American Athletic Conference: Week 10

John O’Korn and the Houston Cougars remain atop of The American standings.

With four of the conference’s 10 schools resting this weekend, and four more having already competed this week, it’s safe to say this week’s American Athletic Conference schedule is light. Very light.

Still, BettingSports.com has got you covered. We’ll recap this week’s pair of earlier games and preview today’s showdown in New Jersey.

Cincinnati 34, Memphis 21

Liberty Bowl, Memphis, TN (Wed. Oct. 30)

Cincinnati (6-2, 3-1 American) left the Liberty Bowl with its hopes for a conference championship in tact Wednesday, defeating Memphis (1-6, 0-4 American) 34-21.

Having dropped two of three on the road already this season, the Bearcats entered the game as a narrow favorite despite the Tigers’ abysmal record on the season. Tommy Tuberville’s side didn’t let its road worries get in the way though.

The Tigers jumped out to a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter before the Bearcats reeled off three straight touchdowns. From there, the two teams matched touchdowns, with Anthony McClung’s 24-yard catch and Tion Green’s 3-yard run – both in the fourth quarter – proving the difference in the game.

Cincinnati quarterback Brendon Kay completed 27 of 35 passes on the night, tallying 321 yards and offsetting a touchdown and interception. The Bearcats held a 437-232 advantage in total yards, getting 108 yards on the ground, while McClung (98 yards) and Shaq Washington (96 yards) paced all receivers.

The win leaves Cincinnati in a tie with No. 19 Louisville within the conference standings, one-game back of the conference leaders.

The Bearcats covered the spread for the second straight week, moving its record against the spread to an even 4-4-0 ATS. Memphis is now 3-4-0 ATS.

The total went over for the third straight Bearcats (5-3-0) game and only the second time all season for the Tigers (2-5-0).

South Florida 23, Houston 35

Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX (Thur. Oct. 31)

Houston (7-1, 4-0 American) continued to set the benchmark for the American Athletic Conference, moving to 4-0 in conference play after defeating South Florida (2-6, 2-2 American) on Thursday night.

The Cougars built up a 21-10 lead at halftime before parrying the Bulls’ second-half charge, which saw the Tampa-based side outscore their opponents 13-7 before a Kenneth Farrow scoring run in the final two minutes put the game out of reach.

Houston quarterback John O’Korn finished the game 22 of 27 for 263 yards and three touchdowns. His USF counterpart, Mike White, was 26 of 41 for 311 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Bulls’ receiver Andre Davis caught nine balls for 134 yards, while Houston’s Deontay Greenberry had 106 yards and a touchdown on four catches.

Despite hammering the Cougars 38:37-21:23 in possession, the Bulls simply couldn’t get the job done, too often having to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns.

South Florida (4-4-0 ATS) covered the spread, marking the first time all season Houston (7-1-0 ATS) hasn’t been successful against the spread.

The total went over for the third straight Cougars game.

Thursday’s straight up victory puts Houston one-game ahead of No. 23 Central Florida in the win column, and a full game ahead of No. 19 Louisville and Cincinnati.

Temple at Rutgers

High Point Solutions Stadium, Piscataway, NJ, Sat.12:00 p.m. ET (matchup)

Back-to-back losses to Louisville and Houston have all but eliminated Rutgers (4-3, 1-2 American) from the conference title picture but the Scarlet Knights still have an eye on a lucrative bowl berth. The school needs just two wins to secure its postseason eligibility.

For Temple (1-7, 0-4 American), bowl games are but a pipe dream. With only one win to their name, the Owls are already eliminated from postseason contention, meaning the school has little more to do than play spoiler for the rest of the conference.

Between 1977 and 2004, the Scarlet Knights and Owls met every year, but that rivalry came to a close until last year. Rutgers took last October’s meeting 35-10, making it three wins on the bounce against Temple.

Rutgers leads the all-time head-to-head 18-16, and enters this game as the favorite.

Get Temple Owls vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights odds and trends now.

The spread opened at 14 but as dipped as low as 12 with some sportsbooks. Temple (5-3-0 ATS) has fared better against the spread than Rutgers (3-4-0 ATS) so far this season.

The over/under opened at 55 and has climbed as high as 57.5 ahead of kickoff. Rutgers (4-3-0) has favored the over this season while Temple (3-5-0) has favored the under.

American Athletic Conference Schedule (Week 10)

Wednesday

Cincinnati 34, Memphis 21

Thursday

South Florida 23, Houston 35

Saturday

12:00 Temple (1-7, 0-4 American) at Rutgers (4-3, 1-2 American) (matchup)

Bye: No. 23 Central Florida, No. 19 Louisville, Southern Methodist, Connecticut

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