The American Conference (formerly the American Athletic Conference) is an NCAA Division I conference that sponsors championships in 22 sports (10 men's and 12 women's). For every sport except football, the champion is determined using a postseason tournament or meet.
Members
The American has 13 full member institutions:
Charlotte East Carolina Florida Atlantic Memphis North Texas Rice South Florida Temple Tulane Tulsa UAB UTSA Wichita State (non-football member)
In addition, the conference has nine current affiliate members: Army (football) FIU (men's soccer and women's swimming and diving) James Madison (women's lacrosse and women's swimming and diving) Liberty (women's swimming & diving) Marshall (women's swimming & diving) Missouri State (men's soccer) Navy (football) Old Dominion (women's lacrosse) Vanderbilt (women's lacrosse)
Former members Seven schools were formerly full members of The American: Cincinnati (2013–23) Houston (2013–23) Louisville (2013–14) Rutgers (2013–14) SMU (2013–24) UCF (2013–23) UConn (2013–20)
Several other schools have been affiliate members in the past. Five have completely left the American. One current affiliate member had previously been an affiliate in a second sport. Five others, indicated in italics, were affiliate members for one season before becoming full conference members.
Charlotte (men's soccer, 2022–23) Cincinnati (women's lacrosse, 2023–24) Florida (women's lacrosse, 2018–24) Florida Atlantic (men's soccer, women's swimming & diving; 2022–23) North Texas (women's swimming & diving, 2022–23) Old Dominion (women's rowing, 2020–24) — still a women's lacrosse affiliate Rice (women's swimming, 2022–23) – Rice dropped diving from its women's aquatics program in 1991 and did not reinstate the discipline until 2024, after it had become a full conference member. Sacramento State (women's rowing, 2015–24) San Diego State (women's rowing, 2015–21) UAB (men's soccer, 2022–23) Villanova (women's rowing, 2013–15)
Membership timeline
Key: MS – Men's Soccer; WSD – Women's Swimming and Diving; WR – Women's rowing; WL – Women's lacrosse
Most recent champions
2025–26 SportChampion Baseball UTSA(regular season, shared)East Carolina(regular season, shared)East Carolina(tournament) Men's basketball South Florida(regular season & tournament) Women's basketball Rice(regular season) UTSA(tournament) Men's cross country Tulsa Women's cross country Tulane Football Tulane Men's golf Charlotte Women's golf Tulsa Women's lacrosse South Florida(regular season)James Madison(tournament) Men's soccer Charlotte(regular season) Florida Atlantic(tournament) Women's soccer Memphis(regular season) UTSA(tournament) Softball South Florida(regular season, shared) Wichita State(regular season, shared) South Florida(tournament) Women's swimming & diving Rice Men's tennis Tulsa Women's tennis Rice Men's indoor track & fieldNorth Texas Women's indoor track & fieldSouth Florida Men's outdoor track & field Wichita State Women's outdoor track & field Rice Women's volleyball Rice(regular season) Tulsa(tournament)
2024–25 SportChampion Baseball UTSA(regular season)East Carolina(tournament) Men's basketball Memphis(regular season & tournament) Women's basketball UTSA(regular season) South Florida(tournament) Men's cross country Tulane Women's cross countryTulsa FootballArmy Men's golf Charlotte Women's golfTulsa Women's lacrosseJames Madison(regular season & tournament) Men's soccer Memphis(regular season) Charlotte(tournament)Women's soccer Memphis(regular season)East Carolina(tournament) Softball Florida Atlantic(regular season) South Florida(tournament) Women's swimming & diving Rice Men's tennis Rice Women's tennis Memphis Men's indoor track & fieldSouth Florida Women's indoor track & field Tulane Men's outdoor track & fieldSouth Florida Women's outdoor track & field Charlotte VolleyballSouth Florida(regular season)Wichita State(tournament)
