AAC Football

Thursday night's scheduled college football game between Rutgers and Temple in Piscataway, New Jersey, has been moved to Saturday because of flooding caused by Hurricane Ida, according to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com).

ESPN's Adam Rittenberg reported the game will kick off at 12 p.m. ET.

NJ.com's Keith Sargeant first reported the game was in jeopardy because of "growing concern" about whether roads will be passable enough for fans to attend the game should it happen.

In a statement, Piscataway Township officials recommended the game be played without fans if it occurs:

"While Piscataway is a strong supporter of Rutgers University and fervent fans of Rutgers Football, if the Rutgers-Temple football game is still going to take place this evening, the Township is calling on the University to do so without fans. Township infrastructure is overwhelmed by the damage of Hurricane Ida and evacuations are still taking place this morning. Most importantly, search and rescue operations are ongoing. Piscataway Public Works and our first responders worked through the night to help residents and significant work continues today. Roadways in the Township cannot handle an influx of tens of thousands of people coming to the football game especially with the closure of Landing Lane Bridge."

Per Sargeant, Rutgers was expecting a sell-out crowd of over 50,000 fans for Thursday's game, and it's unclear if fans will be able to attend the rescheduled game Saturday. 

According to Sargeant, figures from the National Weather Service and Rutgers NJ Weather Network show that 6.53 inches of rain fell Wednesday in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

It was also noted by Sargeant that flooding of the Raritan River has led to the closure of some major roadways.

Additionally, CNN's Jennifer Gray, Brandon Miller and Taylor Ward reported that Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency in New Jersey.

Led by head coach Greg Schiano, Rutgers is looking to finish with a winning record in football for the first time since 2014.

With Schiano back last season for the first time since leaving after the 2011 campaign, the Scarlet Knights went 3-6, which was a step in the right direction after winning a total of three games in the previous two seasons combined.

Meanwhile, Temple is coming off a 1-6 season after finishing .500 or better in each of the previous six seasons, including 10-win campaigns in 2015 and 2016.

Per Action Network, the Scarlet Knights are 14.5-point favorites over the Owls should the game go ahead as scheduled.  

American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco has denied any collusion in trying to add Big 12 teams in the wake of Texas and Oklahoma announcing their intentions to leave for the SEC. 

Speaking to reporters during a virtual event on Wednesday, Aresco said the AAC "has never strategically aligned or plotted with ESPN to influence conference structures."

Aresco's comment come in the wake of Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby accusing ESPN of encouraging other conferences to poach programs in order to expedite Texas and Oklahoma's move to the SEC. 

"I have absolute certainty that they (ESPN) have been involved in manipulating other conferences to go after our members," Bowlsby told The Associated Press (h/t ESPN) last week. 

Speaking to Dennis Dodd and David Cobb of CBS Sports, Bowlsby accused ESPN of encouraging the AAC to pursue three to five of the remaining Big 12 programs with the promise of giving the conference "future television proceeds."

The Big 12 also sent a cease-and-desist letter to ESPN, signed by Bowlsby, alleging that the network "has taken certain actions that are intended to not only harm the Big 12 Conference but to result in financial benefits for ESPN.”

ESPN sent a letter back to the Big 12, saying the accusations were made "entirely without merit."

Texas and Oklahoma accepted formal invitations from the SEC on July 30. The move will take effect on July 1, 2025, after the Big 12 media rights agreements for both programs expire. 

The impending loss of Texas and Oklahoma has left the Big 12's future very much up in the air.

Bowlsby told Texas lawmakers at a hearing on Monday that the conference's future television contracts could see a 50 percent decrease without the two powerhouse programs. 

The AAC, which was established in July 2013 in the wake of the Big East dissolving, currently has 11 full-time members.    

4-star wide receiver Jordan Hudson announced his commitment to SMU over Alabama and Texas on Sunday.

Hudson is listed as the No. 113 overall player and 14th-ranked receiver by 247Sports. He previously committed to Oklahoma but announced he was reopening his recruitment in June.

