Once again, the American Athletic Conference has had one of its teams poached by a Power Five conference. SMU – along with Cal and Stanford – is heading to the ACC.
It’s the latest domino to fall in conference realignment, which has reshaped college athletics since Texas and Oklahoma announced in 2021 they were leaving the Big 12 for the SEC in 2024. When that happened, the Big 12 turned to the AAC and lured away its best brands: UCF, Cincinnati and Houston. The AAC restocked with refugees from Conference USA, bringing aboard North Texas, Rice, FAU, Charlotte, UTSA and UAB. There was a lot of shifting around in the Group of Five.
SMU’s departure – effective after the 2023-24 academic year ends – leaves the AAC with 13 football-playing members (Wichita State is a full member but doesn’t have football. Navy is a football-only member).
So, if the AAC wants to get back to an even number, where does it look?
Apparently what’s left of the Pac-12 – Washington State and Oregon State – aren’t options the league is still considering. Unlike the ACC, the AAC doesn’t want to expand all the way to the West Coast. Its western-most member at the moment is UTSA.
So, east of Texas, is there a team that makes sense for the American Athletic Conference? We have a few ideas in no particular order.