road and … Hawaii was the far better and more aggressive team early on.
The Cougar O didn’t wake up until it was too late, and then team was put back to sleep with a Rainbow Warrior kickoff return for a score after the game got close. There were no answers after that in a double-digit loss for a double-digit favorite.
Memphis Bowl Grade: A
Montgomery Bowl
Line: Memphis -9, o/u: 52
Prediction: Memphis 36, Florida Atlantic 20
Final Score: Memphis 26, Florida Atlantic 10
– 10 Things To Know from the Montgomery Bowl
Can we applaud Memphis for doing exactly what it was supposed to? Yeah – it came out strong, got up 18-0 in the first half, and answered immediately after things got a wee bit interesting in the second half. Always give credit to the team that’s supposed to win big in a bowl game for winning big in a bowl game.
Tulane Bowl Grade: C-
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Line: Tulane -1.5, o/u: 57
Prediction: Tulane 30, Nevada 27
Final Score: Nevada 38, Tulane 27
– 10 Things To Know from the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
The Green Wave were supposed to win – at least they were favored – but they struggled in the first half, couldn’t get over the hump in the fourth quarter, and it was a double-digit loss to a good-not-amazing Mountain West team. Just under 24 minutes of possession time, -3 in turnover margin, and a loss- this wasn’t how the bowl season was supposed to go.
Tulsa Bowl Grade: B-
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Line: Tulsa -2.5, o/u: 46
Prediction: Mississippi State 24, Tulsa 20
Final Score: Mississippi State 28, Tulsa 26
– 10 Thoughts on the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Not to be harsh, but Tulsa was the second-best team in the American Athletic Conference and it didn’t beat an awful SEC team. Granted, things probably would’ve been different if the Golden Hurricane had star LB Zaven Collins, and the offense outplayed that SEC by a mile, but this year the team was past the whole moral victory thing. Throw in the ugly fight at the end, and this was a huge disappointment.
UCF Bowl Grade: D
RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl
Line: BYU -6.5, o/u: 75.5
Prediction: UCF 37, BYU 34
Final Score: BYU 49, UCF 23
– 10 Things To Know from the Boca Raton Bowl
It wasn’t a home game – whatever that meant this bowl season – but it was just down the road for UCF, the offense was supposed to gear it up with a big effort, and … 21-0 BYU after the first quarter and 35-7 late in the second. It was more about the Cougars being great than the Knights not showing up, but it wasn’t even quite as close as the final score with two late UCF touchdowns making things seem a wee bit better.
2020-2021 Team, Conference Bowl Grades
ACC | American | Big Ten | Big 12 | C-USA | Ind
MAC | Mountain West | Pac-12 | SEC | Sun Belt