Listed at 6'1" and 180 pounds, Hudson has ascended to stardom at Garland (Texas) High School, which is about 30 minutes outside Dallas. 

This is the second time in as many years that SMU has pulled off a surprising recruiting coup over more notable schools. Preston Stone, one of the top quarterbacks in the 2021 class, accepted a scholarship to SMU over offers from Alabama, Auburn and several other Power Five programs.

SMU coach Sonny Dykes likely sees Stone and Hudson as the type of one-two punch that can help the program rise to national prominence. The Mustangs are 17-6 over the last two seasons and have become a threat near the top of the American Athletic Conference.

SMU's 2022 recruiting class is currently ranked 64th.

AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco told ESPN's Heather Dinich on Saturday that guaranteeing College Football Playoff spots for the Power Five conference champions in a proposed 12-team CFP would be "an enormous step in the wrong direction."

Aresco's comments were in response to a statement by outgoing Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott, who said his conference "supports expansion of the CFP and believes that the Autonomy Five champions should annually qualify for the CFP."

"I didn't sense any other traction for it," Aresco told Dinich regarding Scott's proposal. "That would be an enormous step in the wrong direction from the working group's proposal as far as I'm concerned. The top six conferences, without favor, is merit-based. It's fair. It doesn't reward privilege for privilege's sake."

The Power Five conferences include the Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, SEC and Pac-12. Other FBS conference champions have been ranked higher than one (or more) Power Five league winners in past years, either via the CFP or Bowl Championship Series rankings.

The AAC is one example. Aresco notably has a vested interest in ensuring that the Power Five doesn't get automatic berths, and his perspective has merit. The AAC's champion has been among the best FBS teams of late, with No. 6 Cincinnati last year, No. 12 UCF in 2017 and No. 8 UCF 2018 among those schools.

"The most desirable outcome obviously in our view is for this to be a meritocracy, where you have to earn it," Aresco added.

"That was what was the smartest thing about the top six. I applaud the working group for doing that. To my mind and our conference, it was the most welcome part of it."

As Dinich noted, the 12-team proposal would include the six highest-ranked league champions in a given year plus the six highest-ranked non-champion teams as determined by the CFP selection committee.

The current four-team CFP has been in effect since 2014, and that format has held steady through 2020. Before that, the Bowl Championship Series was used from 1998 to 2013 to determine the two finalists for the national title. Pre-1998, there wasn't a set playoff structure, with teams finishing the year in a series of bowls as pollsters decided the national champion.

Former University of Houston football player Zamar Kirven has been charged with murder after a shooting that killed 22-year-old Sabion Kubitza and 20-year-old Jacob Ybarra, per Rosemond Crown and Katy Mendez of KWTX.

The McLennan County (Texas) Sheriff's Office said the shooting took place at about 2 a.m. Sunday morning and that the victims may have been asleep at the time.

Police said Kirven knew the victims and played high school football with both men.

Kirven played three seasons for Houston at linebacker after joining the program as a 2-star recruit out of Mart, Texas. He entered the transfer portal in December after he was reportedly kicked off the team for a violation of team rules, according to Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle.

Kirven appeared in three of his team's first six games in 2020 before leaving the program. He saw action in 17 games over his first two years, making five starts in 2019.

SMU assistant football coach Jamal Powell died Tuesday after being diagnosed with incurable cancer and Guillen-Barre Syndrome, per Frank Heinz of NBC DFW.

Powell died four days before his 40th birthday.

The school confirmed the news Wednesday:

"It’s hard to put into words how heartbroken our family is, but we are so thankful such a remarkable and unique man came into our life," head coach Sonny Dykes said in a statement. "He made everyone he met want to be better. God bless the Powell Family."

Powell spent the past three years at SMU, beginning as an offensive line coach in 2018 before becoming an offensive quality control analyst.

