Memphis Football: 3 takeaways from Black Friday win over Cincinnati

Memphis football found itself in a battle for its AAC title hopes against Cincinnati on Black Friday. Here is what we learned from the Tigers victory.

Two American Athletic Conference juggernauts met up at the Liberty Bowl on Black Friday, with high stakes on the line for the hosts and the visitors. Victory on the road would allow Cincinnati to host the AAC championship game, while Memphis needed to win at home to secure their place in the AAC championship game.

A loss would have opened the door for Navy to steal away the AAC West, but the Tigers managed to hold on for a 34-24 victory against the Bearcats on the day after Thanksgiving. With the win, Memphis will likely jump up a few spots in the College Football Playoff rankings while Cincinnati is going to slip a few spots (but almost certainly remain in the Top 25).

After two straight years of having to play in Orlando against UCF, Memphis finally gets the chance to host the conference title game. Thus, once the dust settles on November play, the Tigers and Bearcats will get to do it all again at the same place in a rematch for the conference title on the first Saturday in December.

With these two teams set to play again so soon after this most recent competition, what can we learn from the Black Friday win by the Tigers? Here are three key takeaways from the battle at the Liberty Bowl in post-Thanksgiving action.