Memphis Football: Can Tigers repeat as top Group of Five team in 2020?

How will Memphis football fare in 2020?

Other than a non-conference Power Five opportunity against Purdue, Memphis saw its schedule remain relatively intact despite postponements and cancellations around the country due to COVID-19 concerns. The Tigers boast three non-conference games still, with games against opponents from the Sun Belt and Conference USA along with an FCS visitor from Tennessee-Martin.

Memphis will be favored in all three of those contests, and should have little trouble putting away any of the trio. Where the season will be won or lost for Ryan Silverfield and his charges is in AAC play. With the league scrapping divisions after the departure of UConn, Memphis must get into the top two to reach the championship game.

Working in their favor is the fact that Houston, UCF, and Temple all have to come to the Liberty Bowl. Working against the Tigers are potential road traps in Dallas, Cincinnati, and Annapolis. To reach the title game this season, teams can probably endure no more than one loss in conference play.

What’s next for Memphis?

Memphis opens its regular season at home with a visit from Arkansas State. The Red Wolves enter 2020 hoping desperately to improve what was one of the nation’s worst defenses last season. To do so, however, they will have to work through the growing pains of a roster that lost a lot of moving parts from that defense.

Add it all up and this is just the kind of game Memphis needs to shake out the cobwebs and ramp up the intensity heading into a tough AAC campaign. The Tigers will likely enter the contest favored by multiple touchdowns, and should have no problem covering.

Prediction: 10-1 (7-1 AAC)

Look for Memphis to get through their non-conference schedule unscathed, with big wins over not only Arkansas State but also UTSA and FCS Tennessee-Martin. In conference play, the biggest tests are undoubtedly their home game against perennial foe UCF and their road trip to Nippert Stadium to face Cincinnati.

The Tigers are going to lose at least one of these games, most likely against the Knights. Look for them to surprise the Bearcats on the road before succumbing a second time to UCF in their bid to repeat at the AAC championship game.