American Athletic Conference

American Athletic Conference (The American)
American Athletic Conference logo
Established	May 31, 1979 (1979-05-31) (de jure) July 1, 2013 (2013-07-01) (de facto)
Association	NCAA
Division	Division I FBS
Members	11 (full) + 5 (affiliate)
Sports fielded	22 (men's: 10; women's: 12)
Former names	Big East (1979–2013)
Headquarters	Irving, Texas
Commissioner	Michael Aresco (since 2012)
Website	www.theamerican.org
Locations
American Athletic Conference locationsStates with full members (blue) and affiliate members (red)

The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) 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.

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. 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.

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. However, both conferences claim 1979 as their founding date, and the same history up to 2013. The American is headquartered in Irving, Texas, and led by Commissioner Michael Aresco.

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. 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. The American also has five affiliate members: California State University, Sacramento, University of Florida, United States Naval Academy, Old Dominion University, and Vanderbilt University.

History

The Big East

Main article: Big East Conference (1979–2013)

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. 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.

Villanova and Pittsburgh joined shortly thereafter under the leadership of the first Big East commissioner, Dave Gavitt.

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. 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. 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.

Realignment and reorganization

UCF

Cincinnati

East Carolina

Florida

Old Dominion

Houston

Memphis

South Florida

SMU

Tulane

Tulsa

Sacramento State

Temple

Navy

Vanderbilt

Wichita State

UAB

Florida Atlantic

Charlotte

North Texas

Rice

UTSA

Florida International

James Madison

– All-sports member
– All-sports member, departing
– All-sports member, arriving
– Full, non-football member
– Affiliate member (football)
– Affiliate member (other)

Further information: 2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment and 2010–13 Big East Conference realignment

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. 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. 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.

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. 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. On April 3, 2013, the conference announced that it had chosen a new name: American Athletic Conference. 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).

To restate and clarify a somewhat confusing series of events: on July 1, the original Big East changed its name to the American Athletic Conference, while the "Catholic 7" split off and joined Butler, Creighton, and Xavier to form a "new" Big East. While The American is reckoned as the original conference and the "new" Big East is considered a spinoff, the "new" Big East retained the rights to the original Big East logo, trademarks, and men's basketball tournament.

Louisville and Rutgers spent one season in the newly renamed conference. On July 1, 2014, Louisville joined the ACC and Rutgers joined the Big Ten Conference. 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. Navy joined as an affiliate member in football on July 1, 2015.

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. 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. 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.

Departure of Connecticut

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. 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.

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."

On June 24, 2019, it was reported that the Big East had formally approved an invitation for UConn to join the conference. 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. 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.

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.

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. 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 while East Carolina University canceled men and women's swimming and diving teams and tennis teams. Women's rowing member San Diego State University dropped that sport effective with the end of the 2020–21 season.

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.

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. 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. On June 10, 2022, The American and the three departing schools announced a buyout agreement had been reached, confirming those schools' 2023 departure date. 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. 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.

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 become a 14-full-member conference. 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. All six schools were accepted on October 21, and the conference confirmed their 2023 entry date on June 16, 2022.

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. The CAA responded by invoking a provision of its bylaws to ban JMU from further conference championship events. The SBC responded by pushing JMU's entry forward to 2022.

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. 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.

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.

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.

Commissioners

Name	Term
Michael Aresco	2013–present

Membership timeline

Further information on members of the old Big East: Big East Conference (1979–2013) § Membership timeline

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

Member universities

Further information on members of the old Big East: Big East Conference (1979–2013) § Member institutions

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 members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Type	Enrollment	Endowment (millions)	Nickname	Colors
University of Central Florida	Orlando, Florida	1963	2013	Public	68,571	$165	Knights
University of Cincinnati	Cincinnati, Ohio	1819	2013	Public	45,949	$1,453	Bearcats
East Carolina University	Greenville, North Carolina	1907	2014	Public	28,718	$213	Pirates
University of Houston	Houston, Texas	1927	2013	Public	47,090	$960	Cougars
University of Memphis	Memphis, Tennessee	1912	2013	Public	21,458	$223	Tigers
University of South Florida	Tampa, Florida	1956	2013	Public	50,830	$690	Bulls
Southern Methodist University	Dallas, Texas	1911	2013	Private	11,649	$2,000	Mustangs
Temple University	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1884	2013	State related	39,755	$644	Owls
Tulane University	New Orleans, Louisiana	1834	2014	Private	11,722	$1,430	Green Wave
University of Tulsa	Tulsa, Oklahoma	1894	2014	Private	3,343	$1,114	Golden Hurricane
Wichita State University	Wichita, Kansas	1895	2017	Public	15,778	$276	Shockers

