Episode 45 - Know Your Mid-Majors: American Athletic

Question: Is the conference formerly known as the Big East considered a mid-major?

Answer: Some would argue no, but for our purposes, yes, it is because they lose preferred ("BCS") status this summer.

The American Athletic Conference is the result of the non-football schools of the old Big East Conference (the so-called "Catholic 7") splitting from the older conference and buying the Big East name.  Don't worry, Big East fans, we'll get to you eventually.

The schools of the American Athletic in 2013-14 are:

• Central Florida (UCF)
• Cincinnati
• Connecticut (UConn)
• Houston
• Louisville (heading for the ACC this summer)
• Memphis
• Rutgers (heading for the Big Ten this summer)
• South Florida
• Southern Methodist (SMU)
• Temple

In summer 2014, three schools join this conference as full members, all from Conference USA: East Carolina, Tulane and Tulsa.

This episode contains clips from a 2008 segment of Hardball on MSNBC for illustrative purposes.

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