2023–24 SportChampion BaseballEast Carolina(regular season)Tulane(tournament) Men's basketballSouth Florida(regular season)UAB(tournament) Women's basketballNorth Texas(regular season, shared)Temple(regular season, shared)Tulsa(regular season, shared)Rice(tournament) Men's cross countryTulsa Women's cross countryTulane FootballSMU Men's golfSouth Florida Women's golfSMU Women's lacrosseFlorida(regular season and tournament) Women's rowingSMU Men's soccerSMU(regular season) Charlotte(tournament) Women's soccerMemphis(regular season and tournament)Softball Charlotte(regular season, shared) Florida Atlantic(regular season, shared) Charlotte(tournament) Women's swimming & divingFIU Men's tennis Charlotte Women's tennisSMU Men's indoor track & fieldSouth Florida Women's indoor track & field Charlotte Men's outdoor track & fieldSouth Florida Women's outdoor track & field Charlotte VolleyballSMU
2022–23 SportChampionBaseballEast Carolina(regular season)Tulane(tournament)Men's basketballHouston(regular season)Memphis(tournament)Women's basketballSouth Florida(regular season)East Carolina(tournament)Men's cross countryTulsaWomen's cross countryTulsaFootballTulaneMen's golfHoustonWomen's golfSMUWomen's lacrosseJames Madison(regular season)Florida(tournament)Women's rowingSMUMen's soccerFIU(regular season and tournament)Women's soccerUCF(regular season)Memphis(tournament)SoftballWichita State(regular season)UCF(tournament)Men's swimming & divingSMUWomen's swimming & divingHoustonMen's tennisSMUWomen's tennisSMUMen's indoor track & fieldCincinnatiWomen's indoor track & fieldUCFMen's outdoor track & fieldWichita StateWomen's outdoor track & fieldUCF VolleyballHoustonUCF(tied)
2021–22 SportChampion BaseballEast Carolina(Regular season and tournament)Men's basketballHouston(Regular season and tournament)Women's basketballUCF(Regular season and tournament)Men's cross countryTulsaWomen's cross countryTulsaFootballCincinnatiMen's golfSMUWomen's golfTulaneWomen's lacrosseFlorida(Regular season and tournament)Women's rowingSMUMen's soccerTulsa(Regular season and tournament)Women's soccerSouth Florida(Regular season)Memphis(Tournament)SoftballUCF(Regular season and tournament)Men's swimming & divingSMUWomen's swimming & divingHoustonMen's tennisSMUWomen's tennisMemphisMen's indoor track & fieldHoustonMen's outdoor track & fieldWichita StateWomen's indoor track & fieldUCFWomen's outdoor track & fieldUCF VolleyballUCF
Baseball Baseball is sponsored by 10 of the 13 full American Conference members. The only schools which do not sponsor baseball are North Texas, Temple, and Tulsa (though Temple had a team in the 2014 season, which was dropped after that season).
YearRegular Season championTournament champion 2014Louisville†Houston† 2015Houston†East Carolina 2016TulaneUConn† 2017UCF†Houston†Houston†(tied)2018Houston†East Carolina2019East CarolinaCincinnati†2020No games played due to COVID-192021East CarolinaSouth Florida2022East Carolina2023East CarolinaTulane 2024 East Carolina Tulane 2025 UTSA East Carolina 2026 East Carolina East Carolina UTSA †: No longer members of the conference
Men's basketball All 13 full members of the American support men's basketball, making it the only men's sport sponsored by every team in the conference. YearRegular Season championTournament champion 2013–14Cincinnati† Louisville† (vacated)Louisville† (vacated)(tied) 2014–15SMU† 2015–16TempleUConn† 2016–17SMU†2017–18Cincinnati†2018–19Houston†Cincinnati†2019–20Cincinnati†Not played due to COVID-19Houston†Tulsa(all tied)2020–21Wichita StateHouston†2021–22Houston†2022–23Houston†Memphis2023–24South FloridaUAB2024–25MemphisMemphis 2025–26 South Florida †: No longer members of the conference
Women's basketball Like men's basketball, women's basketball is also sponsored by all 13 full members of the conference. YearRegular Season championTournament champion 2013–14UConn† 2014–15UConn† 2015–16UConn† 2016–17UConn†2017–18UConn†2018–19UConn† 2019–20UConn†2020–21South Florida2021–22UCF†2022–23South FloridaEast Carolina2023–24 Tulsa Rice North TexasTemple 2024–25 UTSA South Florida 2025–26 Rice UTSA †: No longer members of the conference
