ARLINGTON, Texas – Temple is picked to finish 10th in the American Athletic Conference in the league’s preseason media poll, which was released on Tuesday morning at AAC Football Media Day.
The expanded 14-team league includes eight holdovers from last season and six new members who previously competed in Conference USA. Four of those new teams are picked to finish ahead of the Owls and two behind them.
Tulane is predicted to repeat as league champion, earning first-place votes from 20 of the 34 AAC football beat writers who participated in the poll. UTSA earned nine first-place votes and is picked to finish in second place, followed by SMU, which received three first-place votes and is picked to finish in third. Memphis and UAB also received first-place votes and are predicted to finish in fourth and eighth, respectively.
Temple finished 10th in an 11-member AAC with a 1-7 record in conference play last season. It was the third consecutive year that the Owls posted just one league win.
2023 American Conference Preseason Media Poll (first place votes) (points)
1) Tulane (20), 457
2) UTSA (9), 440
3) SMU (3), 397
4) Memphis (1), 362
5) Florida Atlantic, 312
6) East Carolina, 303
7) North Texas, 261
8) UAB (1), 209
9) Navy, 199
10) Temple, 182
11) Tulsa, 160
12) Rice, 138
13) South Florida, 86
14) Charlotte, 64