The final week of the American Athletic Conference regular season has four games on the slate with Temple and Houston having already wrapped up their schedules. Two of the top three teams in the American face off on Thursday as Louisville travel to Cincinnati. The Bearcats are still alive for a BCS bid if they were to beat the Cardinals and have UCF fall to SMU on Saturday. Cincinnati would still need to jump UCF in the final BCS standings to earn the bid through the conference’s tiebreaker. With only one team from the American Athletic lined up to appear in a BCS Bowl this year, here’s a breakdown of the five teams who could appear in this year’s Russell Athletic Bowl. Teams are listed alphabetically.
Cincinnati
Record: 9-2, 6-1 AAC
Record vs. bowl-eligible teams: 1-0 (Houston and SMU)
Wins over bowl-eligible teams: @ Rutgers (52-17)
Wins over ranked opponents (current BCS standings): None
Wins over ranked opponents (when they played): None
Losses: @ South Florida (26-20), @ Illinois (45-17)
Last Bowl Appearance: 2012 Belk Bowl vs. Duke (won 48-34)
Last Orlando Bowl Appearance: No previous appearances
Top Players:
QB Brendon Kay – 2,797 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, four rushing touchdowns
DL Silverberry Mouhon – 8.5 sacks, nine tackles for loss, 32 total tackle, 2 forced fumbles
WR Chris Moore – 507 receiving yards, nine touchdown receptions
Series Records vs. Possible Opponents (With last meeting score):
Duke: 1-0, 12/27/2012, Belk Bowl – won 48-34
Miami: 1-10, 9/12/1998 – lost 38-12
Georgia Tech: No previous meetings
Virginia Tech: 5-5, 9/29/2012 – won 27-24
Clemson: No previous meetings
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Louisville
Record: 10-1, 6-1 AAC
Record vs. bowl-eligible teams: 2-1
Wins over bowl-eligible teams: vs. Houston (20-13), vs. Rutgers (24-10)
Wins over ranked opponents (current BCS standings): None
Wins over ranked opponents (when they played): None
Losses: vs. UCF (38-35)
Last Bowl Appearance: 2013 AllState Sugar Bowl vs. Florida (won 33-23)
Last Orlando Bowl Appearance: No prior appearances
Top Players:
QB Teddy Bridgewater – 3,268 passing yards, 25 passing touchdowns, 3 interceptions
WR DeVante Parker – 639 receiving yards, nine touchdown receptions
CB Terell Floyd – 38 tackles, two tackles for loss, four interceptions, one interception return for touchdown.
Series Records vs. Possible Opponents (With last meeting score)
Duke: 1-0, last meeting 9/7/2002 – won 40-3
Virginia Tech: 2-5, last meeting 1/2/06 – lost 35-24
Georgia Tech: No previous meetings
Miami: 1-9-1, last meeting 9/16/06 – won 31-7
Clemson: No previous meetings
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No. 16 UCF
Record: 10-1, 7-0 AAC
Record vs. bowl-eligible teams: 2-1 (Rutgers and SMU)
Wins over bowl-eligible teams: @ Louisville (38-35), vs. Houston (19-14)
Wins over ranked opponents (current BCS standings): @ No. 19 Louisville (38-35)
Wins over ranked opponents (when they played): @ No. 8 Louisville (38-35)
Losses: vs. South Carolina (28-25)
Last Bowl Appearance: 2012 Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl vs. Ball State (won 38-17)
Last Orlando Bowl Appearance: No previous appearances
Top Players:
RB Storm Johnson – 978 rushing yards, 11 rushing touchdowns, three receiving touchdowns
QB Blake Bortles – 3,038 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, three rushing touchdowns
LB Terrance Plumme – 90 tackles, 8.0 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles
Series Records vs. Possible Opponents (With last meeting score)
Duke: No previous meeting
Miami: 0-2, 10/17/2009 – lost 27-7
Georgia Tech: 0-3, 9/2/2000 – lost 21-17
Virginia Tech: 0-3, 8/31/2003 – lost 49-28
Clemson: 0-1, 9/1/2001- lost 21-13
* teams in parentheses can become bowl eligible with a win in their final regular season game.
