ST. PETERSBURG, FL — In at least one regard, college football coaches in the American Conference are just like the rest of us.
No one has any idea who's going to win the conference title in 2026.
"We really don't know," UTSA coach Jeff Traylor said. "Our league doesn't really know who's going to be good and who's not going to be good."
The American is perhaps the most wide-open conference in FBS in 2026. The teams at the top are all facing major question marks, with plenty of roster turnover and four coaches leaving for power conference jobs. That creates uncertainty — and opportunity.
Most of the teams in the conference will probably enter the season believing they have a realistic shot of at least competing for the conference title this season.
Here's what else we learned at American media days last week.
The preseason pecking order is far from set
Handicapping the conference might come down to personal preference.
"I think the first thing you look at is who's got their quarterback returning," ECU coach Blake Harrell said. "UTSA, Army, FAU and there's a few teams that have their quarterbacks back. Maybe give them a little bit of an advantage."
UTSA has the top returning quarterback in the conference in Owen McCown, but the Roadrunners have struggled to win on the road and need to improve defensively. Navy has been a popular pick to win the conference, but the Midshipmen lost All-American defensive tackle Landon Robinson, star quarterback Blake Horvath and a slew of other key contributors.
ECU, South Florida and Memphis all have had major roster turnover. Tulane, which promoted Will Hall to replace Jon Sumrall as coach, is banking on continuity.
"There's so much turnover in the league," Hall said. "Specifically with head coaches and rosters. The thing that we hope is a big advantage for us: We've got 68 players returning. So that puts us one of the tops in the country. We have a lot of carryover in our staff."
How will Pac-12's reformation affect American's place in Group of Six?
The non-autonomy landscape has changed ahead of next season, as the Group of Five has become the Group of Six with the reformation of the Pac-12 as a full-fledged FBS conference. That's mostly the result of realignment from the Mountain West to the Pac-12, but it means the Pac-12 will have a case that it can compete with the American in a variety of sports.
Still, there's plenty of belief that the American will still be a stronger league.
"It's by far the best Group of Six conference in America," Tulsa coach Tre Lamb said.
The entire Group of Six is essentially competing for a single College Football Playoff spot. Non-conference success and strength of schedule could help break a tie if teams from different conferences are close together in the rankings at the end of the season.
“From our perspective, we’re really comfortable and excited with where we are," American Conference commissioner Tim Pernetti said. "We think we’ve created a unique lane. I think our performance speaks for itself."
Why bottom of the league looks primed for improvement
While the top of the American looks strong, the bottom of the league has been a problem for the past few seasons. Charlotte had a nightmare 1-11 season in 2025, while teams like UAB, Tulsa and FAU mostly struggled as well. But there's belief that the teams at the bottom of the conference in 2025 will be better in 2026.
Charlotte can't get any worse, and better injury luck will almost certainly equal more competitiveness. UAB has some momentum after hiring Alex Mortensen to replace Trent Dilfer. Rice has a quarterback in Jacurri Brown who fits Scott Abell's option offense. Temple and FAU have major roster continuity, especially compared to the teams at the top of the conference.
And then there's Tulsa. There were plenty of people at media days talking about the Golden Hurricane, who have invested in their program in a significant way and have momentum under Lamb and returning quarterback Baylor Hayes.
"When I got the job here about 17 months ago, there was not one single player on our roster that had ever been paid a dollar in NIL or rev share," Lamb said. "Where we are right now is light years away from where we were when I got the job."
Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on X @thejonahdylan.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: What we learned at American Conference media days, including wide-open title race
