The 2021 American Athletic Conference football season was the 30th NCAA Division I FBS Football season of the American Athletic Conference (The American). The season was the ninth since the former Big East Conference dissolved and became the American Athletic Conference and the eighth season of the College Football Playoff in place. The American was considered a member of the Group of Five (G5) together with Conference USA (CâÂÂUSA), the Mid-American Conference (MAC), the Mountain West Conference and the Sun Belt Conference.
The 2021 American Media day was held virtually August 3 and 4, 2021
â¢2021 The American Virtual Football Media Days
The American Athletic Conference preseason media poll was released at the virtual media day held August 4, 2021. Cincinnati, who finished the 2020 season ranked No. 8 nationally, was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the 2021 preseason media poll.
On January 27, 2021 Josh Heupel departed UCF to Tennessee. Gus Malzahn was hired to serve as the new head coach on February 15, 2021.
Note: All stats current through the completion of the 2021 regular season
Source:
The regular season will begin on September 2, 2021 and will end on November 27, 2021. The season will conclude with the 2021 American Athletic Conference Championship Game on December 4.
At Media Day American Commissioner Mike Aresco said games will not be rescheduled this year because of COVID & if teams can't play, they will have to forfeit
In 2021 the American will send teams to the Military Bowl, Fenway Bowl, and Hawaii Bowl annually. The American will have four selections from the following bowls:Frisco Bowl, Cure Bowl, Boca Raton Bowl, Gasparilla Bowl. Birmingham Bowl, First Responder Bowl and Myrtle Beach Bowl. The American champion will go to a New Year's Six bowl if a team finishes higher than the champions of Group of Five conferences in the final College Football Playoff rankings. American teams are also eligible for the College Football Playoff if they're among the top four teams in the final CFP ranking.
The following bowl games tied in with the American Athletic Conference had their 2021 editions canceled :
<small>Rankings from Final CFP rankings. All times Eastern Time Zone. American teams bolded.</small>
The following games include American teams competing against Power Five conferences teams from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, BYU/Notre Dame, Pac-12 and SEC). All rankings are from the AP Poll at the time of the game.
The following games include American teams competing against teams from C-USA, MAC, Mountain West or Sun Belt.
The following games include American teams competing against FBS Independents, which includes Army, Liberty, New Mexico State, UConn or UMass.
The Football Championship Subdivision comprises 13 conferences and two independent programs.
Regular Season
Post Season
The following individuals received postseason honors as chosen by the league's head coaches.
* Denotes Unanimous Selection
All Conference Honorable Mentions:
The 2021 College Football All-America Team is composed of the following College Football All-American first teams chosen by the following selector organizations: Associated Press (AP), Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Walter Camp Foundation (WCFF), Sporting News (TSN, from its historic name of The Sporting News), Sports Illustrated (SI), The Athletic (Athletic), USA Today (USAT) ESPN, CBS Sports (CBS), College Football News (CFN), Athlon Sports, Phil Steele, and Fox Sports (FOX).
Currently, the NCAA compiles consensus all-America teams using a point system computed from All-America teams named by coaches associations or media sources. Players are chosen against other players playing at their position only. To be selected a consensus All-American, players must be chosen to the first team on at least half of the five official selectors as recognized by the NCAA. Second- and third-team honors are used to break ties. Players named first-team by all five selectors are deemed unanimous All-Americans. Currently, the NCAA recognizes All-Americans selected by the AP, AFCA, FWAA, TSN, and the WCFF to determine consensus and unanimous All-Americans.
Home Depot Coach of the Year Award<br> Luke Fickell, Cincinnati
Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year<br> Luke Fickell, Cincinnati
Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year<br> Luke Fickell, Cincinnati
AFCA Coach of Year<br> Luke Fickell, Cincinnati
Bear Bryant Award<br> Luke Fickell, Cincinnati
Paul Hornung Award<br> Marcus Jones, Houston
Jim Thorpe Award<br> Coby Bryant, Cincinnati
Jet Award<br> Marcus Jones, Houston
The following list includes all AAC players who were drafted in the 2022 NFL draft.