AAC Announces That Six New Schools Will Officially Join in July 2023

Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, Rice, UAB and UTSA will make the leap next summer.

The American Athletic Conference will officially welcome its new members next summer. 

AAC commissioner Mike Aresco announced Wednesday that the six new member schools–Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, Rice, UAB and UTSA–will join the conference on July 1, 2023. The new members will be eligible for competition when the 2023–24 athletic season begins.

“We are extremely pleased and excited to welcome our new members to the conference in 2023, as we begin our second decade,” Aresco said in a statement. “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.”

Officially official.

We welcome
@UAB_Athletics
@Charlotte49ers
@FAUAthletics
@MeanGreenSports
@RiceAthletics
@UTSAAthletics
July 1, 2023https://t.co/XkesUWsWFM pic.twitter.com/8rqEDUROT5

— The American (@American_Conf) June 15, 2022

Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, Rice, UAB and UTSA will join East Carolina, Memphis, Navy (football only), South Florida, SMU, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa and Wichita State (basketball and Olympic Sports only) in the AAC. The conference will officially be a 15-member conference, but will compete as a 14-team league in football, men’s and women’s basketball and other sports. 

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The Athletic had reported that the AAC move was expected soon, following the official announcement of the leap to the Big 12 by Cincinnati, Houston and UCF. The six new AAC members were waiting for the three schools to depart the conference before making an agreement.

Cincinnati, Houston and UCF will terminate their AAC membership on June 30, 2023, paving the way for a new era to begin.

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