American Conference (NCAA)

The American Conference, also called the American Athletic Conference or simply the American, is a group of universities in the United States that compete in sports. It has 13 main schools and 6 extra schools that join for certain sports. These schools play in the top level of college sports, known as Division I. Their football teams are part of the Football Bowl Subdivision.

The American Conference started from an older group called the original Big East Conference. That old group was one of the top six conferences in college football before 2014. When a new system called the College Football Playoff began, the American Conference became one of the smaller groups, known as a "Group of Five" conference.

The American Conference formed because of big changes in college sports between 2010 and 2014. It shares its history with another conference that split from the old Big East, but it kept the old structure and is considered the official continuation of that conference. The American Conference is based in Irving, Texas and is led by Commissioner Tim Pernetti.

History

The Big East

Main article: Big East Conference (1979–2013)

The Big East Conference started in 1979 for basketball. It included schools like St. John's, Georgetown, and Syracuse. They invited Connecticut (UConn), Holy Cross, Rutgers, and Boston College to join. UConn and Boston College said yes, but Holy Cross and Rutgers said no. Later, Seton Hall joined, and the conference began with seven schools.

Villanova and Pittsburgh joined soon after. The conference stayed mostly the same until 1991 when it began sponsoring football. They added Miami as a full member and Rutgers, Temple, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia for football only. Rutgers and West Virginia became full members in 1995, and Virginia Tech joined in 2000. Temple left football in 2004 but came back in 2012.

Realignment and reorganization

The Big East faced many changes between 2010 and 2013. Many schools left for other conferences, and new schools joined. In December 2012, seven schools that did not sponsor football—DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, and Villanova—decided to leave. They wanted a better television deal. In March 2013, these schools left and kept the Big East name.

The remaining schools chose a new name: American Athletic Conference, often called "The American." Louisville and Rutgers were in this new conference for one season before moving to other conferences in 2014. East Carolina, Tulane, and Tulsa joined the same year.

Addition of Wichita State

In 2017, the conference added Wichita State as a full member without football.

Departure of UConn

In 2019, UConn decided to leave for the Big East Conference in 2020.

Added stability

After UConn left, the conference added Old Dominion University for women's lacrosse and moved its offices to Irving, Texas.

Big 12 raid and subsequent invitations to the conference

In 2021, Oklahoma and Texas planned to leave the Big 12. The American Conference was involved in discussions. Later, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF joined the Big 12 in 2023.

Subsequent moves

In 2021, the American Conference considered adding schools from the Mountain West Conference and later accepted six schools from Conference USA to join in 2023.

Expansion in men's soccer and women's swimming and diving

Changes in other conferences led the American to add new members for men's soccer and women's swimming and diving earlier than planned.

Departure of SMU, arrival of Army

In 2023, SMU left for the Atlantic Coast Conference. Army joined the American as a football-only member in 2024.

Additional expansion in men's soccer and women's swimming & diving

In 2024 and 2025, the conference added Missouri State for men's soccer and James Madison, Liberty, and Marshall for women's swimming and diving.

Rebranding

In 2025, the conference shortened its name to the American Conference and introduced a new slogan and mascot.

Member universities

Further information on members of the old Big East: Big East Conference (1979–2013) § Member institutions

The American Conference has 13 full member universities and 9 affiliate members spread across 15 states: Alabama, California, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Wichita State is the only full member that does not have a football team.

Notes

Notes

The conference had seven former full members; all but one were public schools.

Notes

Six affiliate members have left the conference. Five other schools were affiliate members for one year before becoming full members.

Notes

Sports

The American Conference offers 10 sports for men and 11 sports for women. Schools like James Madison, Old Dominion, and Vanderbilt join specially for women's lacrosse. Because football has many male players, each school must offer more sports for women than for men to keep things fair, following rules about gender equity and Title IX.

