The American Athletic Conference announced the addition of six new universities — Florida Atlantic University, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, University of North Texas, University of Texas at San Antonio, Rice University and University of Alabama at Birmingham — to the conference.
“We are adding excellent institutions that are established in major cities and have invested in competing at the highest level,” AAC commissioner Mike Aresco said. “We have enhanced geographical concentration which will especially help the conference’s men’s and women’s basketball and Olympic sports teams. And we will continue to provide valuable inventory to our major media rights partner, ESPN, which will feature our members on the most prominent platforms in sports media.