Houston wins American Athletic Conference, secures New Year’s Six bowl berth

The Houston Cougars are the American Athletic Conference Champions and lock up a spot in a New Year’s Six bowl.

Tom Herman led the Houston Cougars to the AAC Championship in the first year the conference held a championship game at the end of the regular season with a 24-13 win over the Temple Owls.

The win secures a spot in a New Year’s Six bowl, most likely the Peach Bowl, for Herman’s club who finished his first year as a head coach with a 12-1 record. This is the 11th conference title in school history and the first since they won Conference USA in 2006.

Quarterback Greg Ward Jr. beat teams all year with his dual-threat ability and today he did it more with his feet than his arm. Ward ran for 148 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries while throwing for 88 yards on 11 of 21 passing.

It’s been a whirlwind of a year for Herman who won the national championship as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach and his first season at Houston couldn’t have gone much better.

Short of an undefeated season, Houston has been outstanding all year and Herman established himself as one of the best young coaches in the country.

You can make a case that this AAC Championship means more to Herman than the national championship last year, because this is his show and he wasn’t just an assistant to Ohio State coach Urban Meyer and his talented roster.

One day after signing a five-year contract extension to stay at Houston, the Cougs look to have staying power and could form a dynasty of sorts in the American Athletic Conference that should be strong again next year with Memphis, Temple, Navy and South Florida all worthy opponents.