UTSA Roadrunners Future Picks: Can McCown Lead Runners to American Championship?
Written by: Nate Hornung
Published: Sun Aug 16, 2026, 3:00 pm ET
Read Time: 5 minutes
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The American Athletic Conference sent their conference champion to the College Football Playoff last season. This year, that probably isn't going to happen. Both North Texas and Tulane lost their head coaches and plenty of personnel along the way, leaving the American wide open in my mind, and according to the oddsmakers. With the Green Wave and Mean Green both taking a major step back, who can sneak into the spotlight? Enter the UTSA Roadrunners, who are returning plenty of offensive production to a team that put up over 43 points per game last year. Check out my UTSA future picks on this squad below, and why I like them to win this conference.
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UTSA Roadrunners Football Team Preview & Schedule
Jeff Traylor is 53-26 since taking over the UTSA football program, leading them to the postseason every year, winning three straight bowl games
Roadrunners Offense
The UTSA offense returns six starters, including fifth year senior quarterback Owen McCown. The past two seasons, he threw for 3,424 yards in 2024 and was five yards shy of another 3,000 yard passing season last year. He's contributed 55 passing touchdowns and 17 interceptions the past two years, along with 364 rushing yards and four TDs on the ground. While the Roadrunners lost their top receiver and running back, the next guys up were in the system last year, ready for a bigger role. Will Henderson is ready to start in the backfield, and David Amador and AJ Wilson were the second and third leading wideouts on the team last year.
This team was top five in scoring last year, and they return more offensive starters than everyone in the league besides Army and Temple. They avoid both on the schedule.
Roadrunners Defense
Defense wins championships, and that's been the Roadrunners' issue for a few years. Unfortunately, those problems could remain, but they added plenty of guys from the JUCO world who are looking to make a name for themselves. Hungry dogs run faster, or so I'm told. Traylor has a winning mindset established in this locker room, which will certainly help carry them throughout the season.
However, I really like this schedule and I'm not sure oddsmakers have a good hold on where this conference stands.
Roadrunners 2026 Schedule
- 9/5: vs. Rio Grande
- 9/12: @ Texas State
- 9/19: @ Texas
- 9/26: vs. Colorado State
- 10/3: @ Rice
- 10/8: vs. USF (Thursday)
- 10/17: vs. Navy
- 10/24: @ Tulane
- 11/5: @ FAU (Thursday, UTSA Off Bye)
- 11/14: vs. North Texas
- 11/21: @ UAB
- 11/27: vs. Tulsa (Friday)
The Roadrunners have two tough non conference games on the road to get them ready for league play. Rice and UAB don't scare me on the road, I think UTSA can beat Tulane, and they are coming off a bye against FAU in Boca Raton. Not to mention how good they were at home last season.
UTSA Roadrunners Future Picks and Predictions
AJ Wilson had the longest reception for the Roadrunners last year, a 77 yard touchdown from Owen McCown
Best Bet: UTSA Roadrunners to Win American (+475) Lucky Rebel Sportsbook
Depending on your sportsbook, UTSA might be the favorite to win the American, and for good reason. Now, across most of the market, the Navy Midshipmen are around +350 to win this conference, but they have to play the Roadrunners on the road, and UTSA is coming off a mini bye that week playing the previous Thursday.
Looking at the odds to win the American, the top teams are Navy, Army, UTSA, USF, and Memphis. The Roadrunners avoid the Black Knights and Tigers, while hosting the other two teams in the top five. My other argument, is this team will be battle tested. They have to go to Texas State, who could be a sleeper to win the Pac-12, and play the Texas Longhorns in Austin. Sure, they probably lose both of those games, but facing teams like USF, Navy and Tulane will feel that much easier.
Rice, UAB and North Texas should all be bottom five in this conference, there's three wins for the Roadrunners. In conference play last year, they went 3-1 at home. I think this team has the ability to go 7-1 in conference play, earning a bid to the American Championship Game, where we would be holding a great number, even if they faced Army.
Beep Beep.
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Nate has been a recreational sports bettor for about 5 years. In that time, he has grown to love the pursuit of winners and sticking it to The Man. Nate loves data and uses his understanding of numbers to help him be a more profitable sports gambler, however he will be the first to tell you this game is about more than just stats.
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