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59-650: During initial planning stages, the game was known as the Congressional Bowl, but was first played in 2008 as the EagleBank Bowl sponsored by Washington-area financial institution EagleBank . The game became the Military Bowl when Northrop Grumman was the title sponsor from 2010 to 2019. In 2020, the game was sponsored by Perspecta Inc. and officially known as the Military Bowl presented by Perspecta . In 2021,

118-574: A "Group of Five" conference , which shares one automatic spot in the New Year's Six bowl games . The league is the product of substantial turmoil in The Old Big East during The 2010–14 conference realignment period . It is one of two conferences to emerge from the all-sports Big East in 2013. While the other successor, which does not sponsor football, purchased The Big East Conference name, The American inherited The Old Big East's structure and

177-527: A $ 13.1 million transaction. In July 2011, EagleBank announced it would buy Alliance Bank for $ 31 million, but the transaction was called off five months later because they could not agree on the terms of the deal. In November 2014, EagleBank acquired Virginia Heritage Bank for $ 183 million. The bank has undertaken several charitable initiatives such as golf fundraising events to raise funds for breast cancer research, employment programs for recent graduates, affordable housing initiatives, donations during

236-448: A C-USA team (2010), Navy (2011), Army (2012), and a Big 12 team (2013). If Navy or Army were not bowl eligible, a Big 12 team would be selected in 2011, and a C-USA team in 2012. In 2012, Army was not bowl eligible and the ACC could not supply a team, so a MAC vs. Western Athletic Conference (WAC) matchup was organized. Starting with the 2014 game, organizers entered a six-year agreement for

295-574: A brief legal dispute, CUSA and the three schools reached a settlement that allowed those schools to join the SBC in 2022. With three men's soccer schools now joining in 2022 instead of 2023, the SBC announced it would reinstate men's soccer at that time. The new full members were joined by three full SBC members and three new associate members. Coastal Carolina played the 2021 season in CUSA. The other two full SBC members, Georgia Southern and Georgia State , played in

354-586: A five-year partnership in 2018 that made EagleBank the official bank of D.C. United and created the EagleBank Club at Audi Field . In 2011, the company was reported to be the source of legislation introduced by Council of the District of Columbia member Jack Evans that would require the city's funds to be held at local banks. On July 18, 2019, the company's stock price fell as much as 25% after it disclosed that it had spent $ 2.7 million on legal fees related to

413-452: A full member, and Rutgers, Temple , Virginia Tech , and West Virginia as football-only members. Rutgers and West Virginia were offered full all-sports membership in 1995, while Virginia Tech waited until 2000 for the same offer. Temple football was kicked out after the 2004 season, but rejoined in 2012 and intended to become a full member in 2013. The unusual structure of the Big East, with

472-674: A full title for each co-champion. Accurate as of June 14, 2023. *- Does not include vacated championships †- No longer a member of the AAC ‡- Affiliate member No current American Conference member has won an NCAA team championship while a member of the conference. The only school to have won a fully recognized NCAA title while in The American, UConn, left for the Big East Conference in 2020. Several members have won national titles before joining The American. Another former member, SMU, won

531-505: A possible move to that league. However, on October 1, the MW announced that its current membership would remain intact for the foreseeable future, removing its 12 football members (including football-only member Hawaiʻi ) from the list of potential new members for The American. For its part, The American officially denied extending invitations to the two Colorado schools. Later that month on October 18, 2021, Yahoo Sports reported that The American

590-581: A women's swimming & diving affiliate after the other schools fully joined The American. On September 1, 2023, SMU accepted an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference for the 2024–25 season. With this the American was now down one team. On October 25, 2023, Army announced it would be joining the conference as a football-only member beginning in 2024, joining fellow service academy Navy. The annual Army–Navy Game , typically played at

649-665: Is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and six affiliate member universities that compete in The National Collegiate Athletic Association 's (NCAA) Division I . Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Member universities represent a range of private and public research universities of various enrollment sizes located primarily in urban metropolitan areas in

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708-661: Is that conference's legal successor . However, both conferences claim 1979 as their founding date, and the same history up to 2013. The American Athletic Conference is headquartered in Irving, Texas , and led by Commissioner Tim Pernetti , who replaced the retiring Mike Aresco on June 1, 2024. The Big East Conference was founded in 1979 as a basketball conference and included the colleges of Providence , St. John's , Georgetown , and Syracuse , which in turn invited Connecticut (UConn), Holy Cross , Rutgers , and Boston College to be members. UConn and Boston College would accept

