The American Athletic Conference is bigger than ever.
In a college football offseason defined by conference realignment, the AAC saw its nucleus shift tremendously. The league lost three of its premier programs — Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF — to the Big 12, but added six CUSA schools — Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA — to fill the void left behind.
That makes for a 14-team league, which is tied with four other conferences for the most crowded table in the FBS. While the six newcomers generated plenty of buzz at AAC media days in Arlington, TX, the eight teams that stood pat this summer also took center stage at Arlington.