Houston coach Tom Herman and his defending American Athletic Conference champion Cougars have moved on from one of the best seasons in the history of the program.The words Peach Bowl are banned from the football facility. All the gear and swag the Cougars brought back from Atlanta after beating Florida State is not allowed to be worn at team gatherings.I havent sensed an ounce of complacency, which is good, Herman said.There is a similar feeling throughout the conference as the American tries to build on a season in which the league set itself apart as the strongest outside the Power Five conferences.Temple, Memphis and Navy all spent time in the AP Top 25 and by the end of the season South Florida was playing as well as any of those teams.The AAC notched 10 wins in 2015 against Power Five conference teams, including Mississippi, Miami, Penn State and Louisville. The Cougars 38-24 victory against Florida State was the highlight, a final statement that helped the American recover from what was otherwise a blah bowl season. The conference heads into 2016 with chests puffed with pride.We have forged a powerful Power Six narrative as a nationally relevant and respected conference, Commissioner Mike Aresco said.A true Power Six is not happening anytime soon, but the realistic goal for the American in 2016 is to again lock up the spot in the New Years Six bowls that goes to the highest-ranked Group of Five conference champion.THE FAVORITESEast: USF coach Willie Taggart was heading toward the hot seat before redirecting the Bulls to seven wins in eight games to end the regular season. The Bulls return the talented threesome of quarterback Quinton Flowers, running back Marlon Mack and receiver Rodney Adams and most of the back seven on defense.Temple, retooling what was the best defense in the conference last year, and Cincinnati figure to push the Bulls. UConn is hoping to improve its offense enough to be a dark horse contender.West: Houston is an overwhelming favorite to repeat. Quarterback Greg Ward Jr., who accounted for 38 touchdowns last season, returns to lead a potent offense. The defense will rely on a talented front.Contenders Memphis and Navy are both replacing star quarterbacks. Keep an eye on SMU and Tulsa with their second-year coaches and prolific offenses.TOP PLAYERS- Ward could be a legitimate Heisman contender if he can lead the Cougars into playoff contention with big games in the opener against Oklahoma and a late-season meeting versus Louisville.- QB Dane Evans, Tulsa, passed for 4,332 yards in his first season running coach Philip Montgomerys Baylor offense.- RB Marlon Mack, USF, has led the American in rushing the last two seasons.- DT Foley Fatukasi, UConn, eight sacks last season.- QB Matt Davis, SMU, threw for 2,263 yards and 16 touchdowns and led the Mustangs with 761 yards rushing and 10 scores.NEW FACES- Tulane coach Willie Fritz. The Green Wave lured Fritz away from Georgia Southern. Dont expect a typical triple-option in New Orleans. Fritzs offenses when he was at FBS Sam Houston could air it out.- East Carolina coach Scottie Montgomery. The 38-year-old former Duke offensive coordinator brings an all-business approach to the Pirates.- UCF coach Scott Frost. The former Oregon offensive coordinator takes over a team that went winless last season. This rebuild is likely to take a while.- Memphis coach Mike Norvell. The 34-year-old offensive coordinator from Arizona State has a tough act to follow in Justin Fuente.ON THE HOT SEATNone. Another disappointing season for Tommy Tuberville at Cincinnati could generate some heat. In the AAC, its about retaining the rising-stars the way Houston did with Herman and Temple did with Matt Rhule. How much longer can they keep those guys around?PREDICTIONEASTUSFTempleUConnCincinnatiEast CarolinaUCFWESTHoustonNavyTulsaMemphisSMUTulaneConference champion: USF.---Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP Jordan 4 Retro Royalty Mens .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. Olive Green Jordan 13 . Only three players drafted by NHL clubs were included on the Czech selection camp roster on Wednesday. Those players were Dallas Stars 2012 first-rounder Radek Faksa, Winnipeg Jets 2013 fourth-rounder Jan Kostalek and Phoenix Coyotes 2012 seventh-rounder Marek Langhamer. http://www.jordan13hyperblue.com/jordan-3-17-is/ . -- Most satisfying to Russ Smith about No. Jordan Spizike Black Cement . In what the team had called a retirement, Ryan said Thursday that he is resigning as chief executive of the Rangers in a move effective at the end of this month. Black And Olive Jordan 13 . To the surprise of many, it isnt the Wolverines but their in-state rivals the Michigan State Spartans. CALGARY, Alberta -- After falling behind early on the road, the Tampa Bay Lightning were pleased with the way they responded.Brian Boyle scored two first-period goals and the Lightning beat Calgary 6-3 on Wednesday night to snap the Flames six-game winning streak.Thats a really good team over there. A lot of speed, a lot of skill. Theyre tough to play at home, and theyve been hot, Boyle said. Its never a perfect game, but we made some strides tonight.Alex Killorn also scored twice, the second into an empty net, and Braydon Coburn and Andrej Sustr added goals. Victor Hedman and Valtteri Filppula each had three assists, and Ben Bishop made 19 saves to help Tampa Bay win for only the second time in nine games (2-6-1).I give them credit. I thought they were the hungrier of the two teams and the margins were small and they deserved to get points out of there, Flames coach Glen Gulutzan said.Troy Brouwer, TJ Brodie and Micheal Ferland scored for Calgary.Brouwer had a power-play goal 3:06 into the game before the Lightning tied it at 10:04, converting their first man advantage. With Dougie Hamilton serving a double-minor for high-sticking, Boyle neatly re-directed Hedmans point shot past goalie Chad Johnson.Tampa Bay took the lead for good less than 4 minutes later when Boyle got behind Brodie with a nifty give-and-go with Filppula and beat Johnson with a deke to his backhand.(Hedman) was a monster tonight. Hes such a huge part of our team. Head up on the first one. I just kind of had my stick out in the air and he hits it, sandlot style, Boyle said.Trailing 2-1, the Flames had a couple of good chances to tie it early in the second but Johnny Gaudreau hit the post and good defending from Anton Stralman prevented Ferland from getting away a shot on a breakaway.ddddddddddddhortly after, Coburn put the Lightning up 3-1 when his slap shot from the blue line beat Johnson. It was Coburns first goal in 102 games.Sustrs first of the season at 18:47 made it 4-1.It wasnt the start we wanted, but Im pretty happy with the resiliency of our group coming back, Killorn said. You cant always control the way that the game starts, but you can control how you respond to that and I think we responded really well.Gulutzan replaced Johnson with Brian Elliott to open the third. Killorn scored a short-handed goal 37 seconds into the period.There are going to be games where you just dont have it, Brouwer said. Its a shame, because I actually thought we were pretty good to start the game and I liked where we were at, but then we let a couple floater shots from the point get through -- things that are uncharacteristic of us.Game notes The Lightning were without leading scorer Nikita Kucherov (undisclosed), who joined Steven Stamkos and Ryan Callahan on the sidelines. Then they lost Ondrej Palat (undisclosed) in the second period. ... Cory Conacher, recalled earlier in the day from Syracuse of the AHL, took Kucherovs spot on the line with Tyler Johnson and Palat.... Hedman played in his 500th NHL game. ... Calgarys Sean Monahan had an assist to extend his career-best scoring streak to eight games. He has four goals and six assists during the run, the second-longest active streak in the NHL behind Sidney Crosby (nine games).UP NEXTLightning: Complete their four-day, three-game Canadian trip at Vancouver on Friday night and Edmonton on Saturday night.Flames: Host Columbus on Friday night. 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