767-488: Is the only full member that does not sponsor football . Seven full members have left the conference. Six affiliate members have left the conference. Five other schools were affiliate members for one year before becoming full conference members. The American currently sponsors championship competition in 10 men's and 11 women's NCAA sanctioned sports. James Madison , Old Dominion , and Vanderbilt are affiliate members for women's lacrosse. Under NCAA rules reflecting

826-493: The Big 12 Conference was on the verge of inviting four schools— including American Athletic Conference members Cincinnati , Houston , and UCF . Later that month, all three schools received and accepted membership offers on the date of the presidents' meeting, with the official announcement stating only that they would join the Big 12 no later than 2024–25. On June 10, 2022, The American and

885-710: The Big 12 Conference , College Football Playoff , and the National Football Foundation . The conference also moved the men's basketball tournament to the region, to be played at the new Dickies Arena until 2022. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic , some member schools have eliminated sports due to budget constraints. The University of Cincinnati eliminated its men's soccer program while East Carolina University canceled men and women's swimming and diving teams and tennis teams. Women's rowing member San Diego State University dropped that sport effective with

944-536: The COVID-19 pandemic , and housing affordability programs for local civil servants. The bank owned the naming rights to the 2008 EagleBank Bowl and the 2009 EagleBank Bowl , later called the Military Bowl , a college football bowl game . The Bank purchased the naming rights to the EagleBank Arena in May 2015 in a partnership deal with George Mason University . EagleBank and D.C. United entered into

1003-473: The Mountain West Conference ). Any of several schools could potentially fill the non-football slot, with Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports considering VCU to be "the most logical target there." Thamel dismissed the prospect of the American adding a new all-sports member, saying "there's no obvious candidate who could add value in both basketball and football." On June 24, 2019, it was reported that

1062-656: The Northeastern , Midwestern , and Southern regions of the United States. The American's legal predecessor, the original Big East Conference , was considered one of the six collegiate power conferences of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) era in college football, and The American inherited that status in the BCS's final season. With the advent of the College Football Playoff in 2014, The American became

1121-606: The Sun Belt Conference effective in 2023, aligning its men's soccer program with that of West Virginia , the only pre-2023 Big 12 member sponsoring men's soccer. Cincinnati would remain in The American as a women's lacrosse affiliate, but left after the 2024 season when the Big 12 added that sport. In late September 2021, several national media outlets reported that Mountain West Conference (MW) members Air Force and Colorado State had approached The American regarding

1180-528: The naming rights to the EagleBank Arena . The bank was founded in 1998 under the holding company Eagle Bancorp Inc, which was established in 1997 by Ronald D. Paul, a longtime banking executive. Eagle Bancorp, Inc., was incorporated as a bank holding company in \Maryland on October 28, 1997. On June 9, 1998, the company became a public company via an initial public offering . On July 20, 1998, EagleBank opened its first office in Rockville, Maryland . In

1239-425: The "football" and "non-football" schools, led to instability in the conference. The waves of defection and replacement brought about by the conference realignments of 2005 and the early 2010s revealed tension between the football-sponsoring and non-football schools that eventually led to the split of the conference in 2013. The conference was reorganized following the tumultuous period of realignment that hobbled

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1298-424: The 2009 edition of the game, however Army did not finish its season bowl eligible. Additionally, the ACC did not have enough eligible teams and Conference USA (C-USA) could not provide a team, so organizers chose Mid-American Conference (MAC) team Temple to fill one spot and Pac-10 Conference team UCLA to fill the other spot. For the 2010 through 2013 games, the bowl reached agreement for an ACC team to face

1357-459: The 2020–21 season. Old Dominion was previously added to The American for women's rowing beginning in the 2018–19 season. The American moved their headquarters from Providence, Rhode Island to Irving, Texas . This was a planned move, to better centralize the conference offices with the member schools. Irving is in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex , which is also home to the headquarters of

1416-791: The 2023 equestrian title the year before it left for the ACC, but that sport does not yet have full NCAA recognition. Equestrian is recognized by the NCAA as part of its Emerging Sports for Women program, but championships are organized by the National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) instead of the NCAA. Excluded from these lists are all national championships earned outside the scope of NCAA competition , including Division I FBS football titles, Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association titles, women's AIAW titles, NCEA titles, retroactive Helms Athletic Foundation titles, and ITA tennis titles. Includes all titles won while

