The season was the second since the breakup of the former Big East Conference, which lasted in its original form from its creation in 1979 until 2013.

[1] The American consisted of 11 members: Cincinnati, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, SMU, South Florida, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa, UCF, and UConn.

The Knights earned the conference's final BCS automatic bid before college football moved to a playoff system.

[4] Schedule source:[2] Bye Week: Cincinnati Bye Week: Cincinnati, UCF Bye Week: Memphis, SMU, Temple Bye Week: Tulsa Bye Week: East Carolina, Houston, UCF Bye Week: Connecticut, South Florida, Temple, Tulane Bye Week: SMU Bye Week: Connecticut, East Carolina, Memphis Bye Week: Houston, Tulane, Tulsa Bye Week: SMU Bye Week: Cincinnati, East Carolina, South Florida, UCF Bye Week: Houston, Connecticut Bye Week: Temple Bye Week: Tulane Bye Week: Memphis, South Florida, Tulsa [5] The following individuals received postseason honors[6] as voted by the American Athletic Conference football coaches at the end of the season Shane Carden, East Carolina Jacoby Glenn, UCF Tank Jakes, Memphis Jake Elliott, Memphis Marlon Mack, USF Justin Fuente, Memphis WR – Breshad Perriman, UCF WR – Justin Hardy, East Carolina OT – Eric Lefeld^, Cincinnati OT – Al Bond, Memphis OG – Parker Ehinger, Cincinnati OG – Rowdy Harper, Houston C – Taylor Hudson, East Carolina TE – Alan Cross, Memphis QB – Shane Carden, East Carolina RB – William Stanback, UCF RB – Marlon Mack, USF K – Jake Elliott, Memphis RS – Deion Sanders Jr., SMU DL – Terrell Hartsfield, Cincinnati DL – Terry Williams, East Carolina DL – Joey Mbu, Houston DL – Martin Ifedi, Memphis LB – Terrance Plummer, UCF LB – Jeff Luc, Cincinnati LB – Tank Jakes, Memphis LB – Tyler Matakevich, Temple CB – Jacoby Glenn, UCF CB – Bobby McCain, Memphis S – Clayton Geathers, UCF S – Adrian McDonald, Houston P – Mattias Ciabatti, USF WR – Deontay Greenberry, Houston WR – Keevan Lucas, Tulsa OT – Torrian Wilson, UCF OT – Ike Harris, East Carolina OG – J.T.

Boyd, East Carolina C – Kyle Friend, Temple TE – Bryce Williams, East Carolina QB – Paxton Lynch, Memphis RB – Kenneth Farrow, Houston RB – Brandon Hayes, Memphis K – Andrew Gantz, Cincinnati RS – Keiwone Malone, Memphis DL – Jaryl Mamea, UCF DL – Thomas Niles, UCF DL – Matt Ioaniddis, Temple DL – Praise Martin-Oguike, Temple DL – Derrick Alexander, Tulsa LB – Zeek Bigger, East Carolina LB – Brandon Williams, East Carolina LB – Efrem Oliphant, Houston CB – William Jackson, Houston CB – Lorenzo Doss, Tulane CB – Brandon Alexander, UCF S – Sam Scofield, Tulane P – Spencer Smith, Memphis as of December 6, 2014[update].