Notes

Affiliate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Colors	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		21,923	Blazers		Men's soccer	C-USA (The American in 2023)
Florida Atlantic University	Boca Raton, Florida	1961			29,772	Owls		Men's soccer Women's Swimming & Diving
Florida International University	University Park, Florida	1965			58,064	Panthers			C-USA
James Madison University	Harrisonburg, Virginia	1908			21,496	Dukes		Women's lacrosse	Sun Belt
University of North Carolina at Charlotte	Charlotte, North Carolina	1946			30,146	49ers		Men's soccer	C-USA (The American in 2023)
United States Naval Academy	Annapolis, Maryland	1845	2015	Military academy	4,400	Midshipmen		Football	Patriot
University of North Texas	Denton, Texas	1890	2022	Public	42,375	Mean Green		Women's Swimming & Diving	C-USA (The American in 2023)
Old Dominion University	Norfolk, Virginia	1930	2018 (rowing) 2020 (lacrosse)		24,375	Monarchs		Women's rowing Women's lacrosse	Sun Belt
Rice University	Houston, Texas	1912	2022	Private	7,124	Owls		Women's Swimming	C-USA (The American in 2023)
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

Future members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joining	Type	Enrollment	Endowment (millions)	Nickname	Colors	Current conference
University of Alabama at Birmingham	Birmingham, Alabama	1969	2023	Public	21,923	$537	Blazers		C-USA
Florida Atlantic University	Boca Raton, Florida	1961			29,772	$227	Owls
University of North Carolina at Charlotte	Charlotte, North Carolina	1946			30,146	$230	49ers
University of North Texas	Denton, Texas	1890			42,375	$211	Mean Green
Rice University	Houston, Texas	1912		Private	7,124	$6,480	Owls
University of Texas at San Antonio	San Antonio, Texas	1969		Public	34,734	$181	Roadrunners

Former full members

Three full members have departed from the conference.

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Left	Type	Nickname	Colors	Current conference
Rutgers University	New Brunswick, New Jersey	1766	2013	2014	Public	Scarlet Knights		Big Ten
University of Louisville	Louisville, Kentucky	1798	2013			Cardinals		ACC
University of Connecticut	Storrs, Connecticut	1881	2013	2020		Huskies		Big East
								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	N/A
Villanova University	Villanova, Pennsylvania	1842	2013	2015	Wildcats		Women's rowing	Big East	CAA

Notes

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. The newest conference sport of women's lacrosse, added for the 2018–19 school year, has six participating schools. As of the most recent 2022 college lacrosse season, three full American members participated along with affiliate members Florida, Old Dominion, and Vanderbilt. Florida and Vanderbilt are American members only in that sport, while Old Dominion added women's lacrosse to its previously existing women's rowing membership in 2020. James Madison becomes a women's lacrosse affiliate for the 2023 season, South Florida will add a women's lacrosse team in the 2023–24 school year, and future full member Charlotte will add the sport a year later.

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.

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

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	Y	N	Y	Y	8
East Carolina	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	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	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	N	6
Tulane	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	N	Y	6
Tulsa	N	Y	Y	Y	N	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						Y					1
FIU						Y					1
Florida Atlantic						Y					1
Navy				Y							1
UAB						Y					1
Totals	8	11	9	11	9	10	2	8	7	8	83
Future members
Charlotte	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	9
Florida Atlantic	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	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	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	GARC
Temple	Rowing	Independent

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	Y	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	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	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								Y	Y				1
James Madison				Y									1
North Texas								Y					1
Old Dominion				Y	Y								2
Rice								Y					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	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Florida Atlantic	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
North Texas	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Rice	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	N	Y	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	7	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
Memphis	Rifle	GARC
South Florida	Sailing	SAISA
	Beach volleyball (beginning in 2024–25)	TBD
SMU	Equestrian	Independent
Temple	Fencing	NIWFA
	Field hockey	Big East
	Gymnastics	EAGL
Tulane	Beach volleyball	CCSA
	Bowling	Southland
UAB	Bowling	MEAC
	Rifle	SoCon

Conference champions

Main article: List of American Athletic 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	2013–2024	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	2013–2024	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: 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: 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	2013–2024	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: 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: 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	3	Baseball: 1 (1 regular season, 0 tournament) 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: 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: 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

NCAA national championships

See also: List of NCAA schools with the most NCAA Division I championships and List of NCAA schools with the most Division I 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	Co-ed	Nickname	Most successful sport (Titles)
University of Houston	17	17	0	0	Cougars	Men's golf (16)
Southern Methodist University (SMU)	4	4	0	0	Mustangs	Men's outdoor track & field (2)
Temple University	3	1	2	0	Owls	Women's lacrosse (2)
University of Cincinnati	2	2	0	0	Bearcats	Men's basketball (2)
University of South Florida	1	0	1	0	Bulls	Women's swimming (1)
Tulane University	1	1	0	0	Green Wave	Men's tennis (1)
University of Tulsa	1	0	1	0	Golden Hurricane	Women's golf (1)
Wichita State University	1	1	0	0	Shockers	Baseball (1)
University of Central Florida (UCF)	0	0	0	0	Knights	N/A
University of Memphis	0	0	0	0	Tigers	N/A
East Carolina University	0	0	0	0	Pirates	N/A
Total	30	26	4	0

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	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	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

Football

See also: Bowl Championship Series and College Football Playoff

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

The conference previously did not have enough teams to form divisions, but now does after Navy joined the conference in 2015. When Navy joined in 2015 and 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. The East and West division winners, determined by final conference record, meet in the American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game, which is played at the home site of one of the division winners.