He had also spent time on the coaching staffs at Lamar, James Madison, West Virginia State, Centre College and Southwest Baptist University after starting as a graduate assistant at Texas A&M.

As a player, Powell was a first-team All-Conference USA selection at TCU and spent limited time in the NFL before playing in the Canadian Football League.

Powell first announced his diagnosis of Stage 4 cancer in August 2020.

Gus Malzahn has secured one of the best jobs in college football.

Now at UCF, the former Auburn boss assumes control of a program that has fielded teams ranging from respectable to highly competitive for the last decade-plus.

Since 2007, the Knights have won six conference titles. Four years removed from a mythical national championship and three from a second straight undefeated regular season, UCF has also posted a 16-7 record during the last two years. The recent success has created real expectations within the fanbase.

UCF is among the premier programs in the AAC, a league that campaigns for "Power Six" recognition. Plus, if there's ever another wave of realignment, UCF will garner legitimate interest.

Along with its location in the recruiting hotbed of Florida, that's in no small part because of the school's spending on facilities and coaches. Last year, per USA Today, then-head coach Josh Heupel earned $2.3 million—one spot behind Wake Forest's Dave Clawson and one ahead of Oregon State's Jonathan Smith. Malzahn, too, will earn $2.3 million annually.

In short, Malzahn has a readymade winner with supporters who expect success. The best-case scenario is a promotion to power-conference affiliation, and the worst-case scenario is being a well-supported big fish in the Group of Five pond.

Yet, in theory, UCF has brushed its ceiling.

Neither the Knights' prior undefeated years nor Cincinnati's 9-0 record in 2020 cracked the College Football Playoff barrier. Given that reality, no reasonable person can label a national title a justifiable goal for Malzahn.

At the same time, however, the program is close enough to national contention that it can throw a fit and be heard loudly. The fans expect an opportunity to make the noise, too—and will be heard clearly if UCF doesn't win.

"Do you have a good grasp of the pressure cooker you're walking into here?" a reporter asked Malzahn at his press conference.

Well, yes. Malzahn spent eight years at Auburn, a school with two SEC championships, one national title and national runner-up during the 2010s. He was the offensive coordinator or head coach in those years; he understands this level of pressure.

The point of the question is fair, though. UCF expects more than a nice season once in a while. This blend of recent success, fan support and financial contributions is rare in the Group of Five.

While power-conference teams generally have that outlook, it's difficult to sustain. Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma have remained at the top of their conferences for an extended period, but others have occasionally broken through and quickly dipped. They surge, then fall again. Malzahn's time at Auburn is a good example of that challenge.

In Orlando, though, Malzahn has a far greater opportunity to accomplish it. Though he's one of few coaches to defeat Nick Saban in the SEC, the whole "not playing Alabama every year" thing is a plus.

Malzahn has everything you'd want in a coaching job: established success, financial backing and a great location for recruiting.

But the sky won't fall if a national title doesn't come. Instead, that's a happy bonus to baseline goals of a few conference championships and prominent bowl games.

All recruiting information via 247Sports. Stats from NCAA.com, cfbstats.com or B/R research. Follow Bleacher Report CFB Writer David Kenyon on Twitter @Kenyon19_BR.

UCF announced Monday that former Auburn coach Gus Malzahn will be the team's new head football coach.

Malzahn said in a statement:

"I'm thrilled to be the head coach at UCF, and I'm truly looking forward to being part of Knight Nation. It's exciting to be head of a program where the future is extremely bright. I will be hitting the ground running in terms of getting to know our team and everyone else connected with UCF. Our goal is to be ready to win championships."

Athletic director Terry Mohajir added:

"When I started the search process, it became very evident very quickly that, based on the conversations I had with the players last week and what they told me were looking for, Gus Malzahn was the guy for the job. He has won at every level, and he has coached a Heisman Trophy winner and NFL draft picks. There has never been a better time for Coach Malzahn to lead this program than right now."

Malzahn signed a five-year contract worth $11.5 million, per the school.

