American Athletic Conference

The American Conference (also known as "(The) American") is a big college sports conference in the United States. Its members play in NCAA Division I. In football, they play in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; known before 2006 as Division I-A), the higher of two levels of Division I football.

The American has its roots in the original Big East Conference. That conference was started in 1979 as a basketball-first league by a group of schools in the Eastern U.S. The Big East added football in 1991. That led to years of conflict between schools that played I-A/FBS football and those that did not. In July 2013, the Big East split into two conferences. The seven schools that did not play FBS football left to form a new Big East Conference. The FBS schools that did not go to other conferences stayed in the old conference structure. Along with several new members, they began operating as the American Athletic Conference.

The American kept the original Big East charter. That makes it the legal successor of the old Big East. However, both The American and the new Big East claim 1979 as their founding dates. Both also claim the pre-split history of the old Big East, at least in corporate terms. However, both leagues agreed that the current Big East would maintain the sporting history of the original conference in most sports. The only exceptions are football and women's rowing, the only two sports sponsored by The American but not the current Big East. In those two sports, neither offshoot league recognizes the history of the original Big East.

Of the 14 current full members (those that house most of their sports in the league), only Wichita State does not have a football team.

A major conference realignment was triggered in 2021 when Big 12 Conference mainstays Oklahoma and Texas announced they would move to the Southeastern Conference no later than 2025, with a 2024 entry date later confirmed. The American would be heavily affected. The Big 12 then raided The American, inviting Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF to join that conference, with their arrival date later set for 2023. In turn, The American raided Conference USA, inviting six members of that conference to move to The American in 2023—Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA. Later in the realignment cycle, SMU announced it would leave The American for the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2024. The American replaced SMU for football with Army, which joined as a football-only member at the same time that SMU left.

On July 21, 2025, the conference dropped the word "Athletic" from its name, becoming simply the American Conference.

 Members 

 School  Location  Founded  Type(affiliation)  Nickname  JoinedThe American    (Charlotte)  Charlotte, North Carolina  1946  Public  49ers  2023 East Carolina University  Greenville, North Carolina  1907  Public  Pirates  2014 Florida Atlantic University  Boca Raton, Florida  1965  Public  Owls  2023 MemphisUniversity of Memphis  Memphis, Tennessee  1912  Public  Tigers  2013   Denton, Texas  1890  Public  Mean Green  2023 Rice University  Houston, Texas  1912  Private  Owls  2023 South FloridaUniversity of South Florida  Tampa, Florida  1956  Public  Bulls  2005 Temple University  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania  1884  State-related  Owls  1991, 2012 (football)2013 (all sports) Tulane University  New Orleans, Louisiana  1834  Private (nonsectarian)  Green Wave  2014 TulsaUniversity of Tulsa  Tulsa, Oklahoma  1894  Private (Presbyterian)  Golden Hurricane  2014  (UAB)  Birmingham, Alabama  1969  Public  Blazers  2023  (UTSA)  San Antonio, Texas  1969  Public  Roadrunners  2023 Wichita State University  Wichita, Kansas  1895  Public  Shockers  2017

Associate members
As of the 2025–26 school year, The American has nine "associate members" that play one or two sports in the conference.

 School  Location  Founded  Type(affiliation)  Joined  Sport  Current main conference  Nickname  (Army)  West Point, New York  1802  Federal  2024  Football  Patriot League  Black Knights  (FIU)  University Park, Florida  1965  Public  2022    Conference USA  Panthers  James Madison University  Harrisonburg, Virginia  1908  Public  2022    Sun Belt Conference  Dukes 2025  Liberty University  Lynchburg, Virginia  1971  Private  2025    Conference USA  Lady Flames Marshall University  Huntington, West Virginia  1837  Public  2025    Sun Belt Conference  Thundering Herd Missouri State University  Springfield, Missouri  1905  Public  2025    Conference USA  Bears  (Navy)  Annapolis, Maryland  1845  Federal  2015  Football  Patriot League  Midshipmen Old Dominion University  Norfolk, Virginia  1930  Public  2020    Sun Belt Conference  Monarchs Vanderbilt University  Nashville, Tennessee  1873  Private  2018    Southeastern Conference  Commodores

Former members
Two schools left The American after spending only the 2013–14 school year in the renamed conference. Before 2013, both had been members of the original Big East. A third school left The American in 2020 to rejoin most of its historic all-sports rivals in the current Big East. Three more schools left for the Big 12 in 2023, one of which stayed in The American for one season in women's lacrosse only. Another left for the ACC in 2024.

 School  Location  Founded  Type(affiliation)  Nickname  Joined  Left  Currentconference   Louisville, Kentucky  1798  Public  Cardinals  2005  2014  ACC Rutgers University  New Brunswick, New Jersey  1766  Public  Scarlet Knights  1991 (football)1995 (all sports)  2014  Big Ten  (SMU)  University Park, Texas  1911  Private (Methodist)  Mustangs  2013  2024  ACC  (UConn)  Storrs, Connecticut   1881  Public  Huskies  1979  2020  Big East FBS independent (football)   Houston, Texas  1927  Public  Cougars  2013  2023  Big 12  (UCF)  Orlando, Florida  1963  Public  Knights  2013  2023  Big 12

 Former associate members 
Five other schools were single-sport members, but are no longer in the conference. Three of these competed in women's rowing before leaving the conference, with one leaving after The American shut down its women's rowing league in 2024. Another women's rowing associate left in 2024, but is still in The American in another sport.

Two other schools were members for women's lacrosse before the Big 12 Conference started a women's lacrosse league in 2024–25. One of these latter two schools had been a full American Conference member before joining the Big 12, but kept women's lacrosse in The American for a single season.

Apart from these, five other schools were associate members for one year before becoming full conference members.

 School  Location  Founded  Type(affiliation)  Nickname  Joined  Left  Sport  Current conferencein formerAmerican sport  (Charlotte)  Charlotte, North Carolina  1946  Public 49ers  2022  2023    American   Cincinnati, Ohio  1819  Public  Bearcats  2023  2024    Big 12   Gainesville, Florida  1853  Public  Gators  2018  2024    Big 12 Florida Atlantic University  Boca Raton, Florida  1961  Public  Owls  2022  2023    American    Denton, Texas  1890  Public  Mean Green  2022  2023    American Old Dominion University  Norfolk, Virginia  1930  Public  Monarchs  2018  2024    Big 12 Rice University  Houston, Texas  1912  Private  Owls  2022  2023    American  (Sacramento State)  Sacramento, California  1947  Public  Hornets  2014  2024    Independent San Diego State University  San Diego, California  1897  Public  Aztecs  2015  2021     (dropped women's rowing)  (UAB)  Birmingham, Alabama  1969  Public  Blazers  2022  2023    American Villanova University  Villanova, Pennsylvania  1842  Private (Catholic)  Wildcats  2013  2015    CAA

Sports
The American holds championships in 10 men's sports and 11 women's sports:
 Baseball (men only)
 Basketball (both)
 Cross country (both)
 Football (men only)
 Golf (both)
 Lacrosse (women only)
 Soccer (both)
 Softball (women only)
 Swimming and diving (both)
 Tennis (both)
 Track and field, indoor (both)
 Track and field, outdoor (both)
 Volleyball (women only)

 References 

Other websites