The Tigers tied with Navy for first place of the West Division of the American Athletic Conference (AAC).
Due to their win over Navy during the regular season, Memphis advanced to the AAC Championship Game, where they defeated Cincinnati, 29–24.
Memphis was selected to the Cotton Bowl as the highest-ranked team from the Group of Five conferences, a spot they secured by winning the AAC championship.
[7] On December 13, it was announced that the interim tag would be removed and that Silverfield was being hired as the new head coach of Memphis.
They split their four games against ranked opponents, defeating Iowa and Michigan while losing to Minnesota and Ohio State.