American Athletic Conference

American Athletic Conference
Formerly	Big East (1979–2013)
Association	NCAA
Founded	May 31, 1979; 43 years ago (de jure); July 1, 2013; 9 years ago (de facto)
Commissioner	Michael Aresco (since 2012)
Sports fielded	22 men's: 10; women's: 12; ;
Division	Division I
Subdivision	FBS
No. of teams	11 (full) + 7 (affiliate)
Headquarters	Irving, Texas
Official website	www.theamerican.org
Locations
	States with full members (blue) and affiliate members (red)

From Wikipedia, in a visual modern way

The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as the American, is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I, with its football teams competing in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Member universities represent a range of private and public universities of various enrollment sizes located primarily in urban metropolitan areas in the Northeastern, Midwestern, and Southern regions of the United States.^[1]^[2]

The American's legal predecessor, the original Big East Conference, was considered one of the six collegiate power conferences of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) era in college football, and The American inherited that status in the BCS's final season.^[3] With the advent of the College Football Playoff in 2014, The American became a "Group of Five" conference, which shares one automatic spot in the New Year's Six bowl games.^{[note 2]}^[4]

The league is the product of substantial turmoil in the old Big East during the 2010–14 conference realignment period. It is one of two conferences to emerge from the all-sports Big East in 2013. While the other successor, which does not sponsor football, purchased the Big East Conference name, The American inherited the old Big East's structure and is that conference's legal successor.^[5] However, both conferences claim 1979 as their founding date, and the same history up to 2013.^[6]^[7] The American is headquartered in Irving, Texas, and led by Commissioner Michael Aresco.^[2]^[8]

The current full members of the conference are the University of Central Florida, University of Cincinnati, East Carolina University, University of Houston, University of Memphis, University of South Florida, Southern Methodist University, Temple University, Tulane University, University of Tulsa, and Wichita State University, though Central Florida, Cincinnati, and Houston will be departing the conference on July 1, 2023.^[9] The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Florida Atlantic University, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, University of North Texas, Rice University, and University of Texas at San Antonio will be joining as full members on July 1, 2023.^[10]^[11] The American also has seven affiliate members: California State University, Sacramento, University of Florida, Florida International University, James Madison University, United States Naval Academy, Old Dominion University, and Vanderbilt University.

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History

The Big East

The Big East Conference was founded in 1979 as a basketball conference and included the colleges of Providence, St. John's, Georgetown, and Syracuse, which in turn invited Connecticut (UConn), Holy Cross, Rutgers, and Boston College to be members.^[12]^[13] UConn and Boston College would accept the invitation, while Holy Cross soon thereafter declined the invitation, and Rutgers eventually declined and remained in the Atlantic 10 Conference (then known as the Eastern 8 Conference). Seton Hall was then invited as a replacement and the conference started play with seven members.^[13]

Villanova and Pittsburgh joined shortly thereafter under the leadership of the first Big East commissioner, Dave Gavitt.^[14]^[15]^[16]

The conference remained largely unchanged until 1991, when it began to sponsor football, adding Miami as a full member, and Rutgers, Temple, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia as football-only members.^[17] Rutgers and West Virginia were offered full all-sports membership in 1995, while Virginia Tech waited until 2000 for the same offer. Temple football was kicked out after the 2004 season, but rejoined in 2012 and intended to become a full member in 2013.

The unusual structure of the Big East, with the "football" and "non-football" schools, led to instability in the conference.^[18] The waves of defection and replacement brought about by the conference realignments of 2005 and the early 2010s revealed tension between the football-sponsoring and non-football schools that eventually led to the split of the conference in 2013.^[19]

Realignment and reorganization

Florida International

James Madison

class=notpageimage|

– All-sports member

– All-sports member, departing

– All-sports member, arriving

– Full, non-football member

– Affiliate member (football)

– Affiliate member (other)

The conference was reorganized following the tumultuous period of realignment that hobbled the Big East between 2010 and 2013. The Big East was one of the most severely impacted conferences during the most recent conference realignment period. In all, 14 member schools announced their departure for other conferences, and 15 other schools announced plans to join the conference (eight as all-sports members, and four for football only). Three of the latter group later backed out of their plans to join (one for all sports, and the other two for football only).

On December 15, 2012, the Big East's seven remaining non-FBS schools, all Catholic institutions consisting of DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, and Villanova announced that they voted unanimously to leave the Big East Conference effective June 30, 2015.^[20]^[21] The "Catholic 7", by leaving, were looking for a more lucrative television deal than the one they would receive by remaining with the football schools.^[22] In March 2013, representatives of the Catholic 7 announced they would leave the conference effective June 30, 2013, retaining the Big East name, $10 million, and the right to hold the conference's basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden.^[3]^[23]

Following the announcement of the departure of the Catholic 7 universities, the remaining ten football-playing members started the process of selecting a new name for the conference and choosing a new site to hold its basketball tournament.^[24]^[25] Various names were considered, with the "America 12" conference reportedly one of the finalists until rejected by college presidents sensitive of adding a number to the end of the conference name.^[26] On April 3, 2013, the conference announced that it had chosen a new name: American Athletic Conference.^[1] The conference also revealed that it prefers the nickname "The American" because it was thought "AAC" would cause too much confusion with the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).^[27]

Louisville and Rutgers spent one season in the newly renamed conference. On July 1, 2014, Louisville joined the ACC^[28] and Rutgers joined the Big Ten Conference.^[29] On that same day, East Carolina, Tulane, and Tulsa joined The American for all sports, while Sacramento State and San Diego State joined as affiliate members for women's rowing.^[30]^[31] Navy joined as an affiliate member in football on July 1, 2015.^[30]

Addition of Wichita State

For the next several years, The American did not discuss the addition of any new members. However, in March 2017, media reports indicated that the conference was seriously considering adding one or more new members specifically as basketball upgrades. Wichita State, Dayton, and VCU were reportedly considered, with Wichita State being seen as the strongest candidate.^[32] By the end of that month, it was reported that talks between the American and Wichita State had advanced to the point that the two sides were discussing a timeline for membership, with the possibility of the Shockers joining as a full but non-football member as early as the 2017–18 school year. The report indicated that a final decision would be made in April.^[33]^[34]^[35] The conference's board of directors voted unanimously on April 7 to add Wichita State effective in July 2017, making the Shockers the league's first full non-football member since the Big East split.^[36]

Departure of UConn

On June 21, 2019, a Boston-area sports news website, Digital Sports Desk, revealed that UConn was expected to announce by the end of the month that it would leave the American for the Big East Conference in 2020.^[37] The story was picked up by multiple national media outlets the next day. The main issue that reportedly had to be resolved prior to any official announcement was the future of UConn football, as the Big East does not sponsor that sport, and sources indicated that the American had no interest in retaining UConn as a football-only member. Reportedly, American Conference insiders were not surprised by UConn's prospective move, as that school had been vigorously opposed to that league's most recently announced television deal.^[38]^[39]

National media believed that should UConn leave the American, the conference's likeliest response would be to bring in two new schools—one for football only and a second in non-football sports, similar to the American's sequential additions of Navy and Wichita State. The most likely prospects for football-only membership were seen as Army (currently an FBS independent, with most of its other sports in the Patriot League), and Air Force (currently an all-sports member of the Mountain West Conference). Any of several schools could potentially fill the non-football slot, with Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports considering VCU to be "the most logical target there." Thamel dismissed the prospect of the American adding a new all-sports member, saying "there's no obvious candidate who could add value in both basketball and football."^[38]^[39]

On June 24, 2019, it was reported that the Big East had formally approved an invitation for UConn to join the conference.^[40] On June 26, 2019, the UConn Board of Trustees accepted the invitation and they are expected to join the league for the 2020–2021 season.^[41] On July 26, media reports indicated that UConn and The American had reached a buyout agreement that confirmed UConn's Big East arrival date as July 1, 2020, paying the American a $17 million exit fee.^[42]

It was widely reported that UConn was "rejoining" the Big East, given that the Huskies would be reunited with many of the schools against which it played for three decades in the original Big East. Indeed, UConn was the last charter member of the old Big East still playing in The American.

