Six schools will join the American Athletic Conference on July 1, 2023, the conference announced Wednesday. The universities already had been accepted as members but the entry date had yet to be finalized.
Joining ahead of the 2023 fall sports season are UAB, FAU, Charlotte, North Texas, Rice and UTSA. The timing coincides with the departure of current member schools Cincinnati, Houston and UCF to the Big 12 next summer.
“We are extremely pleased and excited to welcome our new members to the conference in 2023, as we begin our second decade,” commissioner Mike Aresco said in a news release. “Our incoming schools comprise a distinguished group with attributes that will enhance our conference’s Power 6 goals. We have already seen the investment and commitment that these institutions have made as they prepare to compete in The American, and, together with our accomplished incumbent institutions, the conference is assured of many years of championship-level competition as part of a bright future that will build on the extraordinary legacy of the past decade.”
The conference switches were triggered earlier this year when Oklahoma and Texas announced their intention to move from the Big 12 to the Southeastern Conference. That left openings to fill in the Big 12, triggering team shifts across the country.
The American will have 15 schools, though not every school will compete in a full complement of sports.
The league will be made up of the six new teams, plus East Carolina, Memphis, Navy (football only), South Florida, SMU, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa and Wichita State (basketball and Olympic Sports only).
–Field Level Media