Coming off of their most successful season since 1971, the Memphis Tigers football team released their schedule for the 2015 season on Thursday.
Memphis will have their first American Athletic Conference game of the season against the Cincinnati Bearcats for the second consecutive season. The home game against one of their two co-AAC Champions will be televised on ESPN on Sept. 24.
The Tigers spring-boarded their 2014 AAC title run with a 41-14 win over the Bearcats in Cincinnati in their first American conference game last season.
The first non-conference game that immediately jumps off the page is the visit of the Ole Miss Rebels to the Liberty Bowl on Oct. 17. Memphis will have an extra week to prepare for the game as the week before will be their only bye week of the season.
Last season, the Tigers traveled to Oxford, and played the then, no. 11 Rebels closer than the 24-3 loss indicated. With the score being only 10-3 heading into the fourth quarter.
Before that, Memphis will open up their season at home against Missouri State of the Missouri Valley Conference on Sept. 5. The Bears finished the 2014 season with a 4-8 record.
After their clash against Missouri State, the Tigers will head on the road for two games before their rematch with the Bearcats. Memphis will take on the Kansas Jayhawks of the Big 12 on Sept. 12, and Kansas will have a new coach in David Beaty after firing former coach Charlie Weis in the middle of the season, last year.
The following week, they will travel to Ohio to take on the Bowling Green Falcons on Sept. 19. Bowling Green and Memphis have a little history as they played each other in the 2004 GMAC Bowl, with the Falcons defeating the Tigers in a shootout 52-35.
Memphis will close out its’ non-conference schedule on Nov. 7 when the Naval Academy make a visit to the Liberty Bowl. The Navy game will replace the UConn game, which had taken place in the previous two seasons.
This will be the second of Memphis’ only back-to-back home games next season as they will take on fellow AAC foe the Tulane Green Wave on Halloween. Memphis beat Tulane in New Orleans 38-7 in the corresponding game last year.
The Tigers will get the chance to avenge their only conference loss last season when they take on the Houston Cougars on the road on Nov. 14. Memphis lost 28-24 at home last season in a game in which the Tigers blew a 14-0 first half lead, and committed five turnovers.
Two conference road games will be sandwiched between the Ole Miss game as the Tigers will travel to Tampa, Florida to take on the University of South Florida Bulls on Oct.2 in their first conference road game of the season. Memphis beat USF 31-20 at the Liberty Bowl last season.
The second game will be in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as Memphis will take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Oct. 23. The Tigers blew out the Golden Hurricane at the Liberty Bowl last season winning 40-20.
Memphis will finish the season with a road game at Temple and a home game with Southern Methodist. The Temple game on Nov. 21 will bring back fond memories for Tigers’ fans as a win against the Owls last season on a Jake Elliott game-winning field goal, and clinched bowl eligibility for Memphis.
The Mustangs will hope to put a better fight against Memphis than they put up last season as they fell to the Tigers 48-10 in Dallas, that rematch will be on Nov. 28.
