American Athletic Conference approves '8 + 4' football schedule

On Wednesday, the American Athletic Conference announced plans for its football schedule that, per ESPN's Andrea Adelson, includes eight games against league opponents and up to four contests versus non-conference teams.

The Sun Belt Conference announced an "eight-plus-four" schedule model on Tuesday.

In the prepared statement, AAC commissioner Mike Aresco said:

"The health and safety of our student-athletes is our top priority as we face the challenges of the current global pandemic. With the guidance and advice of our Medical Advisory Group, which has done an outstanding job developing health and safety protocols, we have developed a collaborative and comprehensive plan that will allow us safely and reasonably to play our fall sports. Our plan provides us with the flexibility to adapt to potential disruptions to our schedules. I want to thank our board of directors, our Medical Advisory Group, athletic directors, senior woman administrators and conference office staff for their thoughtful input and approach to what is one of the most challenging situations we will face."

Non-conference games can be scheduled per the preferences of each school, which league play set to begin Sept. 19. The conference's championship game will be either Dec. 5, 12 or 19 and held at the regular-season champion's stadium.

The date of the title game won't be announced until Nov. 1 at the earliest.