Home Page

The UAB men's soccer program will compete in the American Athletic Conference as an affiliate member in Fall 2022, as announced by the league office on Wednesday morning. Men's soccer will be the first sport that UAB competes in as members of the American Athletic Conference.

With former C-USA men's soccer league members Marshall, Old Dominion, Coastal Carolina, South Carolina and Kentucky joining the Sun Belt for the Fall 2022 season, the Blazers will head to the American along with Charlotte, Florida Atlantic and FIU effective July 1.

Ten teams will comprise American Athletic Conference men's soccer. UAB, Charlotte, Florida Atlantic and FIU will join the league as affiliate members. The four incoming programs will join the current schools of Tulsa, UCF, Memphis, SMU, South Florida and Temple to comprise a 10-team league this fall.

"Our team and coaches are thrilled to be joining the American Athletic Conference this Fall 2022," UAB Director of Athletics Mark Ingram said. "We greatly appreciate Commissioners Mike Aresco and Judy MacLeod working together collaboratively for the betterment of our student-athletes.

"We look forward to our new peers and the exciting competition it will bring for our fans."

Tulsa clinched the American Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Championship this past season, earning the No. 6 national seed in the 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. The Golden Hurricane advanced to the third round after defeating Creighton 1-0 in its second-round matchup.

In January, three former American Athletic Conference players were selected in the third round of the 2022 MLS SuperDraft. Head men's soccer coach Jeff Kinney said he thinks the move will provide further opportunities for his program and UAB student-athletes.

"The American Athletic Conference will be one of the best men's soccer conferences in the country," Kinney said. "We are excited for the challenge as we will once again be playing against some of the best teams college soccer has to offer.

"It is a great time to be a Blazer, and we look forward to being the first team to officially compete in the AAC."

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.

For more information on the UAB men's soccer team, follow @UAB_MSoc on Twitter and Instagram.