The RoundHouse | 6/27/2023 2:55:00 PM

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The American Athletic Conference undergoes a makeover on July 1 when North Texas, Rice, UTSA, UAB, Charlotte and Florida Atlantic join. Those six schools, all from Conference USA, sign on as Cincinnati, Central Florida and Houston move to the Big 12.
 
Those six schools won 15 tournament or regular-season titles in C-USA last season, highlighted by FAU's sweep in men's basketball and Charlotte winning men's and women's cross country, men's and women's indoor track, men's golf, softball (regular season), baseball (tournament) and men's outdoor track.
 
The group of new AAC members also earned 13 of C-USA's Sport Academic Awards for its 16 sports.
 
We continue a podcast series looking at the six schools with Rice University.
 
Tuesday: North Texas, Rice
Wednesday: UTSA, UAB
Thursday: Charlotte, FAU
 
A look at the schools:
 
North Texas Mean Green
Location: Denton, Texas
Enrollment: 44,336
One thing to know: Mean Green men's basketball won 18 or more games in each of the past six seasons.
Connections to Wichita State: Former Shocker Tommy Newman, a member of the 1965 Final Four team, coached North Texas from 1983-86. Harry Miller coached North Texas in 1970-71 before taking the top job at Wichita State. The Mean Green played in the Missouri Valley Conference from 1957-75, where it finished with one winning season in men's basketball. North Texas won 13 MVC golf titles, which remains second in conference history behind Wichita State's 21. The Mean Green won four straight NCAA titles from 1949-52 and placed second in 1954, 1955 and 1956.
 
Rice Owls
Location: Houston
Enrollment: 8,565
One thing to know: The Owls played in the College World Series seven times from 1997-2008 and won the title in 2003.
Connections to Wichita State: Scott Thompson coached the Shockers in men's basketball from 1992-96 after five seasons at Rice. In 1996, Wichita State defeated Rice to advance to the College World Series. In 2003, the Owls defeated the Shockers on their way to Omaha. The Shockers defeated Rice 3-1 in a 2008 NCAA volleyball match in Austin.
 
UTSA Roadrunners
Location: San Antonio
Enrollment: 34,330
One thing to know: UTSA started its athletics program in 1981 with a 71-42 loss to Arkansas in San Antonio in men's basketball.
Connections to Wichita State: Jason Perez, who scored 1,839 points from 1996-2000 for the Shockers, is from San Antonio.
 
UAB Blazers
Location: Birmingham, Ala.
Enrollment: 21,639
One thing to know: Gene Bartow, former basketball coach at Memphis, Illinois and UCLA, started the athletics program at UAB in 1977. As coach, he guided the Blazers to seven NCAA Tournaments in his first eight seasons. In 1982, UAB highlighted his tenure with wins over Indiana and Virginia before losing to Louisville in the regional final.
Connections to Wichita State: The Shockers are 4-0 vs. UAB in men's basketball. The series started with a matchup of top-10 teams early in the 1981-82 season. The fourth-ranked Shockers defeated No. 9 UAB 75-60 at Levitt Arena. Tony Martin made 7 of 8 shots to score 14 points for the Shockers.
 
Charlotte 49ers
Location: Charlotte, N.C.
Enrollment: 30,448
One thing to know: The 49ers advanced to the 1977 Final Four in their fifth season as an NCAA Division I program. They defeated Central Michigan, Syracuse, and No. 1 Michigan before losing to Marquette in the national semifinal.
Connections to Wichita State: Former Shocker outfielder, assistant coach and 2023 interim baseball coach Loren Hibbs coached the 49ers for 27 seasons. The schools met once on the diamond, a 7-3 win by the Shockers in 2002.
 
Florida Atlantic Owls
Location: Boca Raton, Fla.
Enrollment: 29,610
One thing to know: FAU's men's basketball team made the NCAA Tournament in 2002 and then again in 2023. The Owls defeated Memphis, Fairleigh Dickinson, Tennessee, and Kansas State before losing to San Diego State in the national semifinal.
Connections to Wichita State: The Shockers defeated FAU 88-85 in 1998 with Maurice Evans and Jason Perez both scoring 24 points for WSU in Levitt Arena. That is the lone meeting. Wichita State retired Cliff Levington's jersey at halftime.