Category: AAC

Rhett Lashlee, SMU exit the AAC with the conference title

SMU leaves the AAC as champions.

For the first time and the last time, the SMU Mustangs won the American Athletic Conference title with a 26-14 victory over the Tulane Green Wave. They join the ACC in time for the 2024 season.

It began on a wild note where SMU fumbled the ball on the first play of the drive. Tulane would recover the ball on the Mustangs’ one-yard line. Michael Pratt would punch it in on the very next play to give the Green Wave the 7-0 lead with 14:50 to go in the first quarter.

SMU would go into halftime with a 14-7 lead. The Ponies scored on a six-yard rush by Jaylan Knighton to tie the game. It was followed up with a Kevin Jennings pass to Key’Shawn Smith for the go-ahead touchdown. Jennings was filling in for the injured Preston Stone in this game, completing 19 of 33 passes with one touchdown and two interceptions.

Midway through the third quarter, Pratt would hit the big play to Yulkeith Brown. The 42-yard touchdown tied up the game with 8:06 to go in the third. The Green Wave wouldn’t be able to find the scoreboard again in this game. They would go three-and-out on the next three drives before ending the following drive with an interception at the Tulane 37-yard line. On their final possession, the Green Wave would turn it over on downs after a 14-play 67-yard drive to end the game.

SMU relied on special teams, especially in the second half after Tulane tied it up at 14. They finished three straight drives with a field goal from Collin Rogers. He missed his first attempt in the first quarter but nailed all four of his remaining attempts.

Selection Sunday will determine whether or not SMU is heading to a New Years Six Bowl, or will the Liberty Flames get that spot?

Check out these images from the game:

Rice quarterback J.T. Daniels medically retiring from football

The former five-star quarterback prospect suffered multiple concussions and will start a coaching career after doctors advised he retire.

Rice quarterback JT Daniels has medically retired from football and will now pursue a career in coaching, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Friday.

Daniels suffered multiple concussions in his collegiate career, including one in a game against SMU earlier this season. Doctors advised he end his playing career in light of the head injuries.

“I always knew one day I’d coach,” Daniels said in Thamel’s report. “I didn’t think it would come this soon. But one day, I knew that’s what I was going to be doing.”

Daniels, a former five-star prospect coming out of high school, started his playing career with USC in 2018. He transferred to Georgia after two seasons, but he only spent two years in Athens after Stetson Bennett won the starting job. He played for West Virginia in 2022 before transferring to Rice this past season. Daniels ended his six-year collegiate career with 9,390 passing yards, 66 touchdowns, and 32 interceptions.

UTSA quarterback Frank Harris has career night in win over USF

What a night for the senior quarterback.

While rumors float around about the future of head coach Jeff Traylor, the UTSA Roadrunners are closing in on an AAC title game berth.

On Friday night in San Antonio, UTSA hosted South Florida with the Roadrunners’ undefeated conference record on the line. Could they keep it rolling this week? Quarterback Frank Harris made sure that it did. His record performance kept them perfect and helped set up a major game next week with Tulane.

Harris set a UTSA school record with 523 total yards of offense. He threw for 411 yards on 46 passes. The southpaw also ran for 112 yards on 10 carries which breaks down to a blistering 11.2 yards per attempt. Six of the seven touchdowns scored on Friday night belong to Harris with three passing and three rushing.

Following the game Coach Traylor praised the play of his quarterback, who finished his final home game in spectacular fashion. “You couldn’t have written a better script to send Frank Harris off after all he’s done here the last four years. You seriously couldn’t have.”

The head coach was also asked about the Texas A&M head coaching rumors following the UTSA 49-21 win over South Florida. He did his best to deflect the question and put the focus back on his quarterback and the 18 seniors playing in their final home game.

“It couldn’t have been any better for me and God gets all the credit for that,” Harris stated on Friday night. “I really don’t know what to say other than giving Him all the glory.”

We shall see what the future holds for the all-time leading passer in UTSA history, but he still has potentially three games left in his career. Next week the Roadrunners head to the Big Easy to face off with Tulane Green Wave. Should Tulane defeat Florida Atlantic, both teams will be undefeated in AAC play. They meet on Black Friday at 2:30 p.m. CT.

The other undefeated team in the AAC is SMU. The Mustangs will face off with the Memphis Tigers on Saturday. A win could throw a huge wrench in the title game picture. As of now, we have Memphis, SMU, Tulane, and UTSA battling it out for two spots.

Army set to join AAC as a football only member in 2024

Army joins Navy as football-only members of the AAC starting in 2024.

The American Athletic Conference (AAC) has found a replacement for the departing SMU Mustangs starting in 2024. The Army Black Knights will be joining the conference as football-only members beginning next season.

This will end a 19-year run as an Independent. The Black Knights were last part of a conference with Conference USA from 1998 to 2004. Army already holds a victory over a future conference foe this season. They defeated UTSA on Sept. 15, 37-29.

Army Rice
Charlotte South Florida
East Carolina Temple
Florida Atlantic Tulane
Memphis Tulsa
Navy UAb
North Texas UTSA

Army is currently 2-5 with four straight losses to Syracuse, Boston College, Troy, and LSU.

According to the report from The Athletic, the annual Army-Navy game will remain a nonconference matchup played after the AAC title game. Since Navy is part of the AAC, if they were the top two teams in the conference, they would play in back-to-back weeks per ESPN’s Heather Dinich.

NCAA suspends Penny Hardaway for three games following NCAA violations.

Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway has been suspended the first three games of the Tigers’ 2023-2024 season.

When the Memphis Tigers men’s basketball team starts their 2023-2024 season next November, it will be without head coach Penny Hardaway for the program’s first three games.

The NCAA announced on Wednesday that Hardaway has been suspended for the first three games of the season due to NCAA violations. According to a report released by the NCAA, Hardaway made two in-person home visits with a prospective prospect prior to the time it was permissible to do so including one visit that was posted online by the family of the recruit which was brought to the attention of the NCAA. After a self-investigation, Memphis self-reported the violation.

“The suspension shall be served during the first three games of the regular season in the 2023-24 academic year,” the report says. “During the period of suspension, the head coach is prohibited from performing all coaching and recruiting activities and may not have any contact with members of his men’s basketball staff, student-athletes or prospective student-athletes.”

This past season, Memphis went 26-9 including 13-5 in American Athletic Conference play while earning a second-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament after missing each tournament from 2015 through 2021. The program will be entering its sixth season under Penny Hardaway next fall. Through his first five seasons with the program, he has collected a 111-52 record, winning 20+ games in each season.

First Round: South Florida beats Marquette in an overtime buzzer beater

With 31.2 seconds left in overtime, South Florida’s senior guard Elena Tsineke scored a jumper to win the game.

With 31.2 seconds left in overtime, South Florida’s senior guard Elena Tsineke scored a jumper to win the game. South Florida defeated Marquette, 67-65, to start Round 1 of the 2023 March Madness Women’s D1 NCAA tournament.

Marquette almost came back to win the game with four seconds left on the clock, but Mackenzie Hare’s three-pointer circled out of the basket. It was a nail biting way to end the game.

The Bulls trailed Marquette for the first 38 minutes of the game but had four players scoring double-digits. Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu led her team with 22 points and 16 rebounds.

South Florida will face the defending National Champions in the second round of the tournament when they take on Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks. The game will take place in Columbia, South Carolina on March 19th at a time yet to be announced.