Group of Five Power Rankings, Week 14: Championship week hierarchy

In the de facto AAC West championship game at the Liberty Bowl on Black Friday, Memphis was actually behind at the end of the first half against Houston. The Cougars took a 21-17 lead into the locker room at halftime after finding themselves down 17-7 midway through the second quarter. A touchdown drive by the Cougars was followed by a 63-yard pick-six by Houston safety Gleson Sprewell, and then another Sprewell interception on the ensuing drive as Memphis drove into the red zone for a go-ahead score.

But once Cougars defensive tackle Ed Oliver proved unable to return to the field in the second half of what might be his final game for Houston, the tenor of the game changed completely. The Memphis backfield ran rampant on the Cougars.

Darrell Henderson set a new AAC single-season rushing record on a day where he finished with 178 yards and two scores. Patrick Taylor Jr. added another 128 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Tony Pollard rushed for 83 yards and caught eight passes for 116 yards to lead the Tigers in receiving.

Now Memphis gets a chance to unseat UCF in Knights-Tigers IV. Over UCF’s 24-game winning streak, the Tigers have lost three of those contests. In the last two, Memphis lost in double overtime in last year’s AAC championship game and then fell in a comeback 31-30 Knights victory. No team has come closer to toppling the longest active winning streak in college football. A win, though, would benefit other Group of Five leagues more than Memphis itself.