Added stability

The American took a number of steps to stabilize the conference after the departure of UConn. The first move was the addition of Old Dominion University as an affiliate member in women's lacrosse for the 2020–21 season. Old Dominion was previously added to The American for women's rowing beginning in the 2018–19 season.^[43]

The American moved their headquarters from Providence, Rhode Island to Irving, Texas. This was a planned move, to better centralize the conference offices with the member schools. Irving is in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, which is also home to the headquarters of the Big 12 Conference, College Football Playoff, and the National Football Foundation.^[44] The conference also moved the men's basketball tournament to the region, to be played at the new Dickies Arena until 2022.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, some member schools have eliminated sports due to budget constraints. The University of Cincinnati eliminated its men's soccer program^[45] while East Carolina University canceled men and women's swimming and diving teams and tennis teams.^[46] Women's rowing member San Diego State University dropped that sport effective with the end of the 2020–21 season.^[47]

Big 12 raid and subsequent invitations to the conference

In late July 2021, founding Big 12 members Oklahoma and Texas jointly announced that they planned to leave the conference no later than 2025, and formally requested an invitation from the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Shortly thereafter, The American became a peripheral player in this saga when the Big 12 sent a cease and desist letter to current broadcast partner ESPN, charging the network with conspiring to damage the league by luring Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC, and also alleging that the network encouraged an unnamed conference to raid the Big 12 to pave the way for an earlier departure by Oklahoma and Texas. A later media report identified that other conference as The American. ESPN issued an official denial of the Big 12 charges, and officials from The American declined to comment.^[48]^[49]

On September 3, Sports Illustrated reported that the Big 12 Conference was on the verge of inviting four schools— including American Conference members Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF.^[50]^[51] Later that month, all three schools received and accepted membership offers on the date of the presidents' meeting, with the official announcement stating only that they would join the Big 12 no later than 2024–25.^[52] On June 10, 2022, The American and the three departing schools announced a buyout agreement had been reached, confirming those schools' 2023 departure date.^[53] At the time, it was possible that Cincinnati and UCF could remain in the conference as affiliate members for women's lacrosse and men's soccer, respectively, as the Big 12 does not sponsor those sports, though no formal announcement has been made. UCF would later accept an offer of men's soccer membership from the Sun Belt Conference effective in 2023, aligning its men's soccer program with that of West Virginia, the only pre-2023 Big 12 member sponsoring men's soccer.

Subsequent moves

In late September 2021, several national media outlets reported that Mountain West Conference (MW) members Air Force and Colorado State had approached The American regarding a possible move to that league.^[54] However, on October 1, the MW announced that its current membership would remain intact for the foreseeable future, removing its 12 football members (including football-only member Hawaiʻi) from the list of potential new members for The American. For its part, The American officially denied extending invitations to the two Colorado schools.^[55]

Later that month on October 18, 2021, Yahoo! Sports reported that The American was preparing to receive applications from six of the 14 members of Conference USA—Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA. This would make The American a 14-full-member conference.^[56] The next day, ESPN reported that all six schools had submitted applications, and that each would receive a formal letter by the end of that week (October 22) detailing the terms of conference expansion.^[57] All six schools were accepted on October 21,^[10] and the conference confirmed their 2023 entry date on June 16, 2022.^[11]

Expansion in men's soccer and women's swimming & diving

A series of further realignment moves centering on the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) led to The American's men's soccer league expanding earlier than planned. This sequence began in November 2021 when James Madison announced its departure from the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) to join the SBC in 2023.^[58] The CAA responded by invoking a provision of its bylaws to ban JMU from further conference championship events.^[a] The SBC responded by pushing JMU's entry forward to 2022.^[59]

Soon after this, the other three C-USA members set to move to the SBC in 2023 (Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss, with Marshall and ODU sponsoring men's soccer) announced that they would instead leave in 2022. Following a brief legal dispute, C-USA and the three schools reached a settlement that allowed those schools to join the SBC in 2022.^[60] With three men's soccer schools now joining in 2022 instead of 2023, the SBC announced it would reinstate men's soccer at that time. The new full members were joined by three full SBC member and three new associate members. Coastal Carolina, played the 2021 season in C-USA. The other two full SBC members, Georgia Southern and Georgia State played the MAC. The new associates were Kentucky and South Carolina, which had been single-sport C-USA members since 2005; and West Virginia, which had previously announced that it would move men's soccer from the Mid-American Conference to C-USA in 2022.^[61]^[62]

C-USA was then left with only four men's soccer programs for 2022 (Charlotte, FIU, Florida Atlantic, and UAB), with all but FIU set to become full American members in 2023. The American accordingly brought all four schools as new men's soccer members for 2022, with FIU remaining an affiliate after the others fully join The American.^[63]

Similar changes came to women's swimming & diving, again due in part to SBC expansion. Of the schools leaving C-USA for the SBC in 2022, Marshall and Old Dominion sponsor that sport, and incoming American members Florida Atlantic, North Texas, and Rice also sponsor the sport (although Rice fields swimmers only, with no divers). The American brought the aforementioned future full members, plus FIU, into its women's swimming & diving league. As with men's soccer, FIU will remain a women's swimming & diving affiliate after the other schools fully join The American.^[63]

^ Although the 2021 football season was then ongoing, James Madison remained eligible for, and ultimately shared, that season's CAA football title. The CAA football league, officially known as CAA Football, is a separate legal entity from the all-sports CAA, and the CAA Football bylaws lacked said provision.

Commissioners

Name	Term
Michael Aresco	2013–present^[8]

Membership timeline

Full members (all-sports) Full members (non-football) Affiliate members (football-only) Affiliate member (other sport)Other Conference Other Conference

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Member universities

The conference currently has 11 full member institutions – and six affiliate members – in 12 states, including California, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. The newest full member, Wichita State is the only one that does not sponsor football.

Departing members are highlighted in red.

Current full members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Type	Enrollment	Endowment (millions)	Nickname
University of Central Florida	Orlando, Florida	1963	2013	Public	68,571^[64]	$201	Knights
University of Cincinnati	Cincinnati, Ohio	1819	2013	Public	45,949^[65]	$1,453	Bearcats
East Carolina University	Greenville, North Carolina	1907	2014	Public	28,028^[66]	$288	Pirates
University of Houston	Houston, Texas	1927	2013	Public	47,090^[67]	$960	Cougars
University of Memphis	Memphis, Tennessee	1912	2013	Public	21,458^[68]	$223	Tigers
University of South Florida	Tampa, Florida	1956	2013	Public	50,830^[69]	$889	Bulls
Southern Methodist University	University Park, Texas	1911	2013	Private	11,649^[70]	$2,000	Mustangs
Temple University	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1884	2013	State related	37,365^[71]	$873	Owls
Tulane University	New Orleans, Louisiana	1834	2014	Private	11,722^[72]	$1,430	Green Wave
University of Tulsa	Tulsa, Oklahoma	1894	2014	Private	3,343^[73]	$1,114	Golden Hurricane
Wichita State University^[a]	Wichita, Kansas	1895	2017	Public	15,778^[74]	$276	Shockers

Notes

^ Non-football member.

Affiliate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	AAC sport	Primary conference
University of Florida	Gainesville, Florida	1853	2018	Public	51,474	Gators	Women's lacrosse	SEC
University of Alabama at Birmingham	Birmingham, Alabama	1969	2022	Public	21,923^[75]	Blazers	Men's soccer	C-USA (The American in 2023)^[a]
Florida Atlantic University	Boca Raton, Florida	1961 ^[76]	2022	Public	29,772^[77]	Owls	Men's soccer Women's Swimming & Diving	C-USA (The American in 2023)^[a]
Florida International University	Westchester, Florida	1965	2022	Public	58,064^[78]	Panthers	Men's soccer Women's Swimming & Diving	C-USA
James Madison University	Harrisonburg, Virginia	1908	2022	Public	21,496	Dukes	Women's lacrosse	Sun Belt
University of North Carolina at Charlotte	Charlotte, North Carolina	1946 ^[79]	2022	Public	30,146^[80]	49ers	Men's soccer	C-USA (The American in 2023)^[a]
United States Naval Academy	Annapolis, Maryland	1845	2015	Military academy	4,400	Midshipmen	Football	Patriot
University of North Texas	Denton, Texas	1890 ^[81]	2022	Public	42,375^[82]	Mean Green	Women's Swimming & Diving	C-USA (The American in 2023)^[a]
Old Dominion University	Norfolk, Virginia	1930	2018 (rowing) 2020 (lacrosse)	Public	24,375	Monarchs	Women's rowing Women's lacrosse	Sun Belt
Rice University	Houston, Texas	1912 ^[83]	2022	Private	7,124^[84]	Owls	Women's Swimming^[b]	C-USA (The American in 2023)^[a]
California State University, Sacramento	Sacramento, California	1947	2015	Public	28,811	Hornets	Women's rowing	Big Sky
Vanderbilt University	Nashville, Tennessee	1873	2018	Private	12,686	Commodores	Women's lacrosse	SEC

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d UAB, Charlotte, FAU, and North Texas are being promoted to full members of the conference in 2023.
^ Rice's women's aquatics program includes swimmers, but no divers.