Men's cross country Men's cross country is supported by 12 of the 13 American Conference teams, with the only exception being UAB. YearChampion2013Louisville† 2014Tulsa 2015Tulsa 2016Tulsa 2017Tulsa2018Tulsa2019Tulsa2020Tulsa2021Tulsa2022Tulsa2023Tulsa 2024Tulane 2025Tulsa †: No longer members of the conference
Women's cross country Unlike men's cross country, women's cross country is sponsored by every full member of the conference. YearChampion2013SMU 2014Tulsa 2015Tulsa 2016SMU 2017UConn†2018Wichita State2019Tulsa2020Tulsa2021Tulsa2022Tulsa 2023 Tulane 2024 Tulsa 2025 Tulane †: No longer members of the conference
Football Football is sponsored by every full American Conference member except Wichita State. Affiliate members Army and Navy also play football in the conference. YearChampion2013UCF†2014MemphisCincinnati†UCF† (all tied) 2015Houston† 2016Temple 2017UCF† 2018UCF†2019Memphis2020Cincinnati†2021Cincinnati2022 Tulane 2023 SMU† 2024 Army 2025 Tulane †: No longer members of the conference
Men's golf As of the upcoming 2026–27 NCAA men's golf season, two conference members do not sponsor men's golf: Tulane and Wichita State, the latter of which dropped men's and women's golf after the 2025–26 season. Tulsa dropped men's golf after the 2015–16 season, but reinstated the sport in 2026–27.
YearChampion 2014SMU† 2015South Florida 2016South Florida 2017South Florida2018South Florida2019Memphis2020Not played due to COVID-192021South Florida2022SMU†2023Houston† 2024 South Florida 2025 Charlotte 2026 Charlotte †: No longer members of the conference
Women's golf In 2026–27, Temple and Wichita State are the only full conference members that do not sponsor women's golf, with the latter having dropped both of its golf teams after the 2025–26 season. Rice added the sport in 2026–27.
YearChampion 2014Louisville† 2015UCF† 2016Houston† 2017UCF†2018Houston†2019Houston†2020Not played due to COVID-192021UCF†2022Tulane2023SMU† 2024 SMU† 2025Tulsa 2026Tulsa †: No longer members of the conference
Women's lacrosse Four full conference members offer women's lacrosse, which The American first sponsored in the 2019 season. These schools are Charlotte, East Carolina, South Florida, and Temple. Three affiliate members also compete: James Madison, Old Dominion, and Vanderbilt.
The most recent departures from American Conference women's lacrosse are affiliate members Cincinnati and Florida. Cincinnati had kept women's lacrosse in the American after otherwise leaving for the Big 12 Conference in 2023, but left after the spring 2024 season when the Big 12 began sponsoring the sport. Florida followed Cincinnati to Big 12 women's lacrosse.
YearRegular Season championTournament champion 2019Florida†2020Not played due to COVID-192021Florida†2022Florida†2023James MadisonFlorida†2024 Florida† 2025James Madison 2026 South FloridaJames Madison
†: No longer members of the conference
Women's rowing The American dropped women's rowing after the 2023–24 school year. In the final season, full members SMU, Temple, and Tulsa were joined by affiliate members Old Dominion and Sacramento State. Villanova competed as an affiliate member in rowing from 2013 to 2015 before leaving for the Colonial Athletic Association (now known as the Coastal Athletic Association) and San Diego State competed as an affiliate member in rowing from 2015 to 2021 but discontinued its program because of financial difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
SMU left for the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2024, leading the American to drop the sport. Old Dominion and Tulsa became affiliates of the Big 12 Conference; Sacramento State became an affiliate of the West Coast Conference; and Temple was an independent for the 2024–25 school year before becoming an affiliate of the Mid-American Conference.