Cincinnati joined the party in first place with a 38-31 win over Houston on Saturday. The victory pushes the Bearcats to 7-1 in the conference and into a tie with Memphis and Central Florida, which clinched a share of the title on Thursday with a miracle Hail Mary touchdown to beat East Carolina.
Cincinnati's only loss of the season was to Memphis. But the head-to-head matchup doesn't matter. Since the AAC plays an eight-game schedule and there are 11 teams in the conference, not everyone plays each other. UCF, which lost to UConn, didn't play either Cincinnati or Memphis. The Tigers' only conference loss was to Houston.
The Bearcats were up 35-17 at the end of the third quarter on Saturday but things got a little dicey in the fourth. A horrific blown coverage on Houston WR Markeith Ambles resulted in an 89-yard touchdown as Houston cut the lead to 35-24.
Then, after the lead was sliced to 38-31 with over five minutes to go, Cincinnati had to weather a last-ditch drive by Houston. But three consecutive incompletions in the end zone ended the game and gave the Bearcats the win.
Quarterbacks Gunner Kiel and Munchie Legaux split time for Cincinnati and they were both effective. Kiel was 15-24 for 190 yards and two touchdowns and Legaux was 10-14 for 158 yards. RB Mike Boone had 17 carries for 85 yards and three touchdowns.
Though there are three co-champions, it's likely the AAC will be shut out of any chance at the New Year's Day Bowl spot that's given to the highest-ranked champion of the AAC, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West and Sun Belt. Boise State is a big favorite against Fresno State and Conference USA champion Marshall has just one loss. Each of the AAC's three teams has three total losses.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - Cincinnati claims share of AAC title with win over Houston
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