Future full members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joining	Type	Enrollment	Endowment (millions)^[85]	Nickname	Current conference
University of Alabama at Birmingham	Birmingham, Alabama	1969^[86]	2023^[11]	Public	21,923^[75]	$712	Blazers	C-USA
Florida Atlantic University	Boca Raton, Florida	1961 ^[76]			29,772^[77]	$227	Owls
University of North Carolina at Charlotte	Charlotte, North Carolina	1946 ^[79]			30,146^[80]	$230	49ers
University of North Texas	Denton, Texas	1890 ^[81]			42,375^[82]	$211	Mean Green
Rice University	Houston, Texas	1912 ^[83]		Private	7,124^[84]	$6,480	Owls
University of Texas at San Antonio	San Antonio, Texas	1969 ^[87]		Public	34,734^[88]	$277	Roadrunners

Former full members

Three full members have departed from the conference.

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Left	Type	Nickname	Current conference
Rutgers University	New Brunswick, New Jersey	1766	2013	2014	Public	Scarlet Knights	Big Ten
University of Louisville	Louisville, Kentucky	1798	2013	2014		Cardinals	ACC
University of Connecticut	Storrs, Connecticut	1881	2013	2020		Huskies	Big East
University of Connecticut	Storrs, Connecticut	1881	2013	2020		Huskies	FBS Independent (football)

Former affiliate members

Two affiliate members have left the conference.

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Left	Nickname	Colors	AAC sport	Primary conference	Conference in former AAC sport
San Diego State University	San Diego, California	1897	2015	2021	Aztecs		Women's rowing	Mountain West	Discontinued^[a]
Villanova University	Villanova, Pennsylvania	1842	2013	2015	Wildcats		Women's rowing	Big East	CAA

Notes

^ San Diego State no longer sponsors women's rowing.

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Sports

The American currently sponsors championship competition in 10 men's and 12 women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Old Dominion and Sacramento State are affiliate members for women's rowing.^[89] Florida, Old Dominion, Vanderbilt, and James Madison are affiliate members for women's lacrosse.^[90]^[91]^[92] South Florida and Charlotte will add women's lacrosse teams in the 2024–25 school year.^[93]^[94]

Under NCAA rules reflecting the large number of male scholarship participants in football and attempting to address gender equity concerns (see also Title IX), each member institution is required to provide more women's varsity sports than men's.^{[note 3]}

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	8	–
Basketball	11	11
Cross Country	9	11
Football	11	–
Golf	9	10
Lacrosse	–	7^[a]
Rowing	–	6
Soccer	10	9
Softball	–	7
Swimming & Diving	2	5
Tennis	8	11
Track and Field (Indoor)	7	11
Track and Field (Outdoor)	8	11
Volleyball	–	11

^ South Florida and Charlotte will add the sport in the 2025 season.

Men's sponsored sports by school

Departing members are highlighted in red.

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Football	Golf	Soccer	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field (Indoor)	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Total
Cincinnati	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N^[a]	Y	N	Y	Y	8
East Carolina	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N^[b]	N^[c]	Y	Y	7
Houston	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	7
Memphis	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	9
South Florida	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	9
SMU	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	6
Temple	N^[d]	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N^[e]	N^[f]	6
Tulane	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	N	Y	6
Tulsa	N	Y	Y	Y	N^[g]	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	7
UCF	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	N	6
Wichita State	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	7
Affiliate member
Charlotte^[h]						Y					1
FIU^[i]						Y					1
Florida Atlantic^[h]						Y					1
Navy^[j]				Y							1
UAB^[h]						Y					1
Totals	8	11	9	11	9	10	2	8	7	8	83
Future members
Charlotte	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y^[k]	N	Y	Y	Y	9
Florida Atlantic	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y^[k]	Y	Y	N	N	8
North Texas	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	6
Rice	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	8
UAB	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y^[k]	N	Y	N	N	6
UTSA	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	8
2023–24 Total	10	14	12	14	12	9	2	12	9	10	104

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by The American which are played by conference schools:

School	Sport	Conference
Memphis	Rifle^[l]	GARC
Temple	Rowing^[m]	Independent

^ Cincinnati sponsored a men's soccer team until the 2019–20 season but discontinued the program after that year.^[95]
^ ECU sponsored a men's swimming and diving team until the 2019–20 season but discontinued the program after that year.^[96]
^ ECU sponsored a men's tennis team until the 2019–20 season but discontinued the program after that year.^[96]
^ Temple sponsored a baseball team during the 2014 season but discontinued the program after that year.^[97]
^ Temple sponsored an indoor track and field team during the 2014 season but discontinued the program after that year.^[97]
^ Temple sponsored an outdoor track and field team during the 2014 season but discontinued the program after that year.^[97]
^ Tulsa sponsored a men's golf team until the 2015–16 season but discontinued the program after that year.^[98]
^ ^a ^b ^c Full member in 2023–24
^ FIU continues to field most of its other sports in the NCAA Division I Conference USA.
^ Navy continues to field most of its other sports in the NCAA Division I Patriot League.
^ ^a ^b ^c Joined in 2022–23
^ Rifle is technically a men's sport, but men's, women's, and coed teams all compete against each other. Memphis fields a coed team, making it the only current or future American Conference member whose rifle team is open to men.
^ The only category of rowing that the NCAA governs is women's heavyweight rowing. All men's rowing is governed by the Intercollegiate Rowing Association.

Women's sponsored sports by school

Departing members are highlighted in red.

School	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Lacrosse	Rowing	Soccer	Softball	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field (Indoor)	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Volleyball	Total
Cincinnati	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
East Carolina	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y^[a]	Y^[b]	Y	Y	Y	11
Houston	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Memphis	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
South Florida	Y	Y	Y	N^[c]	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
SMU	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Temple	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N^[d]	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Tulane	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Tulsa	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
UCF	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Wichita State	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Affiliate members
FIU								Y					1
Florida				Y									1
Florida Atlantic^[e]								Y					1
James Madison				Y									1
North Texas^[e]								Y					1
Old Dominion				Y	Y								2
Rice^[f]								Y^[g]					1
Sacramento State					Y								1
Vanderbilt				Y									1
Totals	11	11	10	7	6	9	7	9	11	11	11	11	112
Future members
Charlotte	Y	Y	Y	N^[h]	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Florida Atlantic	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y^[f]	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
North Texas	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y^[f]	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Rice	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	N	Y^[f]^[g]	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
UAB	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
UTSA	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
2023–24 Total	14	14	12	6^[i]	5	12	10	7	14	14	14	14	137

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by The American which are played by conference schools:
Future members in gray.

