College football news: AAC to add 6 schools ahead of 2023 season
College football realignment takes its next step as the AAC announced it will add six new members from Conference USA ahead of the 2023 football season.
The AAC will add the new schools on July 1, 2023 in time for fall sports.
Those new AAC members will be: UAB, FAU, Charlotte, North Texas, Rice, and UTSA.
All the schools announced their intention to join the AAC back in October 2021, and this decision comes after news of several AAC teams leaving for the Big 12.
UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston will leave the AAC for the Big 12 ahead of the 2023 college football season.
BYU will also join that conference at the same time, while traditional powers Texas and Oklahoma will leave the Big 12 for the SEC at some point before the 2025 season.
By adding these six new schools, the AAC adds some important media markets in the college football TV industry, including three markets based in Texas and the always lucrative Birmingham, Alabama, market.
"We are extremely pleased and excited to welcome our new members to the conference in 2023, as we begin our second decade," AAC commissioner Mike Aresco said.
"Our incoming schools comprise a distinguished group with attributes that will enhance our conference's Power 6 goals.
"We have already seen the investment and commitment that these institutions have made as they prepare to compete in The American, and, together with our accomplished incumbent institutions, the conference is assured of many years of championship-level competition as part of a bright future that will build on the extraordinary legacy of the past decade."
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