AP sources: 6 C-USA schools apply for AAC membership

The American Athletic Conference’s latest rebuild leaves Conference USA in a precarious position.

Six schools from Conference USA — UAB, UTSA, Rice, North Texas, Charlotte and Florida Atlantic — have applied for membership with the American and are expected to be accepted by the end of the week, according to two people with knowledge of the process who spoke with The Associated Press.

An announcement could come as soon as Thursday. The people spoke to AP on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the league was not yet prepared to make its expansion plans public.

The shuffling is part of the fallout stemming from the latest round of conference realignment that kicked off this summer when Oklahoma and Texas decided to bolt the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference. The ripple effects of that are now being felt across the country.

The American was in the market for new members after three of its most successful schools — Cincinnati, Houston and Central Florida — announced in September they would be joining the Big 12.

Those moves are expected by the 2023 football season, and the American hopes to have its six new members in place when the departing schools leave.

The result would be a 14-team conference, with four schools in Texas — the three new members and SMU.

C-USA has been a frequent target when the American, formerly the Big East, has needed to reconstitute. After the latest realignment moves have been completed, 12 of the American’s 14 members will be former C-USA schools.

Earlier this month, CUSA Commissioner Judy McLeod sent a letter to AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco proposing a merger of sorts between the two conferences to make each a better geographic fit for its members. The AAC had no interest and instead went on the offensive.

Conference USA will be down to eight members — Old Dominion, UTEP, Southern Mississippi, Marshall, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, Florida International and Western Kentucky — with an unclear future.

In the past, Conference USA has poached the Sun Belt Conference when it needed replacement schools. Middle Tennessee, FIU and Western Kentucky were all members of the Sun Belt.

But the Sun Belt is now in a position of strength relative to C-USA.

“I don’t see any Sun Belt Schools leaving,” former Sun Belt Commissioner Wright Waters said.

This time it could be the Sun Belt poaching C-USA.