Memphis secured their third consecutive West division title and faced East champion Cincinnati in the 2019 AAC Championship game.
21 Cincinnati defeated Boston College 38–6 in the 2020 Birmingham Bowl after a ninety-minute rain delay.
[6] In the latest addition of the Battle for the Bell, Tulane defeated Southern Miss 30–13 in the Armed Forces Bowl.
[8] The Huskies' Big East entrance date was confirmed for July 1, 2020 after UConn and The American reached a buyout agreement.
The 2020 American Athletic Conference Media Day was originally scheduled for July 12–14 in Newport, Rhode Island.
On December 9, 2019, Jeff Scott, offensive coordinator for Clemson, was hired as the new head coach.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most power five games for the American have been canceled, All of the Power Five conferences initially announced that they would go on with their season as scheduled, but with cuts to non-conference games in order to overcome logistical concerns and reduce travel.
On August 8, the MAC announced the postponement of all fall sports for the 2020 season, including football.
[29] On August 10, the Mountain West followed the MAC as the second Group of Five conference to postpone fall sports indefinitely.
[32][33] UMass announced that they would opt of playing fall football and hopes to construct a season in spring 2021.
* Denotes Unanimous Selection All Conference Honorable Mentions: The 2020 College Football All-America Team is composed of the following College Football All-American first teams chosen by the following selector organizations: Associated Press (AP), Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Walter Camp Foundation (WCFF), The Sporting News (TSN), Sports Illustrated (SI), USA Today (USAT) ESPN, CBS Sports (CBS), FOX Sports (FOX) College Football News (CFN), Bleacher Report (BR), Scout.com, Phil Steele (PS), SB Nation (SB), Athlon Sports, Pro Football Focus (PFF), The Athletic, and Yahoo!
Currently, the NCAA compiles consensus all-America teams in the sports of Division I-FBS football and Division I men's basketball using a point system computed from All-America teams named by coaches associations or media sources.