Six schools have applied to the American Athletic Conference to be a part of the conference. The AAC will send each school a letter detailing the terms of expansion by Tuesday, according to a source who was familiar with the matter.
Each of the following universities have requested to be included in the AAC: UAB, Florida Atlantic, Charlotte and North Texas. This was first reported by Yahoo Sports Monday. This is the first step of the realignment process. It will likely move quickly after the university presidents, their general counsels, and the terms have been reviewed.
After UCF, Houston and Cincinnati decided this fall to join the Big 12, the AAC is eager to expand. UConn also left following the 2019 season. Six more schools would make the AAC a 14-team conference in basketball and football, while reducing Conference USA, which is where all the schools are currently located.
Sources say that the conference could be joined as soon as the 2023-24 season. However, this depends on how the AAC deals with schools leaving. AAC bylaws require that schools give notice of their intention to leave for at least 27 months and then pay a $10 million buyout charge.
In mid-September, Mike Aresco, AAC commissioner, told ESPN that the league was willing to negotiate a lower exit fee in order to accommodate UCF's departures from Cincinnati and Houston. Aresco stated that if the three schools adhered to the bylaws, their exit date would become July 1, 2024.
