The American Athletic Conference has been one of the nation's best stories in 2015. And the league is almost assured of placing a team in a New Year's Six bowl. But which team that will be is still up in the air, though it may get much clearer when No. 15 Navy meets Houston.
Navy vs. Houston 2015: Start time, live stream, TV schedule and 3 things to know
The Cougars host the Midshipment with the AAC West on the line.
Joey Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Navy is the highest-ranked team from outside the Power 5 conferences in this week's College Football Playoff rankings, and is well ahead of the only other non-Power 5 team, No. 25 Temple. Houston, which fell out of the top 25 after losing its first game of 2015 against UConn last Saturday, is still 10-1, with Tom Herman having led the Cougars back to national prominence in his first season.
When the Midshipmen and Cougars meet Friday night, it may decide that representative. If Houston wins, it will be 11-1, and no other AAC team could get to 11 wins in the regular season. It would also host the AAC title game by virtue of its win -- but so would Navy, if it prevails. And while Houston might have to chase down No. 24 Toledo, the Middies are quite clearly going to a New Year’s Six bowl if they win out.
Either team would still have a bit of a hurdle to clear in that title game, against either Temple or a red-hot USF, but it’s obviously an advantage to have a must-win game, the rung before the New Year’s Six, on friendly turf.
How to watch, stream and listen
TV: 12 p.m. ET, ABC
Online streaming: WatchESPN
Spread: Houston is favored by a single point.
Make friends: SB Nation’s Underdog Dynasty covers both Navy and Houston.
Three big things to know
1. Let me see QBs run it, run it. Navy’s Keenan Reynolds is a fringe Heisman candidate, and the nation’s leading rusher among quarterbacks, with 1,009 yards on the season. Second on the list? Houston’s Greg Ward, Jr., who has 810 yards (and averages 5.5 yards per carry to 5.0 for Reynolds) on the year. The Cougars don’t really run the option, and certainly don’t run Navy’s triple option, but you can be sure that you’ll see both signal-callers on the hoof.
2. How will Houston rebound? One week ago, it was Houston that was in the best shape in the AAC, with an unbeaten record and a stirring comeback win over Memphis to its credit. Then the Cougars fell at UConn, and fell all the way out of the College Football Playoff rankings, with the selection committee clearly no longer needing to give their weak schedule the benefit of the doubt. (Houston has three wins over winning teams in 2015, none of which has more than eight wins.) After that first loss, and a few weeks of Herman’s name being mentioned for seemingly every vacancy in the country, will Houston be focused against the Midshipmen, or fold?
3. This could really be “fun as heck.” The stakes are high, yeah, but this is also one game that should produce as many points as you have Tupperware containers of leftovers in your fridge. Houston’s scoring offense is ninth nationally, and Navy’s is 16th. Both defenses are in the top 25 of scoring defense, too, so this could just as easily be a defensive struggle, but given the difficulty of planning for Navy’s option attack on short rest, it’s a good bet that there will be points aplenty in this Black Friday matinee.
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