2015 American Athletic Conference football season

The 2015 American Athletic Conference football season is the 25th NCAA Division I FBS football season of the American Athletic Conference (The American). The season is the third since the breakup of the former Big East Conference, and the second season with the new College Football Playoff in place. Under the playoff system, The American is no longer an Automatic Qualifying conference (AQ), and is considered a member of the "Group of Five" (G5) with Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, Mountain West Conference, and the Sun Belt Conference. Whereas under the previous system the champion of the conference was guaranteed an automatic berth to a BCS bowl game, now the highest-ranked member of the G5 will receive a bid to one of the six major bowls.

The American consists of 12 members: Cincinnati, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, SMU, South Florida, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa, UCF, UConn, and new member Navy. In June 2015, the Collegiate Commissioner's Association announced that it will postpone final rankings until after the annual Army–Navy Game if Navy or Army are in contention for a spot in the semifinals or a New Years Six bowl. If Navy is the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion and loses to Army, it would be replaced by next highest-ranked Group of 5 champion in the New Years Six Bowl.

Previous season
Memphis, Cincinnati, and UCF were declared co-champions for the 2014 season, with each team having a conference record of 7–1. Memphis finished the season ranked 25th after defeating BYU 55–48 in 2OT in the Miami Beach Bowl. UCF was defeated by NC State in the St. Petersburg Bowl, and Virginia Tech defeated Cincinnati in the Military Bowl. With less than 11 minutes left on the game clock in the Armed Forces Bowl, Houston trailed Pittsburgh by 25 points, but the Cougars went on to win by a score of 35–34. It was the biggest fourth quarter comeback in bowl history. Florida defeated East Carolina 28–20 in the Birmingham Bowl.

American Athletic Conference Media Day
The 2015 American Athletic Conference Media Day was held at the Hyatt Regency Newport in Newport, Rhode Island on August 3, 2015.

East Division

 * 1) Cincinnati (29) 179
 * 2) UCF         (1) 135
 * 3) Temple          116
 * 4) East Carolina   105
 * 5) South Florida    53
 * 6) Connecticut      42

West Division

 * 1) Memphis (13) 153
 * 2) Houston (10) 149
 * 3) Navy (7) 148
 * 4) Tulane 74
 * 5) SMU 59
 * 6) Tulsa 47
 * (First-Place Votes)         Points

Predicted American Championship Game Winner

 * 1) Cincinnati 22
 * 2) Memphis     5
 * 3) Houston     2
 * 4) UCF         1
 * Points

Head coaches
East Division
 * Tommy Tuberville, Cincinnati – 3rd year
 * Bob Diaco, Connecticut – 2nd year
 * Ruffin McNeill, East Carolina – 5th year
 * Willie Taggart, South Florida – 3rd year
 * Matt Rhule, Temple – 3rd year
 * George O'Leary (resigned after 8 games) / Danny Barrett (interim)*,UCF

West Division
 * Tom Herman, Houston – 1st year
 * Justin Fuente, Memphis – 4th year
 * Ken Niumatalolo, Navy – 13th year
 * Chad Morris, SMU – 1st year
 * Curtis Johnson, Tulane – 4th year
 * Philip Montgomery, Tulsa – 1st year

Changes after 2014 season
* On December 1, 2014, Chad Morris (formerly Offensive Coordinator at Clemson) was hired by SMU as its new head football coach, replacing June Jones, who resigned on September 8, 2014, citing "personal issues".

* On December 11, 2014, Philip Montgomery (previously Offensive Coordinator at Baylor) was hired by Tulsa as its new head football coach, replacing Bill Blankenship, who was fired December 2, 2014.

* On December 15, 2014, Tom Herman (formerly Offensive Coordinator at Ohio State) was hired by Houston as its new head football coach, to replace Tony Levine, who was fired after three seasons on December 8, 2014.

Changes during 2015 season
''* George O'Leary resigned as UCF's head football coach after twelve seasons. Quarterbacks coach Danny Barrett was named interim head coach for the remainder of the season.''

Week 15
Rankings are from AP Poll. All times Eastern Time Zone.

Bowl games
(Rankings from final CFP Poll; All times Eastern)

Selection of teams
Cincinnati, Connecticut, Houston, Memphis, Navy, South Florida, Temple, Tulsa East Carolina, SMU, Tulane, UCF
 * Bowl eligible
 * Bowl-ineligible

Records against FBS conferences
2015 records against FBS conferences:

The American vs. Power Conferences
‡This game was played at a neutral site.

Conference awards
The following individuals received postseason honors as voted by the American Athletic Conference football coaches at the end of the season

NFL Draft
The following list includes all AAC players who were drafted in the 2016 NFL draft.

Attendance
Games highlighted in green were sell-outs.