# 2017 Memphis Tigers football team

The 2017 Memphis Tigers football team represented the University of Memphis in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tigers played their home games at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee and competed in the West Division of the American Athletic Conference. They were led by second-year head coach Mike Norvell. They finished the season 10–3, 7–1 in AAC play to be champions of the West Division. They represented the West Division in The American Championship Game where they lost to East Division champions UCF. They were invited to the Liberty Bowl where they lost to Iowa State.

## Preseason

In the preseason AAC media poll, the Tigers were picked to finish first in the West Division of the AAC, receiving 22 of 30 first place votes.

## Schedule

Memphis announced its 2017 football schedule on February 9, 2017. The 2017 schedule consists of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season. The Tigers will host AAC foes East Carolina, Navy, SMU, and Tulane, and will travel to UConn, Houston, Tulsa, and UCF.
The Tigers will host three of the four non-conference opponents, Louisiana-Monroe from the Sun Belt Conference, Southern Illinois from the Missouri Valley Football Conference and UCLA from the Pac-12 Conference. Memphis was supposed travel to Georgia State from the Sun Belt Conference before Hurricane Irma caused their conference opener at UCF to be rescheduled over the Georgia State game.
| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 31 | 8:00 p.m. | Louisiana–Monroe* | | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | CBSSN John Sadak, Randy Cross, Cassie McKinney | W 37–29 | 10,263 |
| September 16 | 11:00 a.m. | No. 25 UCLA* | | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | ABC Beth Mowins, Anthony Becht, Rocky Boiman | W 48–45 | 46,291 |
| September 23 | 7:00 p.m. | Southern Illinois* | | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | KFVS/WMC Jeff Brightwell, Greg Gaston | W 44–31 | 41,584 |
| September 30 | 6:00 p.m. | at UCF | | Spectrum StadiumOrlando, FL | ESPN2 Mike Corey, Ahmad Brooks, Roddy Jones | L 13–40 | 34,022 |
| September 30 | | at Georgia State* | | Georgia State StadiumAtlanta, GA | | Cancelled | |
| October 6 | 6:00 p.m. | at UConn | | Rentschler FieldEast Hartford, CT | ESPN Dave LaMont, Mack Brown, Jen Lada | W 70–31 | 19,230 |
| October 14 | 2:45 p.m. | No. 25 Navy | | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | ESPNU Mike Corey, Rene Ingoglia | W 30–27 | 40,177 |
| October 19 | 7:00 p.m. | at Houston | No. 25 | TDECU StadiumHouston, TX | ESPN Dave Flemming, Andre Ware, Laura Rutledge | W 42–38 | 30,001 |
| October 27 | 7:00 p.m. | Tulane | No. 24 | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | CBSSN John Sadak, Randy Cross, Tina Cervasio | W 56–26 | 17,989 |
| November 3 | 7:00 p.m. | at Tulsa | No. 23 | H. A. Chapman StadiumTulsa, OK | ESPN2 Adam Amin, Dusty Dvoracek, Molly McGrath | W 41–14 | 17,383 |
| November 18 | 11:00 a.m. | SMU | No. 21 | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | ESPNews Mike Corey, Rene Ingoglia | W 66–45 | 35,329 |
| November 25 | 11:00 a.m. | East Carolina | No. 20 | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | ESPNU Ryan Ruocco, Ray Bentley | W 70–13 | 41,517 |
| December 2 | 11:00 a.m. | at No. 14 UCF | No. 20 | Spectrum StadiumOrlando, FL (The American Championship) | ABC Steve Levy, Brian Griese, Todd McShay | L 55–62 $^{2OT}$ | 41,433 |
| December 30 | 11:30 a.m. | Iowa State* | No. 20 | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN (Liberty Bowl) | ABC Mike Patrick, Tommy Tuberville, Paul Carcaterra | L 20–21 | 57,266 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after October 31 released prior to gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Louisiana–Monroe

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Warhawks | 7 | 0 | 7 | 15 | 29 |
| Tigers | 7 | 13 | 17 | 0 | 37 |

### UCLA

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 25 Bruins | 7 | 17 | 14 | 7 | 45 |
| Tigers | 7 | 20 | 14 | 7 | 48 |

### Southern Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Salukis | 14 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 31 |
| Tigers | 7 | 10 | 17 | 10 | 44 |

### At UCF

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 7 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 13 |
| Knights | 6 | 17 | 7 | 10 | 40 |

### At UConn

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 7 | 28 | 21 | 14 | 70 |
| Huskies | 14 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 31 |

### Navy

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 25 Midshipmen | 10 | 0 | 9 | 8 | 27 |
| Tigers | 7 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 30 |

### At Houston

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 25 Tigers | 0 | 0 | 21 | 21 | 42 |
| Cougars | 7 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 38 |

### Tulane

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Green Wave | 0 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 26 |
| No. 24 Tigers | 14 | 21 | 0 | 21 | 56 |

### At Tulsa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 22 Tigers | 14 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 41 |
| Golden Hurricane | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

### SMU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mustangs | 10 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 45 |
| No. 18 Tigers | 10 | 21 | 14 | 21 | 66 |

### East Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
| No. 17 Tigers | 28 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 70 |

### At UCF–AAC Championship

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | 2OT | Total |
| No. 16 Tigers | 7 | 24 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 55 |
| No. 12 Knights | 17 | 7 | 21 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 62 |

### Vs. Iowa State–Liberty Bowl

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cyclones | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| No. 19 Tigers | 7 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 20 |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 19 | 25 |
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 21 | 19 | 17 | 16 | 14 | 18 | 24 |
| CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 20 | Not released |

## Players in the 2018 NFL Draft

| Player | Position | Round | Pick | NFL club |
| Anthony Miller | WR | 2 | 51 | Chicago Bears |
| Genard Avery | LB | 5 | 150 | Cleveland Browns |
Source: