The American Athletic Conference preseason media poll crowned the Memphis Tigers as the favorite to win the league, but the schedule creates several obstacles.

No. 2 UTSA, No. 3 Tulane and No. 4 South Florida are the top candidates expected to compete with Memphis for the conference title.

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Memphis, which landed 23 of the 30 first-place votes, was the media’s clear choice as the projected best team in the conference. The Tigers have a senior quarterback in Seth Henigan, who is entering his fourth year as a starter. His top receivers are returning, and First-Team All-AAC linebacker Chandler Martin will lead the defense. The roster appears to be prepared for the expectations put on the team this year, even with the difficult schedule ahead.

The Daily Memphian dissected the schedules of the top four ranked teams in the media poll to see which top programs have the easiest road to a potential conference championship.

Tulane

Tulane got a favorable shake with its home games. The two toughest conference opponents for Tulane are Memphis and South Florida. Both games are at home and the Green Wave are a combined 12-2 at Yulman Stadium in the last two years. It hasn’t lost to Memphis at home since 2016 and USF hasn’t been victorious against Tulane in any stadium since 2017.

The Green Wave dodged UTSA and an Army team that was voted to finish fifth in its first year with the AAC. The next highest-voted team on the Tulane schedule following Memphis and USF is No. 7 Rice, which is also a home game. The highest-voted team Tulane will travel to this season is No. 9 North Texas.

UTSA

UTSA will face Memphis at home, and its toughest road game is against Army. The Roadrunners will play host to No. 6 Florida Atlantic but will not have to face Tulane.

UTSA’s conference championship hopes were spoiled by the Green Wave last season. The 29-16 road loss was the only blemish on the UTSA conference record last year.

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Traveling to ECU, which tied with Rice for seventh in the preseason voting, won’t be easy. The Pirates have one of the most intense crowds in the conference. The Roadrunners will have an off week before traveling to Rice ahead of the home matchup with FAU.

USF

Playing Memphis at home before traveling to Tulane is one of the toughest two-game slates in the conference. Luckily for USF, the two games are broken up by an off week. Memphis has won six of the last seven games against the Bulls and hasn’t lost a true road game to USF since 2002. USF will also be looking to break a three-game losing streak to Tulane.

Other road games include FAU and a trip to Rice. The Owls earned four of its six wins last year at Rice Stadium, including an overtime victory against Houston.

Memphis

The AAC road schedule for the Tigers is brutal. The projected best team in the league also has one of the toughest conference schedules. 

Memphis is the only team of the top four title contenders to play away games against the other three programs. The Tigers play UTSA, Tulane and South Florida away from Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.

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After struggling on the road in Ryan Silverfield’s first three seasons as head coach, the Tigers posted a 5-1 away record. They must duplicate that success this season to reach the conference championship.

Tulane’s 31-21 victory over Memphis at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium last year was the first time in seven years the road team in the series won a game. Tulane hadn’t beaten the Tigers in Memphis since 1998 before last season. Now, Memphis will travel to New Orleans for a Thanksgiving showdown hoping to return the favor.

Although Memphis has dominated the series with USF recently, the last two games have been single-digit wins. USF lost 59-50 to the Tigers last season and fell 34-33 in 2020.

This year will be the first time the Tigers will play UTSA in San Antonio. The Roadrunners beat Memphis 31-28 at Liberty Stadium in 2021. Playing Navy on the road after traveling to Tallahassee the week before may not be a cakewalk for Memphis, either. The Midshipmen played the Tigers tightly last year and will have an off week leading into the Memphis game this year.