School	Sport(s)	Conference(s)
Florida Atlantic	Beach volleyball	C-USA^[j]
Memphis	Rifle^[k]	GARC
South Florida	Sailing	SAISA
South Florida	Beach volleyball (beginning in 2024–25)	TBD
SMU	Equestrian^[l]	Independent
Temple	Fencing	NIWFA
	Field hockey	Big East
	Gymnastics	EAGL
Tulane	Beach volleyball	CCSA
Tulane	Bowling	Southland
UAB	Beach volleyball	C-USA
	Bowling	MEAC
	Rifle^[m]	SoCon

^ ECU's women's swimming and diving team was discontinued after the 2019–20 season, but will return for 2021–22 after not fielding a team in the 2020–21 season^[99]
^ ECU's women's tennis team was discontinued after the 2019–20 season, but will return for 2021–22 after not fielding a team in the 2020–21 season^[99]
^ South Florida will add a women's lacrosse team beginning in the 2024–25 school year
^ Temple sponsored a softball team during the 2014 season but discontinued the program after that year.^[97]
^ ^a ^b Full members in 2023–24
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Joined in 2022–23
^ ^a ^b Rice fields a women's team in swimming but not in diving.
^ Charlotte will add a women's lacrosse team beginning in the 2024–25 school year
^ Though one current lacrosse member (Cincinnati) is leaving and none of the new full members sponsor lacrosse, James Madison is joining as a single-sport member starting with the spring 2023 season, and full member South Florida is adding a lacrosse team for the spring 2025 season. It is possible that Cincinnati would remain in the American as an associate member for women's lacrosse after leaving the conference because the Big 12 does not sponsor the sport, which would give the AAC 7 women's lacrosse members in 2023–24 instead of 6. Charlotte will also be adding a women's lacrosse team beginning in the 2025 season, which means there will be 8 members in 2024–25 (or 9 if Cincinnati remains as an affiliate member).
^ Florida Atlantic's future beach volleyball affiliation has not yet been determined.
^ Rifle is technically a men's sport, but men's, women's, and coed teams all compete against each other. Memphis fields a coed team.
^ Part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.
^ Rifle is technically a men's sport, but men's, women's, and coed teams all compete against each other. UAB fields a coed team.

Discover more about Sports related topics

Conference champions

Note: Shared titles (ex: 2014 football, 2020 men's basketball) are counted as a full title for each co-champion.

Accurate as of May 9, 2022.

School	Years in conference	Number of titles	Titles by sport	Sports played
Houston	2013–2023	37	Baseball: 4 (2 regular season, 2 tournament) Men's basketball: 5 (3 regular season, 2 tournament) Football: 1 Women's golf: 3 Women's swimming & diving: 6 Men's track & field: 13 (7 indoor, 6 outdoor) Women's track & field: 4 (2 indoor, 2 outdoor) Volleyball: 1 (1 regular season, 0 tournament)	17: Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Men's cross country Women's cross country Football Men's golf Women's golf Women's soccer Softball Women's swimming and diving Women's tennis Men's indoor track and field Men's outdoor track and field Women's indoor track and field Women's outdoor track and field Volleyball
UCF	2013–2023	37	Baseball: 1 (1 regular season, 0 tournament) Women's basketball: 2 (1 regular season, 1 tournament) Football: 4 Women's golf: 3 Women's rowing: 5 Men's soccer: 4 (3 regular season, 1 tournament) Women's soccer: 3 (2 regular season, 1 tournament) Softball: 4 (3 regular season, 1 tournament) Men's tennis: 1 Women's tennis: 2 Women's track & field: 2 (2 indoor, 0 outdoor) Volleyball: 6 (3 regular season, 3 tournament)	16: Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Women's cross country Football Men's golf Women's golf Women's rowing Men's soccer Women's soccer Softball Men's tennis Women's tennis Women's indoor track and field Women's outdoor track and field Volleyball
South Florida	2013–present	26	Baseball: 1 (0 regular season, 1 tournament) Women's basketball: 2 (1 regular season, 1 tournament) Men's golf: 5 Men's soccer: 2 (1 regular season, 1 tournament) Women's soccer: 6 (3 regular season, 3 tournament) Softball: 3 (3 regular season, 0 tournament) Men's tennis: 5 Women's tennis: 2	18: Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Men's cross country Women's cross country Football Men's golf Women's golf Men's soccer Women's soccer Softball Men's tennis Women's tennis Men's indoor track and field Men's outdoor track and field Women's indoor track and field Women's outdoor track and field Volleyball
Tulsa	2014–present	26	Men's basketball: 1 (1 regular season, 0 tournament) Men's cross country: 8 Women's cross country: 5 Men's soccer: 5 (1 regular season, 4 tournament) Softball: 4 (1 regular season, 3 tournament) Women's tennis: 3	17:^[a] Men's basketball Women's basketball Men's cross country Women's cross country Football Men's golf (until 2015–16) Women's golf Women's rowing Men's soccer Women's soccer Softball Men's tennis Women's tennis Men's indoor track and field Men's outdoor track and field Women's indoor track and field Women's outdoor track and field Volleyball
SMU	2013–present	25	Men's basketball: 4 (2 regular season, 2 tournament) Women's cross country: 2 Men's golf: 2 Women's rowing: 1 Men's soccer: 5 (2 regular season, 3 tournament) Women's soccer: 1 (1 regular season, 0 tournament) Men's swimming & diving: 2 Women's swimming & diving: 2 Men's tennis: 1 Women's track & field: 3 (1 indoor, 2 outdoor) Volleyball: 2 (2 regular season, 0 tournament)	16: Men's basketball Women's basketball Women's cross country Football Men's golf Women's golf Women's rowing Men's soccer Women's soccer Men's swimming and diving Women's swimming and diving Men's tennis Women's tennis Women's indoor track and field Women's outdoor track and field Volleyball
UConn†	2013–2020	25	Baseball: 1 (0 regular season, 1 tournament) Men's basketball: 1 (0 regular season, 1 tournament) Women's basketball: 14 (7 regular season, 7 tournament) Women's cross country: 1 Men's soccer: 1 (1 regular season, 0 tournament) Women's soccer: 3 (1 regular season, 2 tournament) Men's track & field: 2 (1 indoor, 1 outdoor) Women's track & field: 2 (2 indoor, 0 outdoor)	21:^[b] Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Men's cross country Women's cross country Football Men's golf Women's lacrosse (beginning in 2018–19) Women's rowing Men's soccer Women's soccer Softball Men's swimming and diving Women's swimming and diving Men's tennis Women's tennis Men's indoor track and field Men's outdoor track and field Women's indoor track and field Women's outdoor track and field Volleyball
Cincinnati	2013–2023	16	Baseball: 1 (0 regular season, 1 tournament) Men's basketball: 5 (3 regular season, 2 tournament) Football: 3 Women's soccer: 1 (0 regular season, 1 tournament) Men's swimming & diving: 2 Women's track & field: 3 (1 indoor, 2 outdoor) Volleyball: 1 (1 regular season, 0 tournament)	18:^[c] Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Men's cross country Women's cross country Football Men's golf Women's golf Women's lacrosse (beginning in 2018–19) Men's soccer (until 2019–20) Women's soccer Men's swimming and diving Women's swimming and diving Women's tennis Men's indoor track and field Men's outdoor track and field Women's indoor track and field Women's outdoor track and field Volleyball
Louisville†	2017–present	9*	Baseball: 1 (1 regular season, 0 tournament) Men's basketball: 2 (1 regular season, 1 tournament), vacated Men's cross country: 1 Women's golf: 1 Women's rowing: 1 Men's soccer: 1 (1 regular season, 0 tournament) Softball: 1 (0 regular season, 1 tournament) Men's swimming & diving: 1 Women's swimming & diving: 1 Volleyball: 1 (1 regular season, 0 tournament)	21: Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Men's cross country Women's cross country Football Men's golf Women's golf Women's rowing Men's soccer Women's soccer Softball Men's swimming and diving Women's swimming and diving Men's tennis Women's tennis Men's indoor track and field Men's outdoor track and field Women's indoor track and field Women's outdoor track and field Volleyball
East Carolina	2014–present	8	Baseball: 4 (2 regular season, 2 tournament) Men's swimming & diving: 4	18:^[d] Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Men's cross country Women's cross country Football Men's golf Women's golf Women's lacrosse (beginning in 2018–19) Women's soccer Softball Men's swimming and diving (until 2019–20) Women's swimming and diving (on hiatus in 2020–21) Men's tennis (until 2019–20) Women's tennis (on hiatus in 2020–21) Men's indoor track and field Men's outdoor track and field Women's indoor track and field Women's outdoor track and field Volleyball
Memphis	2013–present	7	Football: 2 Men's golf: 1 Women's soccer: 3 (1 regular season, 2 tournament) Women's tennis: 1	18: Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Men's cross country Women's cross country Football Men's golf Women's golf Men's soccer Women's soccer Softball Men's tennis Women's tennis Men's indoor track and field Men's outdoor track and field Women's indoor track and field Women's outdoor track and field Volleyball
Florida‡	2018–present	6	Women's lacrosse: 6 (3 regular season, 3 tournament)	1: Women's lacrosse
Wichita State	2017–present	6	Men's basketball: 1 (1 regular season, 0 tournament) Women's cross country: 1 Softball: 2 (1 regular season, 1 tournament) Women's track & field: 1 (0 indoor, 1 outdoor) Volleyball: 1 (1 regular season, 0 tournament)	15: Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Men's cross country Women's cross country Men's golf Women's golf Softball Men's tennis Women's tennis Men's indoor track and field Men's outdoor track and field Women's indoor track and field Women's outdoor track and field Volleyball
Tulane	2014–present	4	Baseball: 1 (1 regular season, 0 tournament) Football: 1 Women's golf: 1 Men's tennis: 1	14: Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Men's cross country Women's cross country Football Women's golf Women's swimming and diving Men's tennis Women's tennis Men's outdoor track and field Women's indoor track and field Women's outdoor track and field Volleyball
Temple	2013–present	2	Men's basketball: 1 (1 regular season, 0 tournament) Football: 1	15:^[e] Baseball (until 2013–14) Men's basketball Women's basketball Men's cross country Women's cross country Football Men's golf Women's lacrosse (beginning in 2018–19) Women's rowing Men's soccer Women's soccer Softball (until 2013–14) Men's tennis Women's tennis Men's indoor track and field (until 2013–14) Men's outdoor track and field (until 2013–14) Women's indoor track and field Women's outdoor track and field Volleyball
Navy‡	2015–present	0	–	1: Football
Old Dominion‡	2018–present	0	–	2:^[f] Women's lacrosse Women's rowing (beginning in 2020–21)
Sacramento State‡	2015–present	0	–	1: Women's rowing
Vanderbilt‡	2018–present	0	–	1: Women's lacrosse
Rutgers†	2013–2014	0	–	19: Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Men's cross country Women's cross country Football Men's golf Women's golf Women's rowing Men's soccer Women's soccer Softball Women's swimming and diving Women's tennis Men's indoor track and field Men's outdoor track and field Women's indoor track and field Women's outdoor track and field Volleyball
San Diego State†‡	2015–2021	0	–	1: Women's rowing
Villanova†‡	2013–2015	0	–	1 Women's rowing