1475-488: The American, the conference's likeliest response would be to bring in two new schools—one for football only and a second in non-football sports, similar to the American's sequential additions of Navy and Wichita State. The most likely prospects for football-only membership were seen as Army (currently an FBS independent, with most of its other sports in the Patriot League ), and Air Force (currently an all-sports member of

1534-437: The Big East between 2010 and 2013. The Big East was one of the most severely impacted conferences during the early-2010s conference realignment period. In all, 14 member schools announced their departure for other conferences, and 15 other schools announced plans to join the conference (eight as all-sports members, and four for football only). Three of the latter group later backed out of their plans to join (one for all sports, and

1593-463: The Big East had formally approved an invitation for UConn to join the conference. On June 26, 2019, the UConn Board of Trustees accepted the invitation. On July 26, media reports indicated that UConn and The American had reached a buyout agreement that confirmed UConn's Big East arrival date as July 1, 2020, paying the American a $ 17 million exit fee. It was widely reported that UConn was "rejoining"

1652-496: The Big East, given that the Huskies would be reunited with many of the schools against which it played for three decades in the original Big East. Indeed, UConn was the last charter member of the old Big East still playing in The American. The American took a number of steps to stabilize the conference after the departure of UConn. The first move was the addition of Old Dominion University as an affiliate member in women's lacrosse for

1711-770: The December 2023 edition (14 games, 28 total appearances). Source: The bowl has been televised by ESPN since its inception. EagleBank EagleBank is a community bank headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland with operations in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area including 16 branches and five lending offices in Montgomery County, Maryland ; Washington, D.C. ; and Northern Virginia . The bank has an above-above average exposure to commercial real estate , with 81% of all loans secured by commercial real estate. The bank owns

1770-679: The MAC. The new associates were Kentucky and South Carolina , which had been single-sport CUSA members since 2005; and West Virginia , which had previously announced that it would move men's soccer from the Mid-American Conference to CUSA in 2022. CUSA was then left with only four men's soccer programs for 2022 ( Charlotte , FIU , Florida Atlantic , and UAB ), with all but FIU set to become full American members in 2023. The American accordingly brought all four schools in as new men's soccer members for 2022, with FIU remaining an affiliate after

1829-551: The NCAA had granted a four-year extension of the game's bowl certification, taking it through the 2013–14 bowl season ; additionally, the game received sponsorship from Northrop Grumman and was renamed. In 2010, the game generated in excess of $ 18 million for the Washington, D.C. area. Also, over $ 100,000 was donated to the USO . On December 20, 2020, several bowls were cancelled due to a lack of available teams. The Military Bowl – which again

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1888-424: The SBC in 2023. The CAA responded by invoking a provision of its bylaws to ban JMU from further conference championship events. The SBC responded by pushing JMU's entry forward to 2022. Soon after this, the other three CUSA members set to move to the SBC in 2023 ( Marshall , Old Dominion , and Southern Miss , with Marshall and ODU sponsoring men's soccer) announced that they would instead leave in 2022. Following

1947-573: The Shockers the league's first full non-football member since the Big East split. On June 21, 2019, a Boston-area sports news website, Digital Sports Desk , revealed that UConn was expected to announce by the end of the month that it would leave the American for the Big East Conference in 2020. The story was picked up by multiple national media outlets the next day. The main issue that reportedly had to be resolved prior to any official announcement

2006-608: The US Treasury by EagleBank in 2015 after a stock sale. In 2013, EagleBank teamed with Graystone Consulting to provide wealth management services. In March 2019, EagleBank's founder and CEO, Ron Paul, announced his retirement. Susan G. Riel was appointed CEO and President and Norm Pozez was appointed chairman. During the COVID-19 pandemic , the bank was a lender in the Paycheck Protection Program . In September 2008, EagleBank bought Fidelity and Trust Bank in

2065-528: The banking industry and he was fined about $ 521,000. The 2022 settlement ended a 3-year probe by regulators into alleged third-party lending and improper disclosures by EagleBank. In 2020, the bank ranked second on the Women on Public Company Boards in Greater D.C. list by American City Business Journals . American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference ( AAC ), also known as The American ,

