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 Athletic Conference is headquartered in Irving, Texas, and led by Commissioner Tim Pernetti, who replaced the retiring Mike Aresco[2][8] on June 1, 2024.[9][10]
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.[11][12] 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.[12]
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.[16] 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.[17] 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.[18]
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 early-2010s 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.[19][20] 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.[21] 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][22]
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.[23][24] 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.[25] 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).[26]
Louisville and Rutgers spent one season in the newly renamed conference. On July 1, 2014, Louisville joined the ACC[27] and Rutgers joined the Big Ten Conference.[28] 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.[29][30] Navy joined as an affiliate member in football on July 1, 2015.[29]
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.[31] 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.[32][33][34] 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.[35]
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.[36] 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 Athletic 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.[37][38]
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."[37][38]
On June 24, 2019, it was reported that the Big East had formally approved an invitation for UConn to join the conference.[39] On June 26, 2019, the UConn Board of Trustees accepted the invitation.[40] 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.[41]
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.[42]
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.[47][48]
On September 3, Sports Illustrated reported that the Big 12 Conference was on the verge of inviting four schools— including American Athletic Conference members Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF.[49][50] 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.[51] On June 10, 2022, The American and the three departing schools announced a buyout agreement had been reached, confirming those schools' 2023 departure date.[52] 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 was 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. Cincinnati would remain in The American as a women's lacrosse affiliate,[53] but left after the 2024 season when the Big 12 added that sport.[54]
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.[55] 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.[56]
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.[57] 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.[58] All six schools were accepted on October 21,[59] and the conference confirmed their 2023 entry date on June 16, 2022.[60]
Expansion in men's soccer and women's swimming and 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; since renamed the Coastal Athletic Association) to join the SBC in 2023.[61] The CAA responded by invoking a provision of its bylaws to ban JMU from further conference championship events.[lower-alpha 1] The SBC responded by pushing JMU's entry forward to 2022.[62]
Soon after this, the other three CUSA 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, CUSA and the three schools reached a settlement that allowed those schools to join the SBC in 2022.[63] 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 members and three new associate members. Coastal Carolina played the 2021 season in CUSA. The other two full SBC members, Georgia Southern and Georgia State, played in the MAC. The new associates were Kentucky and South Carolina, which had been single-sport CUSA members since 2005; and West Virginia, which had previously announced that it would move men's soccer from the Mid-American Conference to CUSA in 2022.[64][65]
CUSA 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 in as new men's soccer members for 2022, with FIU remaining an affiliate after the others fully joined The American.[66]
Similar changes came to women's swimming & diving, again due in part to SBC expansion. Of the schools leaving CUSA 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 remained a women's swimming & diving affiliate after the other schools fully joined The American.[66]
Departure of SMU
On September 1, 2023, SMU accepted an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference for the 2024–25 season.[67] With this the American was now down one team.
Army enlists
On October 25, 2023, Army announced it would be joining the conference as a football-only member beginning in 2024, joining fellow service academy Navy. The annual Army–Navy Game, typically played at the conclusion of the regular season, will continue to be played annually as a non-conference game and will not count towards conference standings. However, it is possible for the two teams to meet a second time in a season in the American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game, should they finish as the top two teams in the conference.[68]
The conference currently has 13 full member institutions – and six affiliate members – in 13 states, including Alabama, California, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Wichita State is the only full member that does not sponsor football.
↑ 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.
↑ Measured from Cincinnati's departure from full membership.
↑ Rice dropped diving from its women's aquatics program in 1991 and did not reinstate the discipline until 2024, after it had become a full conference member.
Sports
The American currently sponsors championship competition in 10 men's and 11 women's NCAA sanctioned sports. James Madison, Old Dominion, and Vanderbilt are affiliate members for women's lacrosse.[92][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]
↑ ECU sponsored a men's tennis team until the 2019–20 season but discontinued the program after that year.[95]
↑ Temple sponsored a baseball team during the 2014 season but discontinued the program after that year.[96]
↑ Tulsa sponsored a men's golf team until the 2015–16 season but discontinued the program after that year.[97]
1 2 Army and Navy continue to field most of their other sports in the NCAA Division I Patriot League.
↑ 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.
↑ Rice reinstated women's diving to its aquatics program in 2024–25 after an absence of more than 30 years.[98]
↑ Temple sponsored a softball team during the 2014 season but discontinued the program after that year.[96]
1 2 FAU and UAB remain beach volleyball members of Conference USA after otherwise departing that conference.[99]
↑ 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.