*- Does not include vacated championships

†- No longer a member of the AAC

‡- Affiliate member

^ Tulsa had 18 teams compete in AAC play from 2014–16 and 17 in all other years
^ UConn had 20 teams compete in AAC play from 2013–18 and 21 in all other years
^ Cincinnati had 19 teams compete in AAC play from 2018–20 and 18 in all other years
^ ECU had 19 teams compete in AAC play from 2014–18, 20 from 2018–20, 16 in 2020–21, and 18 in all other years
^ Temple had 17 teams compete in AAC play in 2013–14, 14 from 2014–18, and 15 in all other years
^ Old Dominion had 1 team compete in AAC play from 2018–20 and 2 in all other years

^[100]

NCAA national championships

No current American Conference member has won an NCAA team championship while a member of the conference. The only school to have won a national title while in The American, UConn, left for the Big East Conference in 2020. Several members have won national titles before joining The American.

Excluded from these lists are all national championships earned outside the scope of NCAA competition, including Division I FBS football titles, Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association titles, women's AIAW titles, National Collegiate Equestrian Association titles, retroactive Helms Athletic Foundation titles, and ITA tennis titles.

Team championships won by current members

School	Total	Men	Women	Nickname	Most successful sport (Titles)
University of Houston	17	17	0	Cougars	Men's golf (16)
Southern Methodist University (SMU)	4	4	0	Mustangs	Men's outdoor track & field (2)
Temple University	3	1	2	Owls	Women's lacrosse (2)
University of Cincinnati	2	2	0	Bearcats	Men's basketball (2)
University of South Florida	1	0	1	Bulls	Women's swimming (1)
Tulane University	1	1	0	Green Wave	Men's tennis (1)
University of Tulsa	1	0	1	Golden Hurricane	Women's golf (1)
Wichita State University	1	1	0	Shockers	Baseball (1)
University of Central Florida (UCF)	0	0	0	Knights	N/A
University of Memphis	0	0	0	Tigers	N/A
East Carolina University	0	0	0	Pirates	N/A
Total	30	26	4

^[101]

Team championships won as American Conference members

Includes all titles won while a member of The American, whether or not the conference sponsored that sport at the time.

School	Total	Men	Women	Co-ed	Nickname	Most successful sport (Titles)
University of Connecticut (UConn)	7	1	6	0	Huskies	Women's basketball, field hockey (3 each)
Total	7	1	6	0

Individual and relay championships by current members

School	Total	Men	Women	Co-ed	Nickname	Most successful sport (Titles)
Southern Methodist University	122	77	45	0	Mustangs	Women's swimming (29)
University of Houston	65	48	17	0	Cougars	Men's outdoor track & field (21)
University of South Florida	21	9	10	2^[a]	Bulls	Women's swimming (10)
Temple University	17	17	0	0	Owls	Men's gymnastics (13)
Tulane University	14	14	0	0	Green Wave	Men's tennis (10)
University of Cincinnati	6	4	2	0	Bearcats	Men's swimming (3)
University of Memphis	6	5	0	1^[b]	Tigers	Men's outdoor track & field (3)
East Carolina University	4	4	0	0	Pirates	Men's swimming (4)
Wichita State University	3	3	0	0	Shockers	Men's outdoor track & field (2)
University of Tulsa	2	1	1	0	Golden Hurricane	Women's golf (1), Men's indoor track & field (1)
University of Central Florida	1	0	1	0	Knights	Women's indoor track & field (1)
Total	256	182	71	3

^ Both won by Michelle Scarborough in rifle. While Scarborough is a woman, rifle is considered a co-ed sport by the NCAA.
^ Won by Beth Tidmore in rifle. While Tidmore is a woman, rifle is considered a co-ed sport by the NCAA.

^[101]

Discover more about NCAA national championships related topics

Football

The conference began football during the 1991–92 season, and it was a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series.^[102] Previously, conference opponents operated on a two-year cycle, as a home-and-home series.^[103]

The conference previously did not have enough teams to form divisions, but it now does after Navy joined the conference in 2015.^{[note 4]} When Navy joined in 2015 and the conference's divisions were created, Navy was placed in the West division along with Houston, Memphis, SMU, Tulane, and Tulsa. Teams play eight conference games a season. Since 2015, each team has played the other five teams in its own division, as well as three teams from the other division, operating in a four-year cycle ensuring that each school will play every conference opponent at home and on the road at least once in the four-year cycle.^[104] At the end of each regular season, the East division winner and the West division winner, as determined by final conference record, meet in the American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game, played at the home site of one of the division winners.

With the departure of Connecticut after the 2019 season, the divisions were affected by the reduction to an uneven number of teams. At the time, The American had no plan to add another team to rebalance divisions, so the conference eliminated the divisions. The championship game is now played by the two teams that achieved the best record in regular season conference play. With the upcoming expansion of the conference to 14 members, a divisional split is now likely after all new members join.

Like the conference itself, football experienced much transition through its history. In fact it was the main force behind such departures and expansion. In 2003, the BCS announced that it would adjust the automatic bids granted to its six founding conferences based on results from 2004 to 2007. With the addition of Cincinnati, Louisville, and South Florida in 2005, the conference retained its BCS automatic-qualifying status.

At one point, the 2007 South Florida Bulls football team was ranked No. 2 in the BCS rankings, but the team finished No. 21 in the final poll.

The 2009 Cincinnati Bearcats football team finished the regular season undefeated at 12–0, and the team was ranked No. 3 in the final BCS standings, barely missing the opportunity to play for the BCS National Championship. The conference overall was 9–7 (.563) in BCS bowl games, the third highest winning percentage among the AQ conferences.

The 2017 UCF Knights football team, a member of the American, was undefeated, but the team was not invited to the College Football Playoff. The team earned the Group of Five's New Year's Six bowl bid and defeated Auburn in the Peach Bowl. The team claimed a national championship, which was recognized by the Colley Matrix, one of the NCAA recognized selectors of the national champion in football.

