The AAC wraps up play in the regular season this week, and after the Memphis Tigers rolled over Connecticut 41-10 as 21-point home favorites this past Saturday, the overall record for my weekly free picks in this conference climbed back to .500 at 7-7. The Tigers also put themselves in position to claim at least a share of this year's AAC title by improving to 7-1 in conference play.

The following is a brief betting report for all the AAC matchups in Week 15 of the college football season as well as my top pick of the week for Doc's Sports. All the betting odds quoted have been provided by 5Dimes. All picks use Doc's Sports Unit System for money management.

Thursday, December 4

Central Florida Knights vs. East Carolina Pirates (-6.5)

Total Line: 56

The Knights bring a three-game winning streak into the season finale both straight up and against the spread. They have now gone 8-1 SU in their last nine games with a profitable 7-2 record ATS. A win on Thursday night would give Central Florida a share of the AAC title with Memphis as both teams would be 7-1 SU in conference play. Defense has carried UCF all season long, and it will need to come up big one more time against a very potent East Carolina passing game.

The Pirates back-to-back losses to Temple and Connecticut as favorites on the road in early November ended any chance of claiming the conference title in their first season in the AAC, but it was still a solid effort with a SU record of 8-3. They have been a brutal team to bet on the past two months with a 1-6 record ATS in their last seven games. Quarterback Shane Carden has led East Carolina's third-ranked passing attack with 3,912 yards and 25 touchdowns while completing 64 percent of his 503 attempts. The offense is ranked 14^th in the nation in scoring with 37.8 points a game.

Saturday, December 6

Houston Cougars vs. Cincinnati Bearcats (-7)

Total Line: 57

Houston will look to finish its regular season on a strong note after posting a 5-1 SU (4-2 ATS) record in its last six games. The Cougars went a perfect 4-0 ATS on the road this season, and the total stayed "under" in eight of their first 11 games. The main reason for so many lower-than-expected scores can be attributed to a shutdown defense that held opponents to an average of 17.8 points. This was the 10^th-lowest total in the nation.

The Bearcats can tie Memphis for the best record in conference play with a win on Saturday, but they would lose the head-to-head tiebreaker after getting hammered by the Tigers 41-14 on Oct. 4 as three-point home favorites. Nonetheless, Cincinnati has been one of the top teams in the AAC this season with an overall record 8-3 SU. It has now won its last six games both SU and ATS, and the total has stayed under in five of its last six outings despite averaging 35.2 points a game.

Temple Owls (-3.5) vs. Tulane Green Wave

Total Line: 43.5

Temple's unexpected fast start out of the gate has slowed to a crawl with just one SU win in its last six games, and it has fallen out of favor with bettors by going 2-5 ATS in its last seven contests. The Owls still have one of the top defenses in the country in points allowed (18.8), but offensively they are ranked 97^th in the nation in scoring with an average of 24.3 points a game. They have not scored more than 20 points in any of their last six outings.

Tulane's first season in the AAC has been mostly forgettable with a 2-5 SU record in conference play and an overall record of 3-8. The Green Wave has only been slightly better ATS at 4-7 including a 2-7 record ATS as underdogs this year. They have been equally as bad on both sides of the ball with an average of 17.2 points on offense complementing a defense that is allowing 30.1 points a game.

AAC Pick of the Week

SMU Mustangs vs. Connecticut Huskies (-12)

Total Line: 46

SMU has the dubious distinction of not only having the lowest-scoring offense in Division IA with an average of 9.6 points a game, but its defense is ranked second to last in D-IA in points allowed (43.3). This has resulted in a SU winless streak of 11 games this season while going 3-8 ATS. The only real accomplishment worth noting is the 24 points the Mustangs did score in a 21-point loss to East Carolina back on Oct. 4.

The Huskies have not been all that much better at 2-9 both SU and ATS, especially when it came to putting points on the board. They are ranked 126 ^th of 128 D-IA teams in scoring with an average of 15.1 points a game. Connecticut's claim to fame this season was a shocking 37-29 victory against Central Florida as a nine-point home underdog, but it scored 10 or fewer points in half of its other 10 games. Regardless of how low this total is set, there is no way that these two teams will combine for enough points to exceed it, so to me 46 points is a gift.

5-Unit Play Take SMU at Connecticut UNDER 46 (Saturday, Dec. 6, 12 p.m.)

YTD: 7-7 (-$90)

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