22 Schools•Division I•Est. 2013
The American traces its roots to the Big East, founded in 1979 as a basketball league by Providence, St. John's, Georgetown, Syracuse, Connecticut, Boston College, and Seton Hall. When the football and non-football schools split in 2013, the football side kept the structure and became the American Athletic Conference. In 2025 it shortened its name to the American Conference and adopted the slogan Built to Rise along with Soar the Eagle, billed as the first brand ambassador of a college athletic conference. Thirteen full members and nine affiliates now compete across fifteen states, with 21 sponsored sports.
Football has been the league's ladder to the national stage. Member schools have claimed New Year's Six bowl victories in the Fiesta, Peach, and Cotton Bowls, and conference teams have reached the College Football Playoff. Tulane's 2022 Cotton Bowl win over USC capped the biggest one-year turnaround in major college football history.
Basketball runs deep. Memphis, Temple, Wichita State, Charlotte, and Florida Atlantic have all reached Final Fours, and Temple was the first NIT champion back in 1938. North Texas owns four men's golf titles, Temple has won in women's lacrosse and men's gymnastics, Rice and Wichita State have baseball championships, and members have combined for roughly 70 individual NCAA titles.
Rivalries carry real history. Army and Navy meet in the sport's most storied game, first played in 1890 and traditionally staged in Philadelphia. Memphis and UAB compete for the Battle for the Bones and a bronze rack of ribs, awarded alongside a barbecue contest. Tulsa and Wichita State own the longest continuous series in the league, dating to 1931 on the basketball court. Tulane and Navy, North Texas and Rice, and Rice and Tulsa all bring decades of their own back-and-forth.
Olympic representation is broad, with athletes competing in track, soccer, swimming, tennis, volleyball, and rowing for nations around the world.
Official Website
The American traces its roots to the Big East, founded in 1979 as a basketball league by Providence, St. John's, Georgetown, Syracuse, Connecticut, Boston College, and Seton Hall. When the football and non-football schools split in 2013, the football side kept the structure and became the American Athletic Conference. In 2025 it shortened its name to the American Conference and adopted the slogan Built to Rise along with Soar the Eagle, billed as the first brand ambassador of a college athletic conference. Thirteen full members and nine affiliates now compete across fifteen states, with 21 sponsored sports.
Football has been the league's ladder to the national stage. Member schools have claimed New Year's Six bowl victories in the Fiesta, Peach, and Cotton Bowls, and conference teams have reached the College Football Playoff. Tulane's 2022 Cotton Bowl win over USC capped the biggest one-year turnaround in major college football history.
Basketball runs deep. Memphis, Temple, Wichita State, Charlotte, and Florida Atlantic have all reached Final Fours, and Temple was the first NIT champion back in 1938. North Texas owns four men's golf titles, Temple has won in women's lacrosse and men's gymnastics, Rice and Wichita State have baseball championships, and members have combined for roughly 70 individual NCAA titles.
Rivalries carry real history. Army and Navy meet in the sport's most storied game, first played in 1890 and traditionally staged in Philadelphia. Memphis and UAB compete for the Battle for the Bones and a bronze rack of ribs, awarded alongside a barbecue contest. Tulsa and Wichita State own the longest continuous series in the league, dating to 1931 on the basketball court. Tulane and Navy, North Texas and Rice, and Rice and Tulsa all bring decades of their own back-and-forth.
Olympic representation is broad, with athletes competing in track, soccer, swimming, tennis, volleyball, and rowing for nations around the world.
Official Website