The Cincinnati became the first Group of Five team ever to appear in the top four of the CFP rankings at any point of the season, going on to become the first G5 team ever selected for the CFP semifinals.

All-time school and conference records

As of the conclusion of the 2021 season. Conference wins and losses are since the formation of The American.

Team	Overall				Conference			Bowl Appearances	The American Championships
Team	W	L	T	Win %	W	L	Win %	Bowl Appearances	The American Championships
South Florida	157	119	0	.569	29	27	.518	10	0
Navy	720	570	57	.556	27	13	.675	24	0
Tulsa	623	506	27	.551	16	32	.333	21	0
UCF	259	212	1	.550	41	15	.732	10	4
Houston	445	374	15	.543	34	22	.607	27	1
Cincinnati	621	589	50	.513	33	24	.579	19	3
East Carolina	444	428	12	.509	13	35	.271	20	0
Memphis	502	518	33	.492	38	21	.644	13	2
SMU	504	550	54	.479	23	33	.411	17	0
Tulane	531	648	38	.452	15	33	.313	13	1
Temple	474	586	52	.450	35	21	.625	8	1

Football champions

The American Championship Game pits the Eastern Division representative against the Western Division representative in a game held following the conclusion of the regular season. The site of the Championship Game is the home stadium of the division champion with the best overall conference record. In the event that the two division champions are tied, then the head-to-head record shall be used as the tiebreaker. Prior to the 2015 season, when the conference split into two six-team divisions and created a conference championship game, The American awarded its championship to the team(s) with the best overall conference record.

		Record		Ranking
Year	Champions	Conference	Overall	AP	Coaches	Bowl result	Head coach
2013	UCF	8–0	12–1	#10	#12	W Fiesta Bowl 52–42 vs. Baylor^†	George O'Leary
2014	UCF	7–1	9–4	N/A	N/A	L St. Petersburg Bowl 27–34 vs. NC State	George O'Leary
	Cincinnati	7–1	9–4	N/A	N/A	L Military Bowl 17–33 vs. Virginia Tech	Tommy Tuberville
	Memphis	7–1	10–3	#25	#25	W Miami Beach Bowl 55–48 vs. BYU	Justin Fuente
2015	Houston	7–1	13–1	#8	#8	W Peach Bowl 38–24 vs. Florida State^†	Tom Herman
2016	Temple	7–1	10–3	#23	#24	L Military Bowl 26–34 vs. Wake Forest	Matt Rhule
2017	UCF	8–0	13–0	#6	#7	W Peach Bowl 34–27 vs. Auburn^†	Scott Frost
2018	UCF	8–0	12–1	#11	#12	L Fiesta Bowl 32–40 vs. LSU^†	Josh Heupel
2019	Memphis	7–1	12–2	#17	#17	L Cotton Bowl 39–53 vs. Penn State^†	Mike Norvell
2020	Cincinnati	6–0	9–1	#6	#6	L Peach Bowl 21–24 vs. Georgia^†	Luke Fickell
2021	Cincinnati	8–0	13–1	#4	#4	L Cotton Bowl 6-27 vs. Alabama^	Luke Fickell
2022	Tulane	7–1	12–2	#14	#18	W Cotton Bowl 46–45 vs. USC^†	Willie Fritz

^† BCS or NY6 Bowl Game
^ College Football Playoff game

Rivalries

The American has many rivalries among its member schools, primarily in football. Some rivalries existed before the conference was established or began play in football. Recent conference realignment in 2005 and 2013 ended – or temporarily halted – many rivalries. Before their departure to other conferences, a number of former member schools held longtime rivalries within the conference.

Teams	Rivalry name	Trophy	Meetings	First meeting	Record	Series leader	Current streak
Cincinnati–Memphis	—	—	37	1966	23–14	Memphis	Cincinnati won 1
Houston–Tulsa	—	—	45	1950	26–19	Houston	Houston won 3
Navy–SMU	—	Gansz Trophy	23	1930	13–10	Navy	SMU won 2
South Florida–UCF	War on I-4	War on I-4 Trophy	13	2005	7–6	UCF	UCF won 5

Records as of the end of the 2021 season.

Bowl games

Following the 2013 season, the BCS era came to a close and was replaced by the College Football Playoff. Four teams play in two semifinal games, with the winners advancing to the College Football Playoff National Championship.^[105] Six bowl games — the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and Peach Bowl — will rotate as hosts for the semifinal games, and host major bowls when they do not host semifinal games (access bowls).

With the birth of the College Football Playoff, The American lost its automatic qualifying status for one of the major bowls. Instead, one automatic qualifying spot is reserved for the highest ranked team from the "Group of Five" conferences – The American, Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, Mountain West Conference, and Sun Belt Conference.

Although the pick order usually corresponds to the conference standings, the bowls are not required to make their choices strictly according to the won-lost records; many factors influence bowl selections, especially the likely turnout of the team's fans. Picks are made after any applicable College Football Playoff selections. If a team is selected for the one of the access bowls or playoff, the bowl with the No. 2 pick will have the first pick of the remaining teams in the conference.

American Athletic Conference bowl games^[106]
Year	Name	Location	Opposing conference
2020–25	Cotton, Peach, Fiesta, or Playoff^{[note 5]}	Arlington, Atlanta, Glendale, or Playoff Site	CFP At-Large
2020-25	Fenway Bowl	Boston, Massachusetts	ACC
2020–25	Military Bowl	Annapolis, Maryland	ACC
2020/22/24	Hawaii Bowl	Honolulu, Hawaii	MWC or BYU
2021/23/25	Armed Forces Bowl	Fort Worth, Texas	Big 12 or Army
2020–25	Cure Bowl	Orlando, Florida	Sun Belt
2020–25	Boca Raton Bowl	Boca Raton, Florida	MAC or C-USA
2020–25	Frisco Bowl	Frisco, Texas	C-USA, MAC, Sun Belt or BYU
2020–25	Birmingham Bowl	Birmingham, Alabama	SEC
2020–25	Gasparilla Bowl	Tampa, Florida	SEC
2020–25	First Responder Bowl	Dallas, Texas	TBD
2020–25	Myrtle Beach Bowl	Conway, South Carolina	C-USA, MAC or Sun Belt
2020–25	New Mexico Bowl	Albuquerque, New Mexico	TBD

Head football coach compensation

The total pay of head coaches includes university and non-university compensation. This includes base salary, income from contracts, foundation supplements, bonuses and media and radio pay.^[107]

Conf. Rank	University	Head coach	Salary^[108]
1	University of Cincinnati	Luke Fickell	$5,000,000
1	University of Houston	Dana Holgorsen	$5,000,000
3	University of Central Florida	Gus Malzahn	$4,000,000
4	Southern Methodist University	Rhett Lashlee	$3,000,000
4	United States Naval Academy	Ken Niumatalolo	$3,000,000
6	University of South Florida	Jeff Scott	$2,500,000
6	Temple University	Stan Drayton	$2,500,000
8	University of Memphis	Ryan Silverfield	$2,000,000
8	Tulane University	Willie Fritz	$2,000,000
8	University of Tulsa	Philip Montgomery	$2,000,000
11	East Carolina University	Mike Houston	$1,500,000

Records as of the end of the 2022 season

Conference individual honors

Coaches and media of The American award individual honors at the end of each football season.^[109]

Discover more about Football related topics

Men's basketball

In June 2013, it was announced that the inaugural men's basketball tournament would take place at FedExForum in Memphis.^[110] FedExForum had previously hosted eight Conference USA basketball tournaments.

Even though the Big East Conference was meant to be a basketball-oriented conference, UConn, a member of The American, won the 2014 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament (the first after the conferences split).

All-time school records by winning percentage

This list goes through the 2020–21 season.

-- NOTE: Final Fours includes all divisions, national championships includes pre-NCAA and AIAW -->
No.	Team	Records	Win Pct.	The American Tournament Championships	The American Regular Season Championships	Final Fours	National Championships
1	Memphis	1,336–662	.669	0	0	3	0
2	Cincinnati	1,835–1026	.641	2	3	6	2
3	Temple	1,940–1,096	.639	0	1	2	1
4	Houston	1,331–865	.606	1	2	6	0
5	Wichita State	1,609–1,211	.571	0	1	2	0
6	Tulsa	1,471–1,168	.557	0	1	0	0
7	SMU	1,365–1,236	.525	2	2	1	0
8	UCF	543–536	.503	0	0	0	0
9	Tulane	1,231–1,317	.483	0	0	0	0
10	South Florida	637–757	.457	0	0	0	0
11	East Carolina	686–884	.437	0	0	0	0

Source^[111]

American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball NCAA Bids

This list goes through the 2020–21 season. Only current American Conference members are included. However, this list covers the entire histories of basketball at the listed institutions, not just their American Conference tenures.

