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 on Thursday.
“Nine years ago (when the AAC formed), a lot of people doubted us,” AAC commissioner Mike Aresco said. “But what we’re doing here is building for the long-term future. We decided there was strength in numbers. We also looked around and said, ‘You know, there are some schools we might be interested in later on.