The American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game is a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

game currently held by the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

(The American) each year to determine the conference's season champion. The inaugural game was held on December 5, 2015, at 12:00 pm ET. The game previously pitted the champion of the Eastern Division ( UCF,

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Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its orig ...

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

, and

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

) against the champion of the Western Division (

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Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

, SMU,

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

, and

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

). The game was played at the home stadium of the division winner with the better conference record. In 2020, UConn left the conference, leading to the dissolution of the divisions. Because of new NCAA rules regarding conference championships, the game has become a matchup between the top two teams in the conference. Television broadcast rights to the game are owned by

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History

The American was reorganized following the tumultuous period of realignment that hobbled the

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

between 2010 and 2013. In all, 14 member schools announced their departure for other conferences, and 15 other schools announced plans to join the conference (eight as all-sports members, and four for football only). In December 2012, the Big East's seven remaining non-FBS schools, all

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institutions – DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette,

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, St. John's,

Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesa ...

, and Villanova – announced that they voted unanimously to leave the conference. After a settlement in 2013 between the non-FBS schools and the FBS schools regarding the use of the conference name, the ten remaining football playing members renamed themselves the American Athletic Conference. In 2014, Louisville and Rutgers departed the conference and joined the

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

and

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

, respectively. Their departure was succeeded on the same day by the entrance of

, and

for all sports. In 2015, the U.S. Naval Academy joined the conference for football, bringing the membership total in that sport to twelve teams. At which time, the conference split into two six-team divisions and established a football conference championship game. On July 1, 2020 UConn officially left The American, with its football team becoming an FBS independent once the school joined the Big East. After a brief exploration period, The American elected not to add another team to rebalance divisions. Beginning with the 2020 season, divisions were eliminated and for the time being the championship game is be played by the two teams that achieved the best record in regular season conference play. When further conference realignments take effect in 2023–2024, division play may return.

Pre-championship game era

The 2013 and 2014 American Athletic Conference football champions were determined by the team(s) with the best conference record. There was no championship game held. In years when two or more teams tied in conference record, co-champions were declared.

Results

Below are the results from all AAC Championship Games played. The winning team appears in bold font, on a background of their primary team color. Rankings are from the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

released prior to the game.

Results by team

and SMU have yet to make an appearance in an AAC Football Championship Game. *

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...

never made an appearance in an AAC Football Championship Game prior to the move to FBS Independent status in 2020.

Game records

Source:

Selection criteria

Team selection

The two teams with the best winning percentage in conference play will play in the Championship Game. If there's a two-team tie for first place, both teams will play in the Championship Game. In the event that two teams are tied for second place, head-to head result would break the tie. If the two teams did not play, the team with higher CFP Rankings will be in the Championship game. If a team or teams lose in the final weekend of the Conference play to create a tie, and there are subsequent CFP rankings, those subsequent rankings break ties. If regular season ends and the Championship Game is scheduled for the next Saturday, the following tiebreakers are used: :# if one of the tied teams wins in the final week it will be in the Championship. If that team loses, a composite average of selected computer rankings are used to determine participants. :# If both teams are ranked in the latest CFP Rankings, the higher ranked team that wins in the final weekend will be in the Championship. :# If neither of the tied teams ranked in the latest CFP Rankings win, a composite average of selected computer rankings are used to determine participants. :# If no teams are ranked in the latest CFP Rankings rankings, a composite average of selected computer rankings are used to determine participants. The following procedures are used when there's a multiple team tie. :# Conference Records of tied teams in a mini round-robin :# The team with higher CFP Ranking; If a team or teams lose in the final weekend of the Conference season to create a tie, and there are subsequent CFP rankings, those subsequent rankings break ties. If regular season ends and the Championship Game is scheduled for the next Saturday, the following tiebreakers are used to break multi-team ties: :# if the highest ranked team in the latest CFP Rankings wins in the final week it will be in the Championship. If that team loses, a composite average of selected computer rankings are used to break ties. :# If there are multiple teams ranked in the latest CFP Rankings, the higher ranked team or teams that wins will be in the Championship. :# If neither of the tied teams are ranked in the latest CFP Rankings win, a composite average of selected computer rankings are used to break ties. :# If no teams are ranked in the latest CFP Rankings ranked, a composite average of selected computer rankings are used to break ties.

Site selection

The team with the highest winning percentage in Conference play will host. If both participants are tied, Head-to-head is the tie breaker. If the two teams did not play, the team with the higher CFP Ranking will host. The latest CFP Rankings will be used to break ties. If a team or teams lose in the final weekend of the Conference season to create a tie, and there are subsequent CFP rankings, those subsequent rankings break ties. If regular season ends and the Championship Game is scheduled for the next Saturday, the following tiebreakers are used: :# if one of the tied teams wins in the final week it will host. If that team loses, a composite average of selected computer rankings will be used to determine host. :# If both teams are ranked in the latest CFP Rankings multiple, the higher ranked team that wins in the final weekend will host. :# If neither of the tied teams ranked in the latest CFP Rankings win, a composite average of selected computer rankings are used to determine host. :# If no teams are ranked in the latest CFP Rankings rankings, a composite average of selected computer rankings are used to determine host. ''*Note: If the number one seed is unable to host, the other team will host.''

References

{{NCAA Division I FBS conference championship game navbox Recurring sporting events established in 2015 2015 establishments in the United States

History

Pre-championship game era

Results

Results by team

Game records

Selection criteria

Team selection

Site selection

See also

References