'An unbelievable day for Rice athletics': Rice University all set to join American Athletic Conference

The American Athletic Conference performed a vote after which five invitations were sent to join the conference, one of which was that of Rice University. Making a historic decision, especially for the athletics department, Rice University has accepted the invitation.

"We have been working diligently to position Rice as an attractive candidate when the next round of conference realignment began. Today's invitation to join the American Athletic Conference confirms our approach and aligns with our aspirations to offer an unparalleled experience for our students. The commitment to athletics by our university administration has been crucial to our efforts to move forward, and we're very grateful for their close partnership," said Joe Karlgaard, the athletics director of Rice University.

Rice has expressed its excitement to join American Athletic Conference on all fronts.

"We're thrilled to be joining the American Athletic Conference, and I am especially grateful to Joe Karlgaard for his steadfast leadership in positioning us for and seizing this opportunity," stated Rice President David Leebron.

This move will also be the end of the 16-plus year run of Rice University with C-USA.

“Today is an unbelievable day for Rice athletics,” Karlgaard said. “Since the breakup of the Southwest Conference about 25 years ago, we’ve aspired to align ourselves with other institutions based on academic values, geography and tradition. The opportunity to join the [AAC] checks all three boxes.”

The American Athletic Conference voted to extend an invitation to Rice, whose membership comes just as the crosstown rival University of Houston garnered approval to move to the Big XII. A join date will be determined.

Rice is among the quintet of schools that will join the AAC. These schools, including Rice, will compete against current members at East Carolina University, the University of Memphis, the United States Naval Academy, Southern Methodist University, Temple University, Tulane University, Tulsa University, the University of South Florida and Wichita State University.

Rice is expected to renew a few rivalries once it's officially in the AAC.