Malzahn spent the past eight years with Auburn, accumulating a 68-35 record while finishing over .500 in each season. The school fired him in December after the Tigers produced a 6-4 mark in 2020. The head coach was also paid a $21.45 million buyout as part of his exit from Auburn.

Despite his consistency during the regular season, the 55-year-old was often criticized for his team's performances in the postseason.

The Tigers went 2-5 in bowl games with Malzahn at the helm, including losses in the BCS National Championship, Sugar Bowl and Peach Bowl, the latter coming against UCF after the 2017 season.

"After evaluating the state of the Auburn football program, we've decided that it was time to make a change in leadership," Auburn director of athletics Allen Greene said in a statement in December.

Auburn hired former Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin to replace Malzahn.

Malzahn has an opportunity at a fresh start with UCF, which had a vacancy after head coach Josh Heupel left for Tennessee.

The Knights went 6-4 in 2020 but have been one of the most successful teams in college football as of late with a 41-8 record over the last four seasons.

Adding Malzahn gives the school an experienced coach who won the AP Coach of the Year award in 2013 during his first season at Auburn. As an offensive coordinator with the Tigers, he won the Broyles Award as the top assistant coach in the country while helping lead the team to a national championship.

The coach also had success at lower levels with a 9-3 record during his lone season at Arkansas State in 2012.

Mohajir was the athletic director at Arkansas State at the time and was recently hired as the AD of UCF.

The Houston football program has suspended freshman defensive lineman Chidozie Nwankwo after he was charged with assault/impeding breathing, per ABC13.com.

"We are aware of the serious allegations regarding Chidozie Nwankwo," the Houston athletic department said in a statement. "He has been suspended from the Houston football program, pending further information. We will have no further comment regarding this specific case."

On Jan. 28, Nwankwo's girlfriend told campus police he had choked her during an argument at his apartment. Nwankwo told authorities that a verbal confrontation occurred, though he didn't admit to any physical altercation. Charges were filed on Feb. 3.

According to court documents (via Click2Houston.com), the dispute began after the woman asked Nwankwo to help her with her hair. She told police she attempted to pack up her things and leave during the argument and Nwankwo threatened to hit her. She said he then held her by the throat and "squeezed," making her "gasp for air."

She said he slapped her and held her neck while he pushed her face into a mattress. 

He has been released on a $5,000 bond, with the stipulation that he is not permitted to come within 200 feet of the woman or contact her as part of an emergency order against him. 

American Athletic Conference Commissioner Michael Aresco believes the BCS was a better system than the College Football Playoff after negative treatment of Cincinnati in the latest rankings.

Aresco complained about the current system Wednesday on The Paul Finebaum Show:

"This is the seventh year [of the CFP], and it does appear the deck is stacked against us and against other [Group of Five teams]," he added, via Mark Schlabach of ESPN.

Cincinnati is 8-0 but dropped from No. 7 to No. 9 in the CFP rankings despite being inactive for two weeks. 

Two-loss teams Florida, Iowa State and Georgia all rank above the Bearcats, with the first two likely having a better chance to reach the playoff if they win a conference title.

Cincinnati's last chance to impress the committee will come Saturday against Tulsa in the AAC title game.

"The eye test has been used over the years by the committee, but they refuse to use it with a team like Cincinnati," Aresco added. "This is a really elite team."

The Bearcats rank fifth in the country with just 15.0 points allowed per game, while the offense ranks 13th with 40.9 points per game.

This isn't the first year the AAC will likely be shut out of the playoff despite having an elite team with a legitimate claim.

UCF had an undefeated record going into the bowl season in both 2017 and 2018, and the Knights beat Auburn in the Peach Bowl in 2017 to finish 13-0. It still wasn't enough to finish within the top four spots according to the committee, preventing any chance to compete for a national title.

Small-conference teams weren't getting much of a chance during the BCS era, but the computer-based system at least created more objectivity in determining a champion.