On its face, the American’s Week 13 slate doesn’t look as compelling as some previous weeks have looked. To be sure, we still have room for a few Earth-shaking results, but these would mostly come via massive upsets.
Unfortunately, ESPN has stuck arguably the week’s most compelling match-ups on the Plus. Decisions like this often make us wish that the conference had more broadcast partners, but alas, this seems unlikely from where we’re sitting right now.
East Carolina (-2.5) at UTSA
Saturday at 3:30 PM Eastern on the Plus
ECU might not have the American’s best overall record, but they still have just one conference loss, and it’s a close, respectable loss to erstwhile conference leader Tulane. More to the point, the Pirates might actually have the conference’s best total team at this point in the season. They have both a top-level quarterback in QB Katin House and by far the conference’s best defense. That combination usually makes for solid results late in the year.
With that in mind, there’s really no reason that ECU shouldn’t win this week — by a lot, even — save that they’re playing at UTSA. UTSA hasn’t lost a conference game at home in the Alamodome since before they joined the American. They’re absolute death on conference foes in their own building.
But defense travels, at least in theory. So if we were betting, we’d probably bet on ECU’s rushing defense to slow UTSA’s rushing attack, get after QB Owen McCown, and force some mistakes. But the last time we thought that, the Roadrunners put a whoopin’ on Tulane, so… who knows?
This should be a good game, not least because UTSA will be fighting for bowl eligibility while ECU hopes to maintain at least some theoretical shot at the conference championship game. They’ll need a couple of high-leverage upsets to get that, but stranger things have definitely happened this year.
This is a must-have! 🏈
— UTSA Athletics (@UTSAAthletics) November 19, 2025
Get a San Antonio Football blanket and a ticket to the @UTSAFTBL game vs. Army for $40!
🎟️ https://t.co/wHKkCwZqhy#BirdsUp 🤙 #LetsGo210 pic.twitter.com/21V3l2AXOS
#24 Tulane at Temple (+8.5)
Saturday at 3:40 PM Eastern on ESPNU
The College Football Playoff Committee ranked Tulane 24th this week, giving them or any team that beats them in the American Conference Championship Game a clear lane to the national title tournament. From where we stand now, a Tulane loss is pretty much the only thing that can screw it up for the conference as a whole.
But friends, this Tulane team could totally drop this game at Temple. The Owls have improved massively this season, especially on defense, and they play exactly the kind of mistake-free, ball control football on offense that creates upsets against undisciplined teams… like Tulane.
If Tulane QB Jake Retzlaff can avoid turnovers and run the ball to set up his offense’s RPO game, then yeah, the Green Wave probably punch their ticket to the Championship. However, if the Owls can get some heat on Retzlaff and either force some mistakes or just capitalize on Tulane’s unforced errors, we could still see some chaos heading into next week.
Oh by the way, Temple is also fighting for bowl eligibility this week.
Good. pic.twitter.com/fPMRJ31pgP
— Tulane Football (@GreenWaveFB) November 19, 2025
Charlotte at #4 Georgia (-43.5)
Saturday at 12:45 PM on the SEC Network
Who wants to see Georgia’s scout team freshmen get some playing time?
UConn (-7) at Florida Atlantic
Saturday at 3:00 PM on ESPN+
This game looks interesting mostly as a barometer of the American Conference’s overall strength in comparison to the rest of college football. UConn beat Duke at Rentschler Field two weeks ago, and they then dog-walked Air Force this past weekend. However, they also lost at Rice a few weeks before that, and Rice does not boast anything like the conference’s strongest roster.
If FAU somehow gets a win this week, they’ll not only keep themselves in the hunt for an eventual bowl berth, they’ll also make a real statement about the American Conference’s strength relative to the rest of the FBS.
UConn has proven that it’s competitive against the ACC. Can it also prove its competitiveness against the American Conference?
Husky Recap Episode 7 – Duke pic.twitter.com/w1lLs39i4k
— UConn Football (@UConnFootball) November 12, 2025
South Florida at UAB (+21.5)
Saturday at 3:00 PM on ESPN+
The Bulls probably win this one in a rout. It’s still too little, too late.
North Texas at Rice (+18.5)
Saturday at 7:30 PM on ESPNU
For as good as North Texas has been this season — especially on offense but in other places, too — they still boast a decidedly sub-par rushing defense. Though the Mean Green have gotten better this season, they give up 203 rushing yards/game on a whopping 4.8 yards/carry. That makes this particular game interesting because Rice now runs a version of the triple-option offense. In fact, the Owls boast the nation’s 16th ranked rushing offense, putting up an average of 211.1 rushing yards/game on just over 4 yards/carry.
If North Texas can force some turnovers this week, then maybe all that rushing yardage won’t matter. The Mean Green currently stand 1st in the FBS in turnover margin at +15! However, Rice has a potential lane here. If they can just keep the chains moving and finish drives in the end zone, they could make this a very interesting game down the stretch.
Making our AP Poll debut at #⃣2⃣2⃣!#GMG🦅 pic.twitter.com/resCB3MvKc
— UNT Football (@MeanGreenFB) November 16, 2025
Our Standard Note About Betting Lines
AFF always lists lines against their direction of movement. For example, Sam Houston State opened (+9.5) on the road at Western Kentucky in Week 1. That line then slid to SHS (+10). Since the latter is obviously a better bet, we listed it on SHS’s side. WKU (-9.5) might be another way to list those same odds, but given the choice, you’d rather bet against the direction of movement.
Please note that we do not encourage you to gamble. In fact, most of the AFF Crew does not bet on sports. However, sports betting lines provide such a quick and easy shorthand to express overall expectations for various contests that we refer to their implied math all too frequently.
Final Thoughts
As noted, though we might not have the world’s most compelling slate this week, at least on paper, one truly massive upset feels… if not likely, then at least highly plausible. We’ve seen it happen entirely too many times this season. So yeah, Tulane, we’re looking at you. And if Rice and Temple both somehow pull off their miracles, Hell, we could still wind up with ECU at Navy in the Conference Championship Game.
That would be wild.
Go Army! Beat Tulsa!!!