↑ Tulane's former bowling home of the Southland Bowling League merged into CUSA after the 2022–23 season. The new CUSA bowling league includes all of the final SBL members.[100]
↑ 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.
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
17:[lower-alpha 1] 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
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
21:[lower-alpha 2] 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
18:[lower-alpha 3] 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
18:[lower-alpha 4] 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
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
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
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
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
18: Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Men's cross country Women's cross country Football Women's golf Men's golf Men's soccer Women's Soccer Women's Lacrosse Men's tennis Women's tennis Men's outdoor track and field Women's indoor track and field Women's outdoor track and field Softball Volleyball
2:[lower-alpha 6] 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 from 2018–20
↑ 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
No current American Conference member has won an NCAA team championship while a member of the conference. The only school to have won a fully recognized NCAA title while in The American, UConn, left for the Big East Conference in 2020. Several members have won national titles before joining The American. Another former member, SMU, won the 2023 equestrian title the year before it left for the ACC, but that sport does not yet have full NCAA recognition. Equestrian is recognized by the NCAA as part of its Emerging Sports for Women program, but championships are organized by the National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) instead of the NCAA.
The conference began football during the 1991–92 season, and it was a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series.[104] Previously, conference opponents operated on a two-year cycle, as a home-and-home series.[105]
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.[106] 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 UConn 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. While The American has had 14 football members since 2023, it has not split into divisions for football.[107]
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.
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.
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 only G5 team ever selected for the CFP in its four-team era.
The American Championship Game pits the top two teams in the conference standings in a game held following the conclusion of the regular season. The site of the Championship Game is the home stadium of the team with the best overall conference record, with a series of tiebreakers used if needed to determine the host or either of the participants. In its first two seasons, The American awarded its championship to the team(s) with the best overall conference record. The conference split into two six-team divisions for football and first played its championship game in 2015. Through the 2019 season, the championship game involved the winners of each division and was hosted by the division champion with the best conference record. After UConn's 2020 departure, the conference reverted to a single-table format. This format continues even after the expansion to 14 teams in 2023.
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 realignments in 2005, 2013, and the early 2020s ended – or temporarily halted – many rivalries. Before their departure to other conferences, a number of former member schools held longtime rivalries within the conference.
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 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.
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.[110]
In June 2013, it was announced that the inaugural men's basketball tournament would take place at FedExForum in Memphis.[114] FedExForum had previously hosted eight Conference USA basketball tournaments.
American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball NCAA Bids
This list goes through the 2023–24 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.
↑ 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.
Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA, whose first conference season was 2023–24.
↑ 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.[116]
↑ Memphis has vacated all of its victories from the 2007–08 season. These 38 wins are not included in Memphis's all-time record.[117]
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.
In June 2013, it was announced that the inaugural women's basketball tournament would take place at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.[118] 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.
Total revenue includes ticket sales, contributions and donations, rights and licensing, student fees, school funds and all other sources including TV income, camp income, concessions, and novelties.
Total expenses includes coach and staff salaries, scholarships, buildings and grounds, maintenance, utilities and rental fees, recruiting, team travel, equipment and uniforms, conference dues, and insurance.
The following table shows institutional reporting to the United States Department of Education as shown on the DOE Equity in Athletics website for the 2021–22 academic year.[120]
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 were sub-licensed to CBS Sports until 2022, and most Army and Navy home football games will take place on CBS Sports until 2027 and 2028, respectively, as both schools 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.[129][130][131] Over 1,000 conference sporting events are aired on ESPN+ per year, including every baseball, basketball, football, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, and volleyball game hosted by a conference member (unless that game is being broadcast on one of ESPN's other networks).[132] The conference golf, rowing, swimming and diving, and track and field championships are also aired on ESPN+.
↑ 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.
↑ The American is the legal all-sports successor to the Big East Conference (1979–2013). The Big East was rebranded and reorganizes as the American Athletic Conference on July 1, 2013.
↑ 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. 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 with 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. Since the 2022 season, all FBS conferences have had full freedom to select the participants in their championship games, regardless of organization or scheduling.
↑ 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.
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The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the ECAC South Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states, from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universities, and the conference is headquartered in Richmond. The CAA was historically a Southern conference until the addition of four schools in the Northeastern United States after the turn of the 21st century, which added geographic balance to the conference.
