Tigers ranked 3rd in preseason AAC media poll

Despite entering the season as defending AAC champions, Memphis was ranked third in the AAC football preseason media poll.

The Tigers received two first place votes and were behind UCF and Cincinnati. UCF received 10 first place votes and 204 points overall and Cincinnati received seven first place votes and 201 total points.

Memphis earned 192 points, 46 more than SMU. Navy, which was fifth, was the only other team to receive a first place vote.

The preseason media poll usually gets released in July around AAC

Media Day and its annual summer kickoff but it was delayed when both events were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Tigers won the AAC championship last year after defeating Cincinnati 29-24 in the championship game. They shared the championship in 2014 with UCF and Cincinnati.

In four of the previous five seasons, Memphis was picked to win the AAC West. However, the AAC will not have divisions this season as it drops to 11 teams following Uconn's departure this summer.

The two teams with the best record will meet in the conference's championship game in December.

Kickoff vs. Houston set; Tulane date changed

Memphis' second game this season against Houston has a kickoff time as they will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 18

The game will be on ESPN and is the only game listed on the schedule that night. It will also be one of the three Friday games for the Tigers this season after only playing one last season.

The AAC announced that the Tigers' regularseason finale at Tulane would be moved back one day to Nov. 27. It also means Memphis will play on Black Friday for the third consecutive season.

The game will be featured on an ESPN network as will the Tigers' Nov. 14 game at Navy.

TIM HEITMAN/USA TODAY SPORTS Memphis quarterback Brady White, left, stands in the pocket in the third quarter against Penn State at AT&T Stadium.