Temple moves forward with new additions to The American

During The American’s media day for football back in August, Commissioner Mike Aresco said he believed the conference was “in the strongest position we’ve ever been.”

Today, the conference is on pace to be the largest it’s ever been.

Thursday morning, the American Athletic Conference announced it accepted applications from Conference USA schools FAU, UTSA, UAB, UNT, Rice and UNC-Charlotte. With the six additions, the conference now stands at 14 football-playing and 14 basketball-playing schools.

THE MONEY

Economically, this expansion is on-brand for The American. When the conference first came to be, it built itself on potential and markets.

In this time of expansion, things are no different.

“What we’re doing here is building for the long-term future,” Aresco said Thursday.

Looking at UAB, Alabama is a college football hotbed, considering its location in the Southeastern part of the country and the state’s absence of any professional sports teams. Meanwhile, Charlotte is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country, and UNC-Charlotte is the 3rd-largest school in the state of North Carolina.

The other four schools, located in Texas and Florida, combine big markets with football fandom. In Rice’s case, the school has a $6 billion endowment that hasn’t been tapped into. As Aresco said, these schools now put the conference in 12 of the top-50 media markets in the country.

In terms of success on the playing field, UAB and FAU have combined for the last four Conference USA football championships. Rice, over the past eight years, has won 25 conference titles across 12 different sports. UTSA, on the other hand, has only had a football program for 11 years. In that span, the Roadrunners have made two bowl game appearances and are currently ranked 24th in the AP poll.

Thursday, Yahoo’s Pete Thamel reported that the six new additions are expected to make $2 million annually from The American’s 12-year, $1 billion dollar television deal with ESPN, which would be $5 million less than the average for the other eight schools in the conference, including Temple.

When asked about the uneven split in revenue, Aresco refused to get into any specifics. He did say, however, that “this is a considerable upgrade for [the new schools].”

WHERE DOES TEMPLE STAND?

First of all, Temple will be joined by FAU and Rice as owls in The American.

More seriously, Temple will be isolated geographically, especially in basketball. Being in Philadelphia, Temple’s closest football-playing competitor is the Naval Academy in Annapolis. With Cincinnati leaving the conference within the next two to three years, the next-closest competitors will be UNC-Charlotte and East Carolina. From then on, everyone is down South or out West.

While Wichita State is located in the middle of the country, it can still find a rival one state down in Oklahoma with Tulsa, and several more farther down in Texas. To go with neighboring Memphis over in Tennessee, ECU gets an in-state rival in UNC-Charlotte, as does USF with FAU to supplement UCF’s eventual departure. Right over the Florida schools will be UAB, and right next to the Texas schools will be Tulane.

The other important factor for Temple is basketball. The men’s program, due in large part to the late John Chaney, ranks fifth all time in the NCAA in wins. So the Owls should be in a conference that plays good basketball.

The six schools joining The American don't necessarily help that cause.

Aresco seems to be aware of this speculation and addressed it without being asked.

“We’re in some football hotbeds… but these schools also provide some very good basketball,” he said.

The six new schools were added to the conference because of potential and recent success.

Last season, UAB went 22-7, the best record of the new six schools, and was in contention for an NIT bid. North Texas went 18-10, won the conference and a game in the NCAAs before losing to Villanova in the Round of 32. After that, however, the other programs struggled for relevancy.

Since its formation, eight of The American’s current men’s basketball programs have made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The conference’s all-time leader in appearances is currently Cincinnati with six, but they’re leaving the conference for the Big 12. Houston has made three appearances, including last year’s Final Four appearance. They’re also heading to the Big 12. UCF, the last team leaving for the Big 12, made its only appearance in 2019 as a No. 9 seed and lost 77-76 to a top-seeded Duke team that had three lottery picks in Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, and Cam Reddish, in the Round of 32.

Adding on to that, Houston and UCF’s women’s programs have become respected programs in the conference.

Conference USA, however, has not shared that success. Last season, UNT made the NCAA Tournament for the 4th time in its history as C-USA’s automatic bid and sole qualifier. FAU’s only appearance came in 2002, Charlotte’s last one came in 2005, UAB’s last appearance came in 2015 (its 15th ever), Rice’s last appearance came 1970 (its fourth ever), and UTSA’s last appearance came in 2011, which was also its fourth in the program’s history.

As a basketball conference, The American is taking a hit. When Houston, UCF, and Cincinnati were accepted by the Big 12, Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said his conference wasn’t done expanding. Rumors began to circulate that the conference will pursue Memphis and SMU in 2024, which would be an absolute worst-case scenario for The American.

WHERE DOES TEMPLE GO FROM HERE?

With football being the driving force of revenue in college sports, it’s like Aresco said: “You have to look to football success to drive the success of your conference.” And the six new schools in The American do just that.

However, at its core, Temple is a basketball school. Ultimately, Temple’s future standing in The American will come down to what new athletic director Arthur Johnson believes is best for all programs at the school and if any other conference comes calling.

Until then, Temple, like the rest of The American’s members, will have to play the waiting game to see where this thing goes.