White stated that within a 12-game football season, the conference office schedules eight conference games so he looks to plan four non-conference games. вЂњI think moving into the AAC was a natural progression, the next step and the trajectory for having a successful program,вЂќ Riordan said. Schnellenberger was FAUвЂ™s first head coach as he took the team from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) with the SBC after its first four seasons and won two bowl games in 20. James Riordan, the director of FAUвЂ™s Sport Management program, said that itвЂ™s part of the progression the university started when Howard Schnellenberger came and built the football program from the ground up. вЂњWe tend to be in the center of a lot of controversies regarding playoff access and things of that nature, and that gives our schools a lot of attention and publicity.вЂќ We have a good deal for more television exposure that our teams are getting now,вЂќ Aresco said. вЂњBeing in the will give FAU a much higher profile.

вЂњItвЂ™s what we desire and for us to have that happen, we just need to continue to grow our brand so weвЂ™re seen as an even better brand for them to have in their state so that they can sell more tickets because FAUвЂ™s coming to town,вЂќ White said.ДЄccording to AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco, heading to the conference will bring вЂњplenty of advantagesвЂќ for FAU once the university becomes a member by 2023. As FAUвЂ™s brand grows, he said there can be some positives for top-level schools looking to be comfortable playing games in their stadium. Nevertheless, White believes thereвЂ™s a вЂњbrand stigmaвЂќ from Power Five schools in scheduling and playing at a Group of Five stadium. To be a Power Five school, an institution has to be a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), the Big Ten, the Big 12, or the Pac-12. The Group of Five consists of five conferences: C-USA, the AAC, the Sun Belt Conference (SBC), the Mountain West Conference (MWC), and the Mid-American Conference (MAC). White said going to the AAC is вЂњhugeвЂќ because it improves the schoolвЂ™s brand.ДЇAU, even with the move to AAC, is a Group of Five school. When FAU announced its move from Conference USA (C-USA) to the American Athletic Conference (AAC) by 2023 in October this year, Vice President and Director of Athletics Brian White said that the university is moving to a вЂњdifferent level of successвЂќ with the decision.ДЄs the institution realized its goal of bringing itself into the national spotlight thanks to the lucrativeВ television contract the AAC has with worldwide sports network ESPN, it has started another objective: expanding its outreach so it can schedule out-of-conference (OOC) games against new opponents and convince top-level teams to play in Boca Raton.

Aac conference