American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference , also known as The American , is an American collegiate athletic conference with member institutions located in the northeastern , midwestern , and southern part of the United States . The conference is headquartered in Providence , Rhode Island , and led by Commissioner Michael Aresco . The American participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) Division I in athletic competitions ; for football , it is a part of the Football Bowl Subdivision ( FBS ) . The American has member institutions that are spread throughout a wide portion of the United States . The majority of its members are located in urban metropolitan areas , or at least on the fringes thereof . The conference is one of two successors to the all - sports Big East Conference ( 1979 – 2013 ) . While the other successor , which does not sponsor football , kept the Big East Conference name , the American Athletic Conference inherited the old Big East ' s structure and is that conference ' s legal successor . The prior league underwent substantial turmoil during the 2010 – 13 NCAA conference realignment period . The American is currently one of the six automatic qualifying conferences of the Bowl Championship Series ( BCS ) , also known as a " Power Six Conference . " The conference inherited the old Big East ' s BCS berth for the 2013 season . However , the new conference will lose its automatic berth as part of the upcoming College Football Playoff in 2014 and become a part of the " Group of Five " , which shares automatic access to one spot in the six premier bowl games . The other four conferences in the group are Conference USA ( C - USA ) , the Mid - American Conference ( MAC ) , the Mountain West Conference , and the Sun Belt Conference . History . The Original Big East . The original Big East Conference was founded in 1979 as a basketball conference , when Providence , St . John ' s , Georgetown , and Syracuse invited Connecticut , Holy Cross , Rutgers , and Boston College . 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 . Villanova and Pittsburgh joined shortly thereafter under the leadership of the Big East ' s first 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 upgraded to full Big East membership in 1995 , while Virginia Tech did the same in 2000 . Temple football was kicked out after the 2004 season , but rejoined in 2012 and intended to become a full Big East 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 2010 – 13 revealed tension between the football - sponsoring and non - football schools that eventually led to the split of the conference in 2013 . Realignment and reorganization . 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 ) . Most notably , seven schools — the " Catholic 7 " — announced in December 2012 that they would leave as a group , later forming the " New Big East . " On December 15 , the Big East ' s seven remaining non - FBS schools , all Catholic institutions — 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 : The American Athletic Conference . It also revealed that it prefers the nickname " The American " ; it was thought " AAC " would cause too much confusion with the Atlantic Coast Conference , or ACC . Louisville and Rutgers will only spend one season in the renamed conference . On July 1 , 2014 , Louisville will join the ACC and Rutgers will join the Big Ten Conference . Membership timeline . , , , Other colors = Other affiliations Member universities . Full members . The conference currently has ten full member institutions and one associate in eight states , including Connecticut , Florida , Kentucky , New Jersey , Ohio , Pennsylvania , Tennessee , and Texas . In 2014 , The American will lose its presence in Kentucky and New Jersey but will gain a presence in Louisiana , North Carolina , and Oklahoma . By 2015 , the conference will include eleven universities in ten states ; the geographic domain of the conference will stretch from Texas to Connecticut ( west to east ) and from Connecticut to Florida ( north to south ) . Associate members . " Source : " Future members . Four universities have been invited to join the conference . East Carolina , Tulane , and Tulsa will join in 2014 , and the Naval Academy ( known athletically as " Navy " ) will join in 2015 . Tulane and Tulsa were invited as full members . East Carolina was originally invited as a football - only member , but was subsequently invited as a full member . Navy will join as an associate member ( football only ) . Sports . For 2013 - 14 , the American Athletic Conference sponsors championship competition in ten men ' s and eleven women ' s NCAA sanctioned sports ; Villanova is an associate member for rowing : 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 . The old Big East Conference sponsored championship competition in eleven men ' s and thirteen women ' s NCAA sanctioned sports . The new conference will not sponsor men ' s or women ' s lacrosse or field hockey . For the 2013 - 2014 season , all teams in the American which sponsor these sports will compete in the Big East , but this could change for later years . The American ' s website indicates that it will sponsor men ' s swimming and diving despite having only four teams . Football . The conference began football during the 1991 – 92 season , and was a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series . The American teams play eight conference games a season . Conference opponents operate on a two - year cycle , as a home - and - home series . The conference does not have enough teams to form divisions , but will in 2015 when Navy joins the conference . 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 – 07 . 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 missed playing for the BCS National Championship . 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 paused - many rivalries . Before their departure to other conferences , a number of former member schools held longtime rivalries within the conference . Some of the rivalries between The American schools include : Basketball . In June 2013 , it was announced that the inaugural men ' s basketball tournament will take place at the FedEx Forum in Memphis . FedEx Forum had previously hosted eight Conference USA basketball tournaments . Notes : Academics . One of the current member schools , Rutgers University , is a member of the Association of American Universities ( AAU ) . One of the future member schools , Tulane University , is also an AAU member . Additionally , member schools are also highly ranked nationally and globally by various groups , including U . S . News & World Report , Academic Ranking of World Universities ( ARWU ) and Times Higher Education World University Rankings ( Times ) . As of 2012 , one conference institution is ranked in the top 100 universities in the world , with Rutgers ranked 59th .