10-Year Anniversary: Dominance Points in the American

After sorting through a pair of extinct and four existing mid-major leagues, we will now examine the most nascent conference in college football, The American Athletic Conference.

The American Athletic Conference teams are sorted below by Dominance Points. Since the league is entering its third season and has been in constant flux since the very beginning, I have listed each team together.

It’s hard to proclaim any bold truths after just a pair of seasons of play, but UCF is the early leader in the clubhouse. After a historic 2013 season when they upset presumed overlord Louisville and earned the league’s first and only BCS bowl berth, the Knights finished in a three-way tie atop the standings in 2014 with Cincinnati and Memphis. For Memphis, this represented a tremendous reversal of fortune, as the Tigers shared the cellar with Temple just a season before. Much like the Atlanta Braves a quarter century ago, the Tigers went from worst to first. They were also ranked in the final AP Poll (their first ever end of season ranking) and the second year in a row the American finished with a least one team ranked in the final poll. The American will experience another change in 2015 when Navy joins the conference (the first ever conference appearance for the Midshipmen) and the league adds a championship game. How long will the American remain in its current incarnation? The dog days of summer have seen rumors emerge (some credible, some incredible or is that uncredible) about another round of conference expansion. Enjoy this edition of the American while it lasts folks. The classic Tulsa/Navy intersectional matchup may not stand the test of time.