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Final American Conference power rankings: 1 thing we'll remember from every team
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- Final American Conference power rankings: 1 thing we'll remember from every team
It was a wild year in the American Conference .
After missing out on the College Football Playoff in the first year of the 12-team era in 2024, the American had a strong campaign by pretty much every metric in 2025 . Early on, American teams racked up power conference wins. Later, there was never any real doubt that the conference champion would earn a playoff spot.
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There was plenty of good and plenty of bad, of course. North Texas was the biggest positive surprise, while Charlotte had the bottom fall out almost immediately and had a dreadful season. Teams like Memphis and USF didn't meet lofty expectations. There was a midseason stretch where the top team in these power rankings lost for four weeks in a row.
And in the end, there was Tulane . Here are our final power rankings, with one thing we'll remember (some good, some bad, some emotional, some supernatural) from each team.
1. Tulane (11-2)
Preseason ranking:1
One thing we'll remember:Jon Sumrall's final game.
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Sports don't often give us happy endings. The entire conversation around college football is about coaches leaving, the broken calendar and just the constant upheaval by the powers-that-be, ones that don't seem to care about players or fans. Coaches leaving for other jobs can be nasty and often leads to plenty of negativity.
Consider this situation, though: And emotional Sumrall went out by winning his final game at Yulman Stadium, celebrating with fans on the field after winning the conference title. Sumrall will be at Florida next season, but the Tulane fans will always remember that.
2. North Texas (11-2)
Preseason ranking:7
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One thing we'll remember: Drew Mestemaker 's star turn.
It's hard to overstate just how remarkable Mestemaker's emergence was this season. Not only was he essentially a 0-star recruit, he didn't even start a single game in high school. Eric Morris didn't care, though, and he turned Mestemaker from nobody to the nation's leading passer. It might be the best story of the college football season.
3. Navy (9-2)
Preseason ranking:3
One thing we'll remember: Blake Horvath 's clutch touchdown run against Temple .
Why is this the moment? Navy had plenty of success this season, but the Temple game was the only time they were really tested during the first half of the season. With less than a minute left and needing a touchdown, Horvath reeled off a 51-yard touchdown run, then hit Alex Tecza for the two-point conversion to put Navy up by one point and ultimately win the game. Then he dropped a F-bomb in his postgame interview and later tweeted "Sorry mom!"
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4. USF (9-3)
Preseason ranking:5
One thing we'll remember: Byrum Brown 's reemergence as one of the most exciting players in college football.
It didn't take long — the Bulls played Boise State in one of the first games of the season. Byrum Brown burst on the steam, pulling off an upset that put USF on the national radar and led the school's social media account to create a mash-up of Brown highlights with Kung Fu Panda clips. The momentum continued when the Bulls won at Florida, and Brown reminded everyone that he's an elite player — with an elite touchdown celebration.
5. ECU (8-4)
Preseason ranking:6
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One thing we'll remember:Fans storming the field after the win over Memphis.
The Pirates didn't have a great start, but Blake Harrell got things moving in the right direction as the season went on and had ECU in the conference title mix into November. The season peaked with a win at home over Memphis that brought the fans onto the field and caused stadium personnel to preemptively take down the goalposts. That's a new one.
6. Memphis (8-4)
Preseason ranking:4
One thing we'll remember:False starts.
Memphis flashed plenty of potential. The Tigers spent a good chunk of the season in the mix for the playoff, but things unraveled after the midway point of the season. First, there were the two false starts at the literal goal line that doomed them against UAB. Then there was the late false start that doomed their comeback bid against Tulane. There was plenty of good (Cortez Braham's highlight-reel catches) but fans will remember those false starts for a while.
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7. Army (6-5)
Preseason ranking:8
One thing we'll remember: Ending the streak.
UTSA coach Jeff Traylor said at media days in July that the Roadrunners had a connection to the Alamodome that reminded him of the Na'vi in the movie "Avatar." That was a fair explanation given UTSA had never lost a conference home game under Traylor and had gone 25-0 until Army stormed the home tree and beat them in the final game of the season. Life imitates art.
8. UTSA (6-6)
Preseason ranking:2
One thing we'll remember:The whiplash.
Perhaps no team had the week-to-week highs and lows that UTSA did. The Roadrunners earned upset wins over Tulane and ECU at home, but they had multiple road losses that were frankly embarrassing and ultimately had a season that didn't come close to meeting expectations.
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9. Temple (5-7)
Preseason ranking:10
One thing we'll remember:Those first two weeks.
Yes, Temple was 2-0 because of wins over UMass (which ultimately went 0-12) and Howard (an FCS team). But it was a glorious start for K.C. Keeler and a program that had been in the conference dumpster for years. It didn't last, but there's real hope here for the first time in a while.
10. Rice (5-7)
Preseason ranking:12
One thing we'll remember:The glorious highs and lows of the option offense.
There were some awesome moments — with the upset wins over Louisiana and UConn at the top — but there were also some pretty dispiriting ones. Such is life in the first year of an option scheme, when third-and-long means some of the worst pass protection displays you'll ever see.
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11. FAU (4-8)
Preseason ranking:9
One thing we'll remember:Dizzying pace.
Zach Kittley and Caden Veltkamp always did their best to make it exciting, and we salute them for that. The Owls lost more than they won, but they always made it entertaining with the high-tempo offense.
12. Tulsa (4-8)
Preseason ranking:13
One thing we'll remember:Tre Lamb's postgame interview after beating Oklahoma State.
Yeah, Oklahoma State went 1-11 and Tulsa's upset win didn't exactly age well. But Lamb's postgame interview, in which he (sort of) shouted out newspapers while also slighting them for giving Oklahoma and Oklahoma State more prominent coverage? That was awesome.
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"Tulsa football is back! We're not gonna be on the third page of the paper anymore!"
13. UAB (4-8)
Preseason ranking:13
One thing we'll remember:The pregame stabbing in the facility.
There was plenty of terrible football and an incredible moment when Alex Mortensen beat Memphis in his first game as interim coach (a win that ultimately helped earn Mortensen the full-time job). But the off-the-field stuff is what people will remember.
14. Charlotte (1-11)
Preseason ranking:11
One thing we'll remember:The complete and utter despair.
The 49ers lost early and they lost often. Everyone got injured. Tim Albin lamented "You can only have so much Tito's."
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It's only up from here.
Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on X @thejonahdylan
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Final American Conference power rankings: 1 thing we'll remember from every team
