Every year, the American Athletic Conference features some heavyweight teams butt heads. The AAC is easily the best conference outside of the Power Five, and there is a compelling argument to be made that it could even surpass some Power Five conferences. With teams like Cincinnati leading the national conversation around the AAC, some would forget that there are other incredible teams. But on October 14th, the college football nation will be paying attention as the Memphis Tigers square off against the Navy Midshipmen.
If you’re a college football fan or bettor, this year has been a crazy one, with a lot of drama and upset victories and defeats. Anything can happen any week in college football, which is part of what makes it so fun to watch. If you’re a Canadian, finding the right way to mobile bet can be tough. For college football fans that want to bet the Navy-Memphis game on the go, we’ve got you covered with some of the best Canadian betting apps around, including major players like Bet365 Canada. Let’s dive into a betting breakdown of the game, including odds, predictions, and how to watch.
Odds/Line:
The odds for this game will become available following the results of Week 6, where Memphis plays Tulsa and Navy plays undefeated Southern Methodist. It is likely that it will be a relatively close line, with Memphis being the favourite barring a Navy upset victory against SMU and Tanner Mordecai and a Memphis loss.
How to Watch the Game:
The game is being played on a Thursday, meaning it is one of the only college games that will be on that night, rather than if it were on a Saturday. Check your local listings closer to game day to find out more, but if you are an ESPN+ subscriber, you will likely have access to this game thanks to their agreement with the AAC.
Prediction:
Now let’s get to the good stuff, the predictions for this upcoming battle between two AAC rivals. For starters, let’s take a look at how each team has performed so far this season. These are two teams with very different styles, and they’ve had varying levels of success over the past few seasons.
The Memphis Tigers peaked in 2019 with a 12-2 record, including a Cotton Bowl loss. They’ve been consistently a winning team in the AAC, led by their dynamic offence that pushes the ball downfield through the air.
Navy is consistently an adequate and disciplined team, and in 2019 they went 11-2 and made some serious noise. They followed that up with a disappointing 2020 and start to 2021. They run the triple-option offence and rarely throw the football downfield, making them a throwback-style team in a current college football landscape driven by air raid and spread offences.
For 2021, Navy is 1-3 with an offence that has failed to get going. However, at the time of writing, their last game was a huge victory where they finally put points on the board, defeating the University of Central Florida 34-30 in a big win. Their leading passer has 109 yards on the year, highlighting their commitment to the run.
Memphis, on the other hand, got off to a strong start to the season. They beat Mississippi State in week 3 to move to 3-0 and looked primed for a major year. However, the wheels have come off in the past two weeks as they lost both games to supposedly inferior opponents, albeit by a combined five-point.
Memphis has a strong passing offence led by Freshman Seth Henigan, who has 12 TDs to one interception on the year. They also have a quality rushing offence. However, their defence has been positively porous, and they are vulnerable to Navy’s rushing attack.
Navy’s defence is allowing over 30 points against per game, and even though they churn out yards on the ground unless their defence really steps up, they won’t win this game. The key to a successful triple-option offence is having an elite defence behind you, as the offence can run out the clock and churn out points while the defence keeps the game close. It doesn’t appear Navy has that this year.
For that reason, we predict a comfortable Memphis win. The Memphis offence is efficient and explosive, averaging 38 points per game compared to Navy’s 16. While the Memphis defence has a lot of holes, and Navy may be able to surpass their typical scoring output, it won’t be enough if the Navy defence isn’t as good as it has been in the past.
Prediction: Memphis Wins 42-24