The American Athletic Conference football divisions were officially announced today by conference commissioner Mike Aresco.
Beginning with the 2015 season after Navy joins the conference, the American will have East and West Divisions with six teams in each.
East
UCF, Cincinnati, UConn, East Carolina, USF, Temple
West
Houston, Memphis, Navy, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa
The conference will continue to play an eight-game football schedule. Each team will play five games against the other teams in their division plus three from the opposite division.
The division winners will then meet in the American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game, which will be played at the home site of the higher ranked team.
“This is an exciting step in the continued development of our conference,” said Aresco. “With our performance on the field and the exposure we received from our media partners, I couldn’t be more satisfied with our first year of American Athletic Conference football. Creating this divisional format will allow us to build upon that success. Our fans will enjoy our divisional play and the championship game that will be established in 2015.
“The East-West format we have adopted gives each division a distinct identity, provides long-term competitive balance and protects traditional rivalries while allowing each school to travel across the conference’s geographical footprint on a regular basis.”