Total bids	Bids as AAC member^[a]	School	Last bid	Last win	Last Sweet 16	Last Elite 8	Last Final 4	Last final	Last Championship (Titles)
33	6	Cincinnati	2019	2018	2012	1996	1992	1963	1962 (2)
33	2	Temple	2019	2013	2001	2001	1958		1938^[b]
27*	3	Memphis	2022	2022	2009	2008	2008	2008^[c]
22	3	Houston	2022	2022	2022	2022	2021	1984
16	1	Tulsa	2016	2003	2000	2000
16	2	Wichita State	2021	2017	2015	2013	2013
12	2	SMU	2017	1988	1967	1967	1956
5	1	UCF	2019	2019
3	0	South Florida	2012	2012
3	0	Tulane	1995	1995
2	0	East Carolina	1993
Total: 169	Total: 18^[d]								Total: 3 National Championship Titles^[e]

^
Starting with the 2013–14 season, which The American considers as the start of its competitive history (as opposed to its institutional history), with the following exceptions:
- East Carolina, Tulane, and Tulsa, whose first conference season was 2014–15.
- Wichita State, whose first conference season was 2017–18.
^ Temple were the first NIT champions in 1938, one year before the inception of the NCAA Tournament. The Owls were retroactively recognized by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll and the Helms Athletic Foundation as the national champion for the 1937–38 season.^[112]
^ Memphis has vacated all of its victories from the 2007–08 season. These 38 wins are not included in Memphis's all-time record.^[113]
^ Does not include 2 tournament appearances by UConn while in The American.
^ Does not include UConn's 2014 national title as an American Conference member.

Men's basketball champions

	Regular Season					Tournament
Year	Champions	Record	AP	Coaches'	Postseason	Champions	Record	AP	Coaches'	Postseason
2013–14^[a]	Louisville^[b]	31–6 (15–3)	#5	#9	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	Louisville	31–6	#5	#9	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2013–14^[a]	Cincinnati	27–7 (15–3)	#15	#22	NCAA second round	Louisville	31–6	#5	#9	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2014–15	SMU	27–7 (15–3)	#18	RV	NCAA first round	SMU	27–7	#18	RV	NCAA First Round
2015–16	Temple	21–12 (14–4)	NR	NR	NCAA first round	UConn	25–10	RV	RV	NCAA Second Round
2016–17	SMU	30–4 (17–1)	#12	#15	NCAA first round	SMU	30–4	#12	#15	NCAA First Round
2017–18	Cincinnati	30–4 (16–2)	#6	#6	NCAA second round	Cincinnati	30–4	#6	#8	NCAA Second Round
2018–19	Houston	33–4(16–2)	#9	#11	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	Cincinnati	28–7	#22	#24	NCAA First Round
2019–20	Cincinnati	20–10 (13–5)	NR	NR	Canceled^[c]	Canceled^[d]
	Houston	23–8 (13–5)	#22	#23
	Tulsa	21–10 (13–5)	NR	NR
2020–21	Wichita State	16–6 (11–2)	NR	NR	NCAA First Four	Houston	28–4	#6	#3	NCAA Final Four

^ UConn, after being eliminated from the conference tournament, went on to become the national champions after beating Kentucky 60–54 in the title game.
^ After Louisville basketball staffer Andre McGee was found to have paid a local madam to provide strippers and prostitutes to players and recruits from 2010 through 2014, the NCAA ordered all Louisville records from the 2010–11 through 2013–14 seasons to be vacated.^[114]
^ 2020 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
^ 2020 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Rivalries

The American has many rivalries among its member schools, some of which existed before the conference was established. Recent conference realignment in 2005 and 2013 ended – or temporarily halted – many rivalries. Before their departure to other conferences, a number of former member schools held longtime rivalries within the conference.

Teams	Rivalry Name	Meetings	Began	Record	Series leader	Current Streak
Cincinnati–Memphis	—	82	1968	47–34	Cincinnati	Memphis won 1
South Florida–UCF	War on I–4	39	1972	24–17	South Florida	UCF won 1
Houston–SMU	—	88	1956	55–33	Houston	Houston won 2
Tulsa–Wichita State	—	132	1931	72–62	Wichita	Wichita won 3

Results as of the 2020–21 season.

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Women's basketball

In June 2013, it was announced that the inaugural women's basketball tournament would take place at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.^[115] Women's basketball teams have played a total of 20 times in the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship (since 1982), with UConn winning 11 national championships under head coach Geno Auriemma since 1995. Women's national championship tournaments prior to 1982 were run by the AIAW.

All-time school records by winning percentage

This list goes through the 2016–17 season.^[116]

-- NOTE: Final Fours includes all divisions, national championships includes pre-NCAA and AIAW -->
No.	Team	Records	Win Pct.	The American Tournament Championships	The American Regular Season Championships	Final Fours	National Championships
1	Memphis	781–590^[a]	.570	0	0	0	0
2	Tulane	684–534	.562	0	0	0	0
3	Temple	806–653–3	.552	0	0	0	0
4	SMU	630–534	.541	0	0	0	0
5	East Carolina	705–600	.540	0	0	0	0
6	Houston	650–603	.519	0	0	0	0
7	Cincinnati	636–628	.503	0	0	0	0
8	South Florida	687–690	.499	1	1	0	0
9	UCF	546–611	.472	0	0	0	0
10	Wichita State	571–647^[b]	.469	0	0	0	0
11	Tulsa	326–544	.375	0	0	0	0

^ Record since the 1972–73 season, considered by Memphis to be the start of its "modern era" of women's basketball.
^ Record since the 1976–77 season, considered by Wichita State to be the start of its "modern era" of Division I women's basketball.

Women's basketball champions

	Regular Season					Tournament
Year	Champions	Record	AP	Coaches'	Postseason	Champions	Record	AP	Coaches'	Postseason
2013–14	UConn	40–0 (18–0)	#1	#1	NCAA Champion	UConn	40–0 (18–0)	#1	#1	NCAA Champion
2014–15	UConn	38–1 (18–0)	#1	#1	NCAA Champion	UConn	38–1 (18–0)	#1	#1	NCAA Champion
2015–16	UConn	38–0 (18–0)	#1	#1	NCAA Champion	UConn	38–0 (18–0)	#1	#1	NCAA Champion
2016–17	UConn	36–1 (16–0)	#1	#1	Final Four	UConn	36–1 (16–0)	#1	#1	Final Four
2017–18	UConn	36–1 (16–0)	#1	#1	Final Four	UConn	36–1 (16–0)	#1	#1	Final Four
2018–19	UConn	35–3 (16–0)	#2	#2	Final Four	UConn	35–3 (16–0)	#2	#3	Final Four
2019–20	UConn	28–3 (16–0)	#5	#6	Canceled^[a]	UConn	28–3 (16–0)	#5	#6	Canceled
2020–21	South Florida	19–4 (13–2)	#19	#18	round of 32	South Florida	19–4 (13–2)	#19	#18	Round of 32
2021–22	UCF	26–4 (14–1)	#24	#24	round of 32	UCF	26–4 (14–1)	#24	#24	Round of 32

^ 2020 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Facilities

Departing members in pink. Future members in gray.

