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Finally, the much-anticipated American Athletic Conference (AAC) expansion is happening. In June 2022, the AAC announced in June 2022 that six new members would be joining its ranks. The new members are scheduled to officially join the conference on July 1, 2023. The new members are Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA. This will bring the total number of members in the conference to 14. The AAC expansion is in direct response to the series of realignments that have been going on in college athletics for some years now. Several conferences have been making moves to bring on new members to boost their overall position in relation to other conferences. In order not to be left out, the AAC had to begin its own expansion to remain competitive with its contemporaries in the Power 6. Remember, the AAC was established during the 2013 reorganization as a successor to the old Big East Conference. The conference is not new to realignments. After it was originally born out of an actual reorganization of the old Big East, it has experienced movements, in and out, of members. Louisville and Rutgers departed the conference just one year after its formation. The addition of Wichita State in 2017 did not fully make up for this as it was a non-football program. Again in 2020, UConn left the conference to join up with the Big East. The latest in the series of departures from the conference will take effect on July 1, 2023, as Cincinnati, Houston and Central Florida make their way out. However, with the arrival of the six new members, the AAC expansion is projected to strengthen the conference in a number of ways. For instance, UAB and Charlotte bring some needed weight to the conference in the media market. In addition, the strong academic standing of the new members will serve to maintain the AAC’s reputation as a top academic conference. read more: https://www.sportskeeda.com/college-football/aac-expansion-news-what-colleges-moving-american-charlotte-fau-fray-latest-conference-realignments-transform-college-athletics

Today marks the official start of the American Athletic Conference as a successor to the Big East in football and other sports. Of the eight teams that played in the first Big East football season in 1991, only Temple will remain, and that’s a Temple program that was banished to the MAC for a spell and has played in one bowl game in the past 30 years. Most of the other teams are former mid-majors from Conference USA or former independents or I-AA schools. I’m sorry, but this conference is doomed, and there are several reasons why. One is that, after 2013, the American Athletic loses its automatic BCS bid. Recent history has told us that the Mountain West champion, and even the MAC champion, often outperformed the Big East champ in the BCS standings. And remember, that’s the Big East with West Virginia, Pitt, Syracuse and Louisville, all of whom have either left or are poised to leave in the coming seasons. The chances of the American Athletic, as constituted, landing a team in the Final Four of the college football playoff that begins in 2014 seem minuscule at best. Another threat to the viability of this conference is that the power conferences probably aren't done raiding yet. The ACC will want to get up to 16, while the Big 12 will actually want to get to 12, so it can stage a nationally televised championship game like the other four power conferences. While it's true that they could go after some western programs such as Boise State or BYU, the most likely targets seem to be teams from this conference. Read more: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1581656-why-the-american-athletic-conference-is-doomed-from-the-start