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Conference realignment: AAC to reportedly receive applications from 6 schools this week
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
The American Athletic Conference is looking to add to its ranks with Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF set to depart for the Big 12 in July 2023. As it seeks to expand, 6 schools are reportedly poised to apply for admission.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel, those schools are Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, Rice, UTSA, and UAB. All 6 are currently primary members of Conference USA.
“The expectation is that they will be accepted and the AAC will grow to a 14-team football [and basketball] league,” Thamel tweeted on Monday.
That, of course, would mean trouble for C-USA and its remaining 8 programs as they each could potentially look elsewhere. For the AAC, though, it’s an opportunity to enter a major Southeastern media market in Charlotte and maintaining a presence in both Florida and Houston — while adding rapidly-growing Texas markets in Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio. It also stands to add a program in a football-hungry Alabama.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
