The American Athletic Conference announced today that Houston is the favorite in the league’s annual preseason media football poll. The Cougars received 243 points, just ahead of Cincinnati’s 242. UCF was third with 225 points.
All three of the top teams in the poll will leave the AAC in less than a year.
The Cougars were picked to win the league by seven of the 24 media members invited to participate in the poll while Cincinnati received 10 first-place votes.
AAC Preseason Media Poll
| School | Points | 1st Place Votes |
|---|---|---|
 | 243 | 7 |
 | 242 | 10 |
 | 225 | 7 |
 | 187 |  |
 | 162 | |
 | 157 | |
 | 115 | |
 | 93 | |
 | 71 | |
 | 61 | |
 | 28 | |
Of the top-half teams, UH does not play Cincinnati or UCF in the regular season and travels to SMU, Memphis, and ECU. The Coogs will host four of the 5 teams picked at the bottom of the media poll.