The season was the first after the breakup of the former Big East Conference, which lasted in its original form from its creation in 1979 until July 2013.
UCF as The American's Champion earned the league's last automatic berth for a BCS Bowl Game.
In its first year, the conference consisted of 10 football members: Cincinnati, Connecticut, Houston, Louisville, Memphis, Rutgers, SMU, South Florida, Temple, and UCF.
In Pittsburgh's final game as a Big East member, the Panthers lost to Ole Miss 38–17 in the BBVA Compass Bowl.
The following individuals received postseason honors as voted by the American Athletic Conference football coaches Blake Bortles, UCF Demarcus Ayers, Houston WR - Deontay Greenbury Houston WR - DeVante Parker, Louisville OT - Eric Lefeld, ^ Cincinnati OT - Jamon Brown, Louisville OG - Jordan McCray, UCF C - Jake Smith, Louisville TE - Blake Annen, Cincinnati TE - Tyler Kroft, Rutgers QB - Blake Bortles, UCF RB - Storm Johnson, ^UCF RB - Paul James, Rutgers K - Jake Elliot, Memphis RS - Ralph David Abernathy IV, Cincinnati RS - Demarcus Ayers, Houston DL - Jordan Stepp, Cincinnati DL - Marcus Smith, Louisville DL - Martin Ifedi, Memphis DL - Aaron Lynch, USF LB - Terrance Plummer, UCF LB - Yawin Smallwood, UConn LB - Tyler Matakevich, Temple CB - Jacoby Glenn, UCF CB - Charles Gaines, Louisville S - Calvin Pryor, Louisville S - Hakeem Smith, Louisville P - Tom Hornsey, Memphis WR - Anthony McClung, Cincinnati WR - J.J. Worton, UCF WR - Jeremy Johnson, SMU OT - Chris Martin, UCF OT - DeAnthony Sims, Houston OG - Sam Longo, Cincinnati OG - John Miller, Louisville C - Betim Bujari, Rutgers QB - Teddy Bridgewater, Louisville TE - Mike McFarland, USF RB - William Stanback, UCF RB - Marcus Shaw, USF K - Shawn Moffitt, UCF RS - Janarion Grant, Rutgers DL - Silverberry Mouhon, Cincinnati DL - Shamar Stephen, UConn DL - Lorenzo Mauldin, Louisville DL - Luke Sager, USF LB - Greg Blair, Cincinnati LB - Preston Brown, Louisville LB - DeDe Lattimore, USF CB - Deven Drane, Cincinnati CB - Zach McMillian, Houston CB - Kenneth Acker, SMU S - Clayton Geathers, UCF P - Trevon Stewart, Houston P - Richie Leone, Houston [8] 1 @ Reliant Stadium 2 @ BBVA Compass Field