BOCA RATON, Fla. — Florida Atlantic will host Tulsa in its first-ever American Athletic Conference game in October and visit South Florida the next weekend for its first AAC road game.
The AAC announced its full schedule for the 2023 season Tuesday morning – one that includes the addition of newcomers FAU, UAB, Charlotte, North Texas, Rice and UTSA.
FAU will play four straight nonconference games to begin the season – hosting Monmouth on Sept. 2 and Ohio on Sept. 9 before traveling to defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion Clemson on Sept. 16 and Illinois on Sept. 23.
After a bye on the final Saturday of September, the Owls will welcome Tulsa to FAU Stadium on Oct. 7.
They'll then travel to Tampa to face USF on Oct. 14 before returning home against UTSA on Oct. 21.
After back-to-back road trips at Charlotte on Oct. 27 and UAB on Nov. 4, the Owls will close out the regular season with two of their final three games at home.
FAU hosts East Carolina on Nov. 11 and reigning AAC champion Tulane on Nov. 18.
The Owls will conclude their regular-season slate at Rice on Nov. 25.
Noticeably absent from this year's schedule is FAU's annual rivalry game with Florida International. That's because FIU was left behind when the AAC plucked FAU and the other schools from Conference USA.
Both schools announced in September plans to play a four-game series starting in 2024, but the result is a one-year gap in the "Shula Bowl," which has been played each year since 2002.
The Owls are in their first season under head coach Tom Herman, who previously coached at Texas and Houston. He replaces Willie Taggart, who was fired after three seasons.
"I'm excited to not only see our full schedule laid out before us, but also to have the opportunity to guide this program through the conference change," Herman said in a statement. "I believe we are fortunate in the fact that we can get two games under our belts before we head off to play two Power 5 schools in back-to-back weeks. The break before we start the conference season also comes at an opportune time. It's a schedule that will challenge our team and is certain to be exciting for our fans."
Kickoff times and television schedules will be announced later this year.