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the American which are played by conference schools:

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the American which are played by conference schools:

Conference champions

Main article: List of American Conference champions

In the American Conference, when two or more teams win together, each team gets a full title. This information is correct as of June 14, 2023. Some titles are not counted because they were later removed, and some teams that won titles are no longer part of the conference. Some titles were won by teams that only compete in one sport.

NCAA national championships

See also: List of NCAA schools with the most NCAA Division I championships and List of NCAA schools with the most Division I national championships

None of the current schools in the American Conference have won an NCAA team championship while they were part of the conference. The school that did win a fully recognized NCAA title while in the American, UConn, moved to the Big East Conference in 2020. Some schools have won national titles before they joined the American Conference. Another former member, SMU, won a title in equestrian in 2023 the year before it moved to the ACC, but that sport is not fully recognized by the NCAA yet. Equestrian is part of the NCAA's Emerging Sports for Women program, but its championships are run by the National Collegiate Equestrian Association instead of the NCAA.

Some titles are not counted here, like titles won outside of NCAA competition. These include Division I FBS football titles, Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association titles, women's AIAW titles, NCEA titles, retroactive Helms Athletic Foundation titles, and ITA tennis titles.

Team championships won by current members

Team championships won as American Conference members

Includes all titles won while a member of the American, whether or not the conference sponsored that sport at the time.

Individual and relay championships by current members

Football

See also: Bowl Championship Series and College Football Playoff

The conference started playing football in the 1991–92 season and was one of the original members of the Bowl Championship Series. Teams used to play each other in a two-year cycle, taking turns hosting games.

When Navy joined in 2015, the conference had enough teams to create divisions. Navy was placed in the West division with Houston, Memphis, SMU, Tulane, and Tulsa. Each team plays eight conference games a season. Since 2015, teams play the other five teams in their own division and three teams from the other division. This happens in a four-year cycle so each team plays every other team at home and away at least once. At the end of the regular season, the best team from the East division and the best team from the West division play in the American Conference Football Championship Game, hosted by one of the division winners.

After UConn left after the 2019 season, the divisions were changed because there were an uneven number of teams. The conference decided not to add another team to balance the divisions, so they stopped using divisions. Now, the championship game is played by the two teams with the best records in conference play. Even though the conference has had 14 football teams since 2023, it has not split into divisions for football.

Football in the conference has seen many changes over the years. It was important for the conference’s status in college football. In 2005, with the addition of Cincinnati, Louisville, and South Florida, the conference kept its special status in the BCS.

In 2017, the UCF Knights football team went undefeated and won a major bowl game. In 2021, Cincinnati became the first team from outside the top conferences to reach the College Football Playoff. In 2025, Tulane also made it to the College Football Playoff.

All-time school and conference records

As of the 2025 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Conference wins and losses are since the formation of the American, inclusive of championship games.^{[clarification needed]}

Football champions

Main article: American Conference Football Championship Game

Further information on football champions of the Big East Conference from 1991 to 2012: Big East Conference (1979–2013) § Champions

The American Championship Game is played between the top two teams in the conference after the regular season. The game is held at the home stadium of the team with the best conference record. The conference split into two divisions for football and first played its championship game in 2015. Through the 2019 season, the championship game was for the winners of each division and was hosted by the division champion with the best record. After UConn left in 2020, the conference went back to a single-table format. This format is still used even after expanding to 14 teams in 2023.

• ^† BCS or NY6 Bowl Game
• ^ College Football Playoff game

Rivalries

The American has many rivalries among its member schools, especially in football. Some rivalries started before the conference began. Recent changes in conference memberships in 2005, 2013, and the early 2020s ended or paused many rivalries. Before leaving for other conferences, some former members had long-standing rivalries within the conference.

Intra-conference rivalries

Records as of Week 8 of the 2025 season

Bowl games

Following the 2013 season, the BCS era ended and was replaced by the College Football Playoff. Originally, four teams played in two semifinal games, with the winners going to the College Football Playoff National Championship. Six major bowls — the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and Peach Bowl — took turns hosting the semifinal games and other important games.

