The American Athletic Conference had three football teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25.
Not one of them is named UCF.
The No. 23 Memphis Tigers (5-0, 1-0 AAC), the middle of the trio along with No. 21 SMU and No. 25 Cincinnati, broke into the rankings for the first time this season. Memphis will try to remain perfect this Saturday when it travels to Philadelphia to face the Temple Owls at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Tigers opened their season with a 15-10 home win over Ole Miss and won their next four games by a combined score of 184-86, easing past Southern, South Alabama, Navy and Louisiana-Monroe.
The wins have fourth-year coach Mike Norvell’s team optimistic and near the top of the AAC’s West Division with undefeated SMU (2-0 in conference play) and Tulane (1-0).
Quarterback Brady White tossed three touchdowns, and Kenneth Gainwell rushed for 209 yards and two scores in Memphis’ 52-33 road win over Louisiana-Monroe last Saturday.
Norvell said the Tigers will need more efforts like Gainwell’s — he became the first freshman in Memphis history to post a 200-yard game — in order to beat Temple’s strong front seven on defense. The Owls allow 292.4 total yards per game, the 20th-best mark in the country.
“We’re playing an opponent that I think is one of the best in the league — that’s the No. 1-rated defense,” Norvell said on Monday. “They do a great job on special teams and are very versatile offensively with a ton of explosive weapons that they can utilize.”
Temple (4-1, 1-0) hit the road to earn its first conference win last Thursday, hanging on for a 27-17 victory over the East Carolina Pirates.
The offense generated 490 yards, freshman running back Re’Mahn Davis rushed for a career-high 157 yards and a touchdown, and junior quarterback Anthony Russo passed for 208 yards and a score.
First-year head coach Rod Carey said he was glad he was able to use versatile quarterback Todd Centeio against ECU. The sophomore from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., came in and produced 45 yards on 4-of-5 passing and rushed for 23 yards on nine carries.
“Todd’s too good of a player not to get in there,” Carey said. “We thought he could help our running game and did when he got in there. He gives us a different element to our offense.”
This season, Russo has passed for 1,279 yards and 11 touchdowns with six interceptions, and Davis has rushed for 503 yards and four scores.
Temple is looking to follow in the footsteps of East Division rival Cincinnati (4-1, 1-0), which is enjoying a spot in the Top 25 for the first time this season. The Bearcats entered the select group by upsetting No. 18-ranked UCF 27-24 at home last Friday.
A win by the Owls over Memphis could very well put the Philadelphia school in the same position — taking a spot in the Top 25 once occupied by a fellow AAC opponent by defeating that school in a crucial home game.
The Tigers won the most recent meeting in the series, defeating the Owls 34-27 in 2016.