American Athletic Conference
| Status |
|---|
| Active |
| Years Active |
| 2013-present |
| Prior Name(s)/Conference(s) |
| Big East Conference (football only) |
| Successor Conference(s) |
| n/a |
The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and six associate 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.
Members
Current members
Cincinnati Bearcats • East Carolina Pirates • Houston Cougars • Memphis Tigers • Navy Midshipmen • SMU Mustangs • South Florida Bulls • Temple Owls • Tulane Green Wave • Tulsa Golden Hurricane • UCF Knights
Affiliate members
Navy Midshipmen (football)
Former members
Louisville Cardinals • Rutgers Scarlet Knights • UConn Huskies
Media guides and yearbooks
Media guides
Football
| 2010s | 2017 • 2019 |
|---|---|
| 2020s | 2021 |