With the departure of UConn after the 2019 season, 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 divisions were eliminated from the conference for the time being. 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 all but certain once 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. In 2007, South Florida rose to No. 2 in the BCS rankings, but finished No. 21 in the final poll. Cincinnati finished the 2009 regular season undefeated at 12–0, and ranked No. 3 in the final BCS standings, barely missing the opportunity to play for the BCS National Championship. The conference was 9–7 (.563) in BCS bowl games, the third highest winning percentage among the AQ conferences. After the 2017 season, the University of Central Florida Knights, a member of the American, went undefeated but were not invited to the College Football Playoff. They earned the Group of Five's New Year's Six bowl bid and defeated Auburn in the Peach Bowl. They would claim a national championship, which was recognized by the Colley Matrix, one of the NCAA recognized selectors of the national champion in football.

In 2021, 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
	W	L	T	Win %	W	L	Win %
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	0
Temple	474	586	52	.450	35	21	.625	8	1

Football champions

Main article: American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game

Further information on football champions of the Big East Conference from 1991 to 2012: Big East Conference (1979–2013) § 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

• ^† BCS or NY6 Bowl 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	Began	Record	Series leader	Current Streak
Cincinnati–Memphis	—	—	37	1966	23–14–0	Memphis	Cincinnati won 1
Houston–Tulsa	—	—	45	1950	26–19–0	Houston	Houston won 3
Navy–SMU	—	Gansz Trophy	23	1930	13–10–0	Navy	SMU won 2
South Florida–UCF	War on I-4	War on I-4 Trophy	13	2005	7–6–0	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. 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

Year	Name	Location	Opposing Conference
2020–25	Cotton, Peach, Fiesta, or Playoff	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	Hawaiʻi 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.

Conf. Rank	University	Head Coach	Salary
1	University of Houston	Dana Holgorsen	$3,610,000
2	University of Cincinnati	Luke Fickell	$3,272,500
3	United States Naval Academy	Ken Niumatalolo	$2,316,000
4	University of Central Florida	Gus Malzahn	$2,300,000
5	University of South Florida	Jeff Scott	$2,232,500
6	Temple University	Rod Carey	$2,050,916
7	Tulane University	Willie Fritz	$1,787,000
8	University of Memphis	Ryan Silverfield	$1,750,000
9	University of Tulsa	Philip Montgomery	$1,698,865
10	East Carolina University	Mike Houston	$1,478,462
11	Southern Methodist University	Sonny Dykes	$1,340,314

Records as of the end of the 2020 season.

Conference individual honors

Main article: American Athletic Conference football individual awards

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

Men's basketball

See also: American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament

In June 2013, it was announced that the inaugural men's basketball tournament would take place at FedExForum in Memphis. 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.

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

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	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
26*	1	Memphis	2014	2014	2009	2008	2008	2008
22	3	Houston	2021	2021	2021	2021	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								Total: 3 National Championship Titles

Men's basketball champions

Further information on men's basketball champions of the Big East Conference from 1980 to 2013: Big East Men's Basketball Tournament

	Regular Season					Tournament
Year	Champions	Record	AP	Coaches'	Postseason	Champions	Record	AP	Coaches'	Postseason
2013–14	Louisville	31–6 (15–3)	#5	#9	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	Louisville	31–6	#5	#9	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
	Cincinnati	27–7 (15–3)	#15	#22	NCAA Second Round
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	Canceled
	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

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.

Women's basketball

See also: American Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament

In June 2013, it was announced that the inaugural women's basketball tournament would take place at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. 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.

No.	Team	Records	Win Pct.	The American Tournament Championships	The American Regular Season Championships	Final Fours	National Championships
1	Memphis	781–590	.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	.469	0	0	0	0
11	Tulsa	326–544	.375	0	0	0	0

Women's basketball champions

Further information on women's basketball champions of the Big East Conference from 1983 to 2013: Big East Women's Basketball Tournament

	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	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

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	FAU Arena	2,900	FAU Baseball Stadium	2,000
Houston	TDECU Stadium	40,000	Fertitta Center	7,100	Cougar Field	5,000
Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial 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)	10,206 3,900	Non-baseball school
Tulane	Yulman Stadium	30,000	Devlin Fieldhouse	4,100	Turchin Stadium	5,000
Tulsa	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	64,000	Convocation Center	4,080	Roadrunner Field	800
Wichita State	Non-football member		Charles Koch Arena	10,506	Eck Stadium	7,851
Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium	34,000	Affiliate member

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. Seven members are doctorate-granting universities with "very high research activity," the highest classification given by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. 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	Endowment (millions)	USN Nat.	WM Nat.	URAP U.S.
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

Media

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.

See also

• List of American collegiate athletic stadiums and arenas
• List of NCAA conferences
• Big East Conference (2013–present)
• Big East Conference (1979–2013)