2124-707: The coming years, the bank opened several branches in the Washington, D.C. area. In December 2008, the United States Department of the Treasury purchased $ 38.2 million of assets from EagleBank as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program . In 2010, EagleBank received $ 71.9 million funding so it could lend more to small businesses as part of the United States Department of Treasury's Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 . The funds were repaid to

2183-872: The conclusion of the regular season, will continue to be played annually as a non-conference game and will not count towards conference standings. However, it is possible for the two teams to meet a second time in a season in the American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game , should they finish as the top two teams in the conference. Full members (all-sports) Full members (non-football) Affiliate members (football-only) Affiliate member (other sport) Other Conference Other Conference The conference currently has 13 full member institutions – and six affiliate members – in 13 states, including Alabama, California, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Wichita State

2242-602: The conference confirmed their 2023 entry date on June 16, 2022. A series of further realignment moves centering on the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) led to The American's men's soccer league expanding earlier than planned. This sequence began in November 2021 when James Madison announced its departure from the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA; since renamed the Coastal Athletic Association ) to join

2301-489: The end of the 2020–21 season. In late July 2021, founding Big 12 members Oklahoma and Texas jointly announced that they planned to leave the conference no later than 2025, and formally requested an invitation from the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Shortly thereafter, The American became a peripheral player in this saga when the Big 12 sent a cease and desist letter to current broadcast partner ESPN, charging

2360-662: The game to feature an ACC vs. American Athletic Conference (The American) matchup. In July 2019, the bowl announced that the ACC vs. AAC arrangement would continue through the 2025–26 football season. Bold conference denotes winner of games played. Rankings are based on the AP Poll prior to the game. Source: Source: Updated through the December 2023 edition (14 games, 28 total appearances). Won (6): Duke , Marshall , North Carolina , San Jose State , Toledo , UCLA Lost (7): Air Force , Bowling Green , East Carolina , Pittsburgh , Tulane , UCF , Virginia Updated through

2419-528: The game was sponsored by Peraton and known as the Military Bowl presented by Peraton . In 2023, a new agreement made the game the Military Bowl presented by GoBowling.com , and in 2024 the game became known as the Go Bowling Military Bowl. The idea for the EagleBank Bowl originated with the Washington, D.C. Bowl Committee, a group founded by Marie Rudolph and Sean Metcalf in December 2006 with

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2478-443: The game's approval by the NCAA, Navy and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) signed agreements to participate in the game if it was approved. Under the agreement, the ACC would provide its ninth-best team for the bowl if the league had nine bowl eligible teams. In December 2008, the initial game featured Navy against Wake Forest representing the ACC. Along with its ACC tie-in, the bowl signed an agreement with Army to play in

2537-491: The intended purpose of bringing a bowl game to the Washington, D.C. area as a boon to the region's economy. The D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission and the Washington, D.C. Convention and Tourism Corporation announced their support of the proposed event in 2007. The bowl game was one of two approved by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for the 2008 college football bowl season,

2596-633: The invitation, while Holy Cross soon thereafter declined the invitation, and Rutgers eventually declined and remained in the Atlantic 10 Conference (then known as the Eastern 8 Conference). Seton Hall was then invited as a replacement and the conference started play with seven members. Villanova and Pittsburgh joined shortly thereafter under the leadership of the first Big East commissioner, Dave Gavitt . The conference remained largely unchanged until 1991, when it began to sponsor football, adding Miami as

2655-489: The large number of male scholarship participants in football and attempting to address gender equity concerns (see also Title IX ), each member institution is required to provide more women's varsity sports than men's. Men's varsity sports not sponsored by The American which are played by conference schools: Women's varsity sports not sponsored by The American which are played by conference schools: Shared titles (ex: 2014 football, 2020 men's basketball) are counted as

2714-523: The network with conspiring to damage the league by luring Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC, and also alleging that the network encouraged an unnamed conference to raid the Big 12 to pave the way for an earlier departure by Oklahoma and Texas. A later media report identified that other conference as The American. ESPN issued an official denial of the Big 12 charges, and officials from The American declined to comment. On September 3, Sports Illustrated reported that

2773-448: The next several years, The American did not discuss the addition of any new members. However, in March 2017, media reports indicated that the conference was seriously considering adding one or more new members specifically as basketball upgrades. Wichita State , Dayton , and VCU were reportedly considered, with Wichita State being seen as the strongest candidate. By the end of that month, it