Institution	Football stadium	Capacity	Basketball arena	Capacity	Baseball stadium	Capacity
Charlotte	Jerry Richardson Stadium	15,300	Dale F. Halton Arena	9,105	Hayes Stadium	3,000
Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium	40,000	Fifth Third Arena	12,012	UC Baseball Stadium	3,085
East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium	50,000	Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum	8,000	Clark-LeClair Stadium	5,000
Florida Atlantic	FAU Stadium	29,571	Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena	2,900	FAU Baseball Stadium	2,000
Houston	TDECU Stadium	40,000	Fertitta Center	7,100	Cougar Field	5,000
Memphis	Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium	59,308	FedExForum (men) Elma Roane Fieldhouse (women)	18,119 2,565	FedExPark	2,000
North Texas	Apogee Stadium	30,850	UNT Coliseum	10,032	Non-baseball school
Rice	Rice Stadium	47,000	Tudor Fieldhouse	5,208	Reckling Park	7,000
South Florida	Raymond James Stadium	65,908	Yuengling Center	10,411	USF Baseball Stadium	3,211
SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium	32,000	Moody Coliseum	7,000	Non-baseball school
Temple	Lincoln Financial Field	68,532	Liacouras Center McGonigle Hall (women)^[a]	10,206 3,900	Non-baseball school
Tulane	Yulman Stadium	30,000	Devlin Fieldhouse	4,100	Turchin Stadium	5,000
Tulsa	Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium	30,000	Reynolds Center	8,355	Non-baseball school
UAB	Protective Stadium	47,100	Bartow Arena	8,508	Regions Field Young Memorial Field	8,500 1,000
UCF	FBC Mortgage Stadium	44,206	Addition Financial Arena	9,465	John Euliano Park	3,900
UTSA	Alamodome	36,582^[b]	Convocation Center	4,080	Roadrunner Field	800
Wichita State	Non-football member^[c]		Charles Koch Arena	10,506	Eck Stadium	7,851
Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium	34,000	Affiliate member

^ Temple splits its women's basketball schedule between McGonigle Hall and the Liacouras Center.
^ Normal capacity for UTSA games; expandable to 64,000.
^ Wichita State discontinued its football program following the 1986 season. The Shockers' football facility, Cessna Stadium (capacity 30,000) still stands. It is the home of the Shockers' track and field program and hosts football games for Wichita's Kapaun Mt. Carmel High School.

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Academics

One of the current full member schools, Tulane University, is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization of 62 leading research universities in the United States and Canada.^[117] Seven members are doctorate-granting universities with "very high research activity," the highest classification given by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.^[118] Member schools are also highly ranked nationally and globally by various groups, including U.S. News & World Report, Washington Monthly, and Times Higher Education.

University	Location	Affiliation	Carnegie^[118]	Endowment (millions)^[119]	USN Nat.^[120]	WM Nat.^[121]	URAP U.S.^[122]
University of Central Florida	Orlando, Florida	Public (SUSF)	Research (VH)	$135.5	160	211	114
University of Cincinnati	Cincinnati, Ohio	Public (USO)	Research (VH)	$1,183.9	143	191	57
East Carolina University	Greenville, North Carolina	Public (UNC)	Doctoral	$164.1	217	171	179
University of Houston	Houston, Texas	Public (UH System)	Research (VH)	$789.7	176	68	104
University of Memphis	Memphis, Tennessee	Public (THEC)	Research (H)	$200.8	258	37	188
University of South Florida	Tampa, Florida	Public (SUSF)	Research (VH)	$690.0	103	78	69
Southern Methodist University	University Park, Texas	Private (Methodist)	Research (H)	$2,000.0	66	260	164
Temple University	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Public (CSHE)	Research (VH)	$386.8	103	195	108
Tulane University	New Orleans, Louisiana	Private (non-sectarian)	Research (VH)	$1,183.9	41	100	112
University of Tulsa	Tulsa, Oklahoma	Private (Presbyterian)	Doctoral	$1,015.5	143	164	297
Wichita State University	Wichita, Kansas	Public (KBOR)	Doctoral	$235.5	298-389	233	258

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Broadcasting and media rights

In March 2019, the conference announced a $1 billion, 12-year media rights deal with ESPN, under which the majority of AAC content will be aired on ESPN properties. Selected basketball games and Navy football are sub-licensed to CBS Sports, as Navy had a previous deal with CBS prior to joining The American. Content not aired on linear television will be exclusive to ESPN's subscription package ESPN+, but a larger number of events (including at least 40 football games and 65 men's basketball games per-season, including the conference semi-finals and championship) will air on ABC and ESPN's linear networks than under the previous contract.^[123]^[124]^[125]

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Source: "American Athletic Conference", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 21st), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Athletic_Conference.

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^ The American is the legal all-sports successor to the Big East Conference (1979–2013). The Big East was rebranded and reorganized as the American Athletic Conference on July 1, 2013.
^ The other conferences in the "Group of Five" are Conference USA (C-USA), the Mid-American Conference (MAC), the Mountain West Conference, and the Sun Belt Conference.
^ Under NCAA Bylaw 20.9.4, all Division I schools are required to sponsor a minimum of seven men's and seven women's sports, or six men's and eight women's sports. Bylaw 20.9.7.1 imposes the latter requirement on FBS schools. FCS schools, under Bylaw 20.9.8.1, may use either requirement. Note that this does not explicitly require that a school sponsor two more women's sports than men's sports. See "2012–13 NCAA Division I Manual" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
^ At the time Navy joined in football, the NCAA required 12 teams for a conference in order to conduct divisional play and stage a championship game that was exempt from the NCAA-imposed limit of 12 regular-season games. Effective the 2016 season, a conference was allowed to conduct an "exempt" championship game with fewer than 12 members, as long as the conference either plays in two divisions or conducts a full round-robin schedule.
^ If The American's champion is the highest ranked from among the "Group of Five" conferences, it will receive a bid to either the Cotton Bowl, the Peach Bowl, or the Fiesta Bowl. If the team is ranked in the top four at the end of the regular season, it will take part in the College Football Playoff.

References

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External links

Official website

v t e American Athletic Conference
Full members	Cincinnati Bearcats (leaving in 2023) East Carolina Pirates Houston Cougars (leaving in 2023) Memphis Tigers SMU Mustangs South Florida Bulls Temple Owls Tulane Green Wave Tulsa Golden Hurricane UCF Knights (leaving in 2023) Wichita State Shockers (non-football member)
Future members	Charlotte 49ers Florida Atlantic Owls North Texas Mean Green Rice Owls UAB Blazers UTSA Roadrunners
Football associates	Navy Midshipmen
Women's lacrosse associates	Florida Gators James Madison Dukes Vanderbilt Commodores
Women's rowing associates	Old Dominion Monarchs Sacramento State Hornets
Men's soccer associates	Charlotte 49ers FIU Panthers Florida Atlantic Owls UAB Blazers (all except FIU becoming full members in 2023)
Women's swimming & diving associates	FIU Panthers Florida Atlantic Owls North Texas Mean Green Rice Owls (all except FIU becoming full members in 2023)
Championships and awards	Conference champions
Media	American Digital Network
See also	2010–2013 Big East Conference realignment 2021–22 NCAA conference realignment

American Athletic Conference

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College football

Big East Conference (1979–2013)

Bowl Championship Series

College Football Playoff

Group of Five conferences

Bowl game

2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment

Big East Conference

East Carolina University

Florida Atlantic University

California State University, Sacramento

Florida International University

History

The Big East

Realignment and reorganization

Addition of Wichita State

Departure of UConn

Added stability

Big 12 raid and subsequent invitations to the conference

Subsequent moves

Expansion in men's soccer and women's swimming & diving

Commissioners

Membership timeline

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Big East Conference (1979–2013)

Providence Friars

Georgetown Hoyas

Holy Cross Crusaders

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Boston College Eagles

Atlantic 10 Conference

Pittsburgh Panthers

Dave Gavitt

Miami Hurricanes

2005 NCAA conference realignment

2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment

Member universities

Current full members

Affiliate members

Future full members

Former full members

Former affiliate members

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List of NCAA Division I non-football programs

Orlando, Florida

Cincinnati

Cincinnati Bearcats

East Carolina University

Greenville, North Carolina

East Carolina Pirates

Houston

Houston Cougars

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis Tigers

South Florida Bulls

Sports

Men's sponsored sports by school

Women's sponsored sports by school

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Old Dominion University

California State University, Sacramento

James Madison University

Baseball

Basketball

Cross country running

College football

Golf

College lacrosse

College soccer

Softball

Diving (sport)

Conference champions

NCAA national championships

Team championships won by current members

Team championships won as American Conference members

Individual and relay championships by current members

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List of NCAA schools with the most NCAA Division I championships