Temple enters 2023 season with long-shot odds to win American Athletic Conference

The Temple Owls football program enters the 2023 season with higher expectations after finishing 3-9 (1-7 in American Athletic Conference play) in its first year under head coach Stan Drayton.

Despite their struggles last season in the conference, the Owls found their quarterback. E.J. Warner, son of Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner, played well in his first collegiate season, crossing the 3,000-yard passing threshold, breaking the school record for completions, and being named AAC Rookie of the Year.

Along with Warner’s honor, the Owls had two defensive players make all-conference teams: defensive lineman Darian Varner, who transferred to Wisconsin during the offseason after a first-team all-AAC season (12½ tackles for losses, 7½ sacks) and outside linebacker Layton Jordan, who earned second-team honors (18½ tackles for losses, nine sacks, two defensive touchdowns). Jordan returns to the Owls defense this season.

The AAC looks a little different, losing three programs (Cincinnati, Central Florida, Houston) to the Big 12, but adding Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA to grow the conference to 14 teams.

The Owls haven’t won the American championship since 2016 under coach Matt Rhule, who is now leading Nebraska, his third coaching gig since leaving Temple. After being picked to finish 10th in the conference this season, how do their odds stack up against newcomers and the class of the conference?

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Here’s a look at the odds to win the AAC with less than a month before the first game of college football season kicks off.

Odds are courtesy of FanDuel, current at the time of publishing and subject to change.

Tulane went on a miraculous run last season that included winning the AAC and beating Southern Cal in the Cotton Bowl, and the Green Wave are the favorites to win the conference for the second season in a row, led by quarterback Michael Pratt. SMU, whose best finish in the AAC since the conference’s inception in 2013 was third in 2019, has the second-best odds to win the conference. Newcomer UTSA, fresh off two straight Conference USA championships, is the third option.

With Memphis (+600) and Florida Atlantic (+700) rounding out the top five, a big gap lies between the first five teams, and the Owls, with the sixth-best odds at 20/1 to win the AAC. It will be an uphill climb for Temple not to finish in the cellar of the conference.

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The Owls will open their season against Mid-American Conference opponent Akron. The Zips are entering their second season under Joe Morehead, who spent time as the offensive coordinator at Penn State, head coach at Mississippi State and most recently as quarterbacks coach at Oregon. Akron finished the 2022 season 2-10 (1-7 MAC).

As no surprise, the Owls are favorites to beat Akron before they face an improved Rutgers program in Week 2. Then they take on Miami, which is looking to compete for an Atlantic Coast Conference championship, in Week 4 to cap off a challenging nonconference schedule.