2832-618: The nickname "The American" because it was thought "AAC" would cause too much confusion with the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Louisville and Rutgers spent one season in the newly renamed conference. On July 1, 2014, Louisville joined the ACC and Rutgers joined the Big Ten Conference . On that same day, East Carolina , Tulane , and Tulsa joined The American for all sports, while Sacramento State and San Diego State joined as affiliate members for women's rowing. Navy joined as an affiliate member in football on July 1, 2015. For

2891-498: The one they would receive by remaining with the football schools. In March 2013, representatives of the Catholic 7 announced they would leave the conference effective June 30, 2013, retaining the Big East name, $ 10 million, and the right to hold the conference's basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden . Following the announcement of the departure of the Catholic 7 universities, the remaining ten football-playing members started

2950-460: The other being the St. Petersburg Bowl . The NCAA's Postseason Football Licensing Subcommittee approved the bowl on April 30, 2008, allowing the committee that had proposed the game to host it after the 2008 college football season . The inaugural game had its kickoff scheduled for 11 AM EST on December 20, 2008, making it the first bowl game of the 2008–09 bowl season . In 2010, organizers announced that

3009-425: The other two for football only). On December 15, 2012, the Big East's seven remaining non-FBS schools, all Catholic institutions consisting of DePaul , Georgetown , Marquette , Providence , St. John's , Seton Hall , and Villanova announced that they voted unanimously to leave the Big East Conference effective June 30, 2015. The "Catholic 7", by leaving, were looking for a more lucrative television deal than

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3068-526: The others fully joined The American. Similar changes came to women's swimming & diving, again due in part to SBC expansion. Of the schools leaving CUSA for the SBC in 2022, Marshall and Old Dominion sponsor that sport, and incoming American members Florida Atlantic, North Texas, and Rice also sponsor the sport (although Rice fields swimmers only, with no divers). The American brought the aforementioned future full members, plus FIU, into its women's swimming & diving league. As with men's soccer, FIU remained

3127-463: The process of selecting a new name for the conference and choosing a new site to hold its basketball tournament. Various names were considered, with the "America 12" conference reportedly one of the finalists until rejected by college presidents sensitive of adding a number to the end of the conference name. On April 3, 2013, the conference announced that it had chosen a new name: American Athletic Conference. The conference also revealed that it prefers

3186-596: The relationship between a former director and Council of the District of Columbia member Jack Evans . It had previously been disclosed that Ron Paul had received a subpoena related to his relationship with Evans. In 2022, the company was ordered to pay $ 22.9M to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Reserve to settle claims the bank's former CEO had engaged in insider lending. Former EagleBank CEO Ron Paul has been banned permanently from working in

3245-429: The three departing schools announced a buyout agreement had been reached, confirming those schools' 2023 departure date. At the time, it was possible that Cincinnati and UCF could remain in the conference as affiliate members for women's lacrosse and men's soccer, respectively, as the Big 12 does not sponsor those sports, though no formal announcement was made. UCF would later accept an offer of men's soccer membership from

3304-474: Was preparing to receive applications from six of the 14 members of Conference USA — Charlotte , Florida Atlantic , North Texas , Rice , UAB , and UTSA . This would make The American a 14-full-member conference. The next day, ESPN reported that all six schools had submitted applications, and that each would receive a formal letter by the end of that week (October 22) detailing the terms of conference expansion. All six schools were accepted on October 21, and

3363-600: Was reported that talks between the American and Wichita State had advanced to the point that the two sides were discussing a timeline for membership, with the possibility of the Shockers joining as a full but non-football member as early as the 2017–18 school year. The report indicated that a final decision would be made in April. The conference's board of directors voted unanimously on April 7 to add Wichita State effective in July 2017, making

3422-431: Was the future of UConn football, as the Big East does not sponsor that sport, and sources indicated that the American had no interest in retaining UConn as a football-only member. Reportedly, American Athletic Conference insiders were not surprised by UConn's prospective move, as that school had been vigorously opposed to that league's most recently announced television deal. National media believed that should UConn leave

3481-602: Was to have featured teams from the American Athletic Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference – was also unable to secure teams, and on December 21, 2020, organizers announced that the 2020 bowl would not be played. On December 26, 2021, the 2021 edition of the bowl was canceled due to COVID issues within the Boston College team; it had been set to face East Carolina on December 27. Prior to

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