New-look AAC releases ’23 slate
The American Athletic Conference on Tuesday released its 2023 football schedule that includes the league’s six incoming teams.
Each of the 14 AAC teams will play eight conference games in a single-division format. The top two teams in the standings will play in the conference championship game on Dec. 2.
Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB and UTSA all officially join the AAC on July 1. Their move from Conference USA will be completed at the same time that current AAC members Cincinnati, Houston and UCF depart for the Big 12 Conference.
Reigning AAC champion Tulane opens the season with four of its first five games at home. It opens at home on Sept. 2 against South Alabama, then hosts Southeastern Conference team Mississippi the next week.
The Green Wave were ranked ninth in the final AP Top 25 for the 2022 season after going 12-2, a 10-win improvement from the previous season that marked the best in major college football history. They capped it with a 46-45 win in the Cotton Bowl over Southern California after scoring 16 points in the final 4:07 of the New Year’s Six game.
Tragedy strikes UNLV:
Authorities in Las Vegas are investigating the death of a 20-year-old UNLV football player from Chicago who was found unresponsive in bed in a studio apartment, officials said Tuesday.
The Clark County coroner said a cause and manner of Rebels defensive lineman Ryan Keeler’s death was pending following his death on Monday. Medical examiner blood toxicology test results can take several weeks.
Las Vegas police Officer Robert Wicks said an investigation of Keeler’s unexpected death remained open pending coroner and detective findings. Wicks said the call was initially handled as a medical call.
UNLV head coach Barry Odom announced Keeler’s death on Monday, saying that since the 6-foot-6, 275-pound defensive lineman arrived by transfer from Rutgers University, he stood out to coaches as “an incredible person, student and teammate.”
Keeler played in seven games as a redshirt freshman last season, and he made the academic All-mountain West team with a 3.8 grade-point average, Odom said.