AAC expected to add six new members from Conference USA
University of Memphis receiver Calvin Austin III (4) hauls in the ball while being tailed by University of Texas San Antonio safety Clifford Chattman (10) during a Sept. 25, 2021 game at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
The American Athletic Conference likely will receive membership applications from six Conference USA schools as early as this week, according to a report Tuesday, Oct. 19.
Florida Atlantic, Charlotte, North Texas, UTSA, Rice and UAB are the six schools expected to join the AAC, which would push the conference to 14 members, Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports reported.
The Texas and Oklahoma decision earlier this year to leave the Big 12 for the SEC put all of the recent conference realignment transactions in motion. The Big 12 replaced those two schools by grabbing Cincinnati, Houston and UCF from the AAC to join BYU as the four new members.
Now, the AAC is pulling its replacements from Conference USA. Memphis athletic director Laird Veatch joined USF athletic director Mike Kelly, SMU’s Rick Hart and Navy’s Chet Gladchuk on the AAC expansion committee.
The C-USA programs are looking to join the AAC as early as 2023, according to Brett McMurphy of The Stadium.
Previous reports suggest that the Big 12 might not be done expanding. Memphis has hoped to be one of the schools at the top of the list if another Big 12 expansion takes place.
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Memphis Football AAC conference realignment Conference USAFrank Bonner II
Frank Bonner is the Memphis Tigers football beat writer. He is originally from Indiana but arrived in Memphis after spending two years in Tulsa, covering Oklahoma State football and basketball. He covered high school sports in Columbus, Indiana for two years before getting his Master’s degree in Sports Journalism at IUPUI. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in journalism from Indiana University.
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