Temple remains 8th in AAC football power rankings

For the second week in a row, Temple is eighth in the American Athletic Conference football power rankings, voted upon by a league-wide panel of beat reporters.

Two AAC games were cancelled as a result of Hurricane Irma last week, and it appears unlikely that either will be rescheduled this season. Meanwhile, Houston, which was unable to play its opener because of Hurricane Harvey, kicked off 2017 with a win over a Power Five opponent.

Here is the latest ranking:

1. USF (2-0): The threat of Hurricane Irma prompted USF to call off its trip to Connecticut for a Saturday game against the Huskies that had been pushed to a morning kickoff. But Friday's home game against Illinois will go on as scheduled, with coach Charlie Strong announcing Tuesday that first responders and their families (up to four per party) will receive free admission. — Joey Knight, Tampa Bay Times

2. Houston (1-0): By no means was it pretty, but the Cougars held on to beat Arizona, 19-16, for Major Applewhite's first win as head coach last weekend. While the defense came up with a late interception to seal the game and allowed only a pair of second-half field goals, the offense was vanilla and put together only one impressive drive as quarterback Kyle Allen threw two interceptions and had a fumble in his debut. The Cougars play crosstown rival Rice this week in the annual Bayou Bucket — the first game for both teams in the city since Tropical Storm Harvey. — Joseph Duarte, Houston Chronicle

T-3. Memphis (1-0): The Tigers boarded a charter flight to Orlando last Thursday only to land and discover that their game against UCF the following night had been cancelled. But by the time they were back in the air, returning to Memphis, coach Mike Norvell was already watching film on the team's next opponent: No. 25 UCLA. Memphis will host the Bruins on Saturday morning in the most anticipated game of its 2017 season, a matchup that will also be televised nationally on ABC.  — Tom Schad, The Commercial Appeal

T-3. Navy (2-0, 1-1 AAC): The Midshipmen escaped Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium with a 23-21 victory over Tulane last weekend. It was a real defensive slugfest with a safety proving decisive. Navy's defense is much-improved over last season, allowing just 20 points and 296 total yards through two games. The Midshipmen are not playing this week and return to action Sept. 23 against Cincinnati. — Bill Wagner, Baltimore Sun Media Group

5. UCF (1-0): The Knights postponed their conference opener against Memphis in anticipation of the arrival of Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm that was expected to impact the state of Florida with winds up to 130 miles per hour and forced the evacuation of more than six million residents. The storm has been responsible for at least 25 deaths throughout the Caribbean. UCF was scheduled to return to its nonconference schedule by hosting Georgia Tech on Saturday, but that game was also called off as the state continues to recover from the storm. — Matt Murschel, Orlando Sentinel