The Temple Owls are the athletic teams that represent Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The current athletic director is Arthur Johnson.
Mid-major conferences in American college sports at the NCAA Division I level are athletic conferences that are not among the Power conferences. The grouping is used particularly in men's college basketball to describe conferences outside of the Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, SEC, Pac-12, and ACC, collectively referred to as the Power Six or "high majors".
The power conferences are the most prominent athletic conferences in college football in the United States. They are part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I, the highest level of collegiate football in the nation, and are considered the most elite conferences within that tier. Power conferences have provided most of the participants in the College Football Playoff since its inception, and generally have larger revenue, budgets, and television viewership than other college athletic programs.
The UConn Huskies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, with its main campus located in Storrs, Connecticut. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big East Conference.
The UConn Huskies football team is a college football team that represents the University of Connecticut in the sport of American football. The team competes in NCAA Division I FBS as an independent. Connecticut first fielded a team in 1896, and participated in Division I-AA until 1999. The Huskies began their two-year Division I-A transition period in 2000, and became a full-fledged Division I-A team in 2002. From 2000 to 2003, the team played as an independent. The school's football team then joined the conference of its other sport teams, the Big East, taking effect in 2004, through 2019. In 2019, the UConn football team left the American to again play as an independent, as the school's current primary conference, the current Big East, does not sponsor the sport. The Huskies currently are coached by Jim Mora.
The UCF Knights are the athletic teams that represent the University of Central Florida in unincorporated Orange County, Florida near Orlando. The Knights participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I as a member of the Big 12 Conference. Since men's soccer is not sponsored by the Big 12, they play in the Sun Belt Conference.
The UConn Huskies women's basketball team is the college basketball program representing the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut, in NCAA Division I women's basketball competition. They currently play in the Big East Conference.
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the 11 full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and Midwest metropolitan areas. The conference was officially recognized as a Division I multi-sport conference on August 1, 2013, and since then conference members have won NCAA national championships in men's basketball, women's cross country, field hockey, men's lacrosse, and men's soccer. Val Ackerman is the commissioner.
The American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an award given to the American Athletic Conference's most outstanding player. The conference formed in 2013–14 after many schools departed from the original Big East Conference to form their own conference. Shabazz Napier of UConn was the first-ever winner.
The 2019 American Athletic Conference football season is the 28th NCAA Division I FBS Football season of the American Athletic Conference. The season is the seventh since the former Big East Conference dissolved and became the American Athletic Conference and the sixth season of the College Football Playoff in place. The American is considered a member of the Group of Five (G5) together with Conference USA (C–USA), the Mid-American Conference (MAC), the Mountain West Conference and the Sun Belt Conference.
The 2019–20 UConn Huskies women's basketball team represented the University of Connecticut (UConn) during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Huskies, led by Hall of Fame head coach Geno Auriemma in his 35th season at UConn, split their home games between Harry A. Gampel Pavilion and the XL Center and were in their seventh and final season as members of the American Athletic Conference.
The 2020–21 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season is scheduled to begin with practices in October 2020, followed by the start of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November 2020. Conference play will begin in December and conclude with the 2021 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. With UConn's departure on July 1, 2020, the American is back at 11 teams. For the 2020-21 Season due to COVID-19 pandemic The scheduling format was changed to a 20-game, double round-robin conference schedules. Conference play in men’s basketball will began with three windows for games in December.
↑ Wolken, Dan (May 29, 2013). "American Athletic Conference unveils its primary logos". USA Today. Beyond the challenge of avoiding something that looked corporate, the league also couldn't build the logo around an acronym. From the very beginning, the conference office has been adamant that it wants to be known as The American instead of the AAC to avoid confusion with the Atlantic Coast Conference.
↑ "BVB: C-USA Adds TCU, Tarleton State and Missouri State as Affiliate Members for Beach Volleyball" (Press release). Conference USA. May 11, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2023. The addition of TCU, Tarleton State and Missouri State increases current league membership to nine schools for the 2023-24 season, as the Horned Frogs, Texans and Bears join FIU, Florida Atlantic, Jacksonville State, Tulane, UAB and UTEP as members of Conference USA beach volleyball.
↑ ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. p.546. ISBN978-0-345-51392-2.
↑ As of June 30, 2020 U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2020 Endowment Market Value and Change in Endowment Market Value from FY19 to FY20 (Report). National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA. February 19, 2021. Archived from the original on February 21, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
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States with full members (blue) and affiliate members (red)