Starting in 2024, the CFP expanded to 12 teams. In 2024, the four highest-ranked conference champions got byes in the first round. This changed in 2025, so the four highest-ranked teams get byes no matter which conference they are from. The other eight teams play first-round games at the home fields of the higher-ranked teams. The New Year's Six bowls host the quarterfinals and semifinals, except the Rose Bowl, which always hosts a quarterfinal on New Year's Day.

When the College Football Playoff began, the American lost its special status for getting into major bowls. Now, one spot is reserved for the highest-ranked team from the "Group of Six" conferences — the American, Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, Mountain West Conference, Pac-12 Conference, and Sun Belt Conference. In 2024 and 2025, this spot went to the highest-ranked champion from these groups; starting in 2026, it will go to the highest-ranked team from these groups even if it didn’t win its conference championship.

Although bowl picks usually follow conference standings, bowls can choose teams based on many factors, like how many fans the team has. Picks are made after any College Football Playoff selections. If a team is picked for an access bowl or the playoff, the bowl with the next pick chooses from the remaining teams in the conference.

Head football coach compensation

The total pay of head coaches includes university and non-university compensation. This includes base salary, income from contracts, foundation supplements, bonuses and media and radio pay.

Records as of the end of the 2022 season

Conference individual honors

Main article: American Athletic Conference football individual awards

Coaches and media of the American give out individual awards at the end of each football season.

Men's basketball

See also: American Conference men's basketball tournament

In June 2013, it was announced that the first men's basketball tournament would be held at FedExForum in Memphis. This place had hosted basketball tournaments before.

Even though the Big East Conference was focused on basketball, a team from the American Conference, UConn, won the 2014 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament after the conferences split.

All-time school records by winning percentage

This list goes through the 2024-25 season.

Source

American Conference Men's Basketball NCAA Bids

This list goes through the 2023–24 season. Only current conference members are included. However, this list covers the entire histories of basketball at the listed institutions, not just their time in the American Conference.

Men's basketball champions

Further information on men's basketball champions of the Big East Conference from 1980 to 2013: Big East men's basketball tournament

Main article: American Conference men's basketball tournament

Intra-conference rivalries

The American has many rivalries among its member schools, some of which existed before the conference was established. Changes in conferences in 2005 and 2013 ended or paused many of these rivalries. Before leaving for other conferences, some former members had long-standing rivalries within the conference.

Results as of the 2022–23 season.

Women's basketball

See also: American Conference women's basketball tournament

In June 2013, the first women's basketball tournament was planned to happen at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. Women's basketball teams have taken part in the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament 20 times since 1982. UConn has won three national titles while being part of the American Conference and 12 titles in total under their coach Geno Auriemma since 1995. Before 1982, women's national championship tournaments were organized by the AIAW.

All-time school records by winning percentage

This list goes through the 2016–17 season.

Women's basketball champions

Further information on women's basketball champions of the Big East Conference from 1983 to 2013: Big East women's basketball tournament

Facilities

Notes

CNBC list of the most valuable American schools

Rankings as of December 19, 2025 (2024–2025 academic year)

Athletic department revenue by school

This section shows how much money each school made and spent on their sports programs during the 2023–24 school year. The money comes from things like ticket sales, donations, TV deals, and student fees. Expenses include paying coaches, giving scholarships, and maintaining sports facilities.

Broadcasting and media rights

In March 2019, the conference made a big agreement with ESPN worth $1 billion over 12 years. Most of the games will be shown on ESPN channels. Some basketball games were shown on CBS Sports until 2022, and special football games from Army and Navy will be on CBS Sports until 2027 and 2028. Games not on regular TV will be on ESPN+, but many important games will still be on ABC and other ESPN channels. Each year, over 1,000 games from different sports are shown on ESPN+, including all baseball, basketball, football, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, and volleyball games from member schools.