The American Athletic Conference announced the addition of FIU as an affiliate member for the sports of men's soccer and women's swimming and diving effective July 1, with the Panthers beginning play in The American beginning in the fall 2022 season.

FIU will continue to hold primary membership in Conference USA, while the sports of men's soccer and women's swimming and diving will compete in the American Athletic Conference as affiliates.

"We are pleased to be able to welcome our affiliate members for the 2022-23 season," The American Commissioner Mike Aresco said. "The addition of these outstanding teams will immediately strengthen our conference in men's soccer and women's swimming and diving. This will allow us to have one of the most competitive men's soccer conferences in the nation, while providing a more competitive and memorable championship experience in women's swimming and diving. I would like to thank Conference USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod for her collaboration on this process that has led to a positive outcome for these student-athletes."

FIU will join three other C-USA men's soccer programs in Charlotte, FAU and UAB that will begin competition in The American during the 2022 fall season. FIU will also compete as an affiliate member in women's swimming and diving, along with FAU, North Texas and Rice, beginning with the 2022-23 season.

"We are excited that two of our most proud and successful programs will join the American Athletic Conference as affiliate members," FIU Athletics Director Scott Carr said. "We are grateful for the experience that Conference USA provided our men's soccer and women's swimming and diving teams throughout their time as C-USA members."

"When the number of C-USA members in men's soccer and women's swimming and diving decreased, we proactively worked with C-USA and The American on this move to ensure we maintained high quality experiences for our student-athletes," Carr added. "Our goal at FIU is to compete at a national level and The American fields a strong lineup of programs that will continue to align with our competitive goals. We'd like to thank C-USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod and all of C-USA for the great experience the conference offered our two programs over the years, and we look forward to continuing a strong and healthy primary membership in C-USA. Lastly, we'd like to thank commissioner Mike Aresco for the opportunity to compete in The American. We are excited about the future of FIU men's soccer and women's swimming and diving as affiliate members of The American."

The American has seen three of its existing men's soccer members ranked in the top 10 of the national polls in each of the last two seasons. The four men's soccer affiliate members joining The American combined for 35 NCAA tournament appearances, including two national runner-up finishes and a third-place finish.

FIU men's soccer moves to a conference in which it will face familiar in-state foes UCF and USF. The Panthers will also reunite in The American with SMU, a team which FIU competed against regularly in C-USA play prior to 2013.

"Great memories were made in Conference USA and we appreciate our time spent there as a soccer program," FIU head men's soccer coach Kyle Russell said. "Although our conference has changed, our goals of winning league titles and a national championship remain the same. The American is a very strong soccer conference with top coaches, players, and locations to compete and I believe the conference will send multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament at the end of the year. We are excited and thankful to be joining our new home at The American. Paws Up!"

The American sponsors women's swimming and diving as a championship-only sport, meaning that the conference does not administer a regular-season schedule. With the addition of the affiliate members, nine teams will compete for The American title at the 2023 Women's Swimming and Diving Championship next season.

"We are very excited and honored to join The American but also sad to see our time with Conference USA come to an end," FIU head women's swimming and diving coach Randy Horner said. "This is a bittersweet feeling. C-USA provided amazing opportunities for our student-athletes and was a great place to grow our program to where it is today. Our new goal of winning our first American Athletic Conference championship is a fresh new focus and we look forward to working towards that."

FIU men's soccer enjoyed a rich history of success in Conference USA, with the Panthers garnering a total of three league titles, including the 2021 C-USA Regular Season championship last fall. During the 2021 season, the Panthers posted an undefeated 7-0-1 mark in C-USA play, while securing the most points ever (22) in the league standings since joining C-USA. The Panthers were ranked as high as No. 12 in the national rankings during the 2021 season and capped the 2021 campaign with the program's 11th trip to the NCAA Tournament. FIU also won the 2017 C-USA Regular Season title and the 2015 C-USA Tournament Championship.

FIU women's swimming and diving has been a dominant force in C-USA and is fresh off winning an eighth consecutive C-USA championship. The Blue & Gold own the C-USA record for most consecutive titles in any sport (8). FIU garnered a total of 33 medals at the 2022 C-USA Championships, while breaking two program records and a C-USA meet record during the meet. FIU capped the 2021-22 campaign by finishing 36th overall at the 2022 NCAA Championships, marking the program's highest finish since 2017. Since FIU's C-USA title streak began in 2015, the Panthers have won 28 superlative postseason awards. That total dominated the rest of C-USA, with the next closest program owning just five during that same time span. Head coach Randy Horner earned C-USA Swimming Coach of the Year seven times out of the last eight seasons, including in 2021-22.

Conference USA helped facilitate this movement when the number of conference members sponsoring men's soccer and women's swimming and diving decreased. C-USA worked collaboratively and proactively with the AAC with the primary goal of benefiting all student-athletes involved in order to maintain their high-quality experiences.

American Athletic Conference Men's Soccer
effective July 1, 2022
UAB
UCF
Charlotte
Florida Atlantic
Florida International
Memphis
South Florida
SMU
Temple
Tulsa

American Athletic Conference Women's Swimming and Diving
effective July 1, 2022
Cincinnati
East Carolina
Florida Atlantic
Florida International
Houston
North Texas
Rice
SMU
Tulane