American Athletic Conference
2025 Bids: 2
Projected 2026 Bids: 1
Preseason favorite: 
East Carolina
UTSA ended East Carolina’s six-year run atop the American standings last year, as the Roadrunners dominated the league in the regular season and went on to reach their first super regional. But ECU recovered from a disappointing regular season to get hot and win the conference tournament, then reached a regional final. With an exciting core of rising stars back in the fold, the Pirates look poised to regain their perch atop the standings, but UTSA should remain right in the hunt despite losing some serious star power from last year. Charlotte, South Florida, Florida Atlantic and Tulane all look like factors in this race as well, giving the American at least a shot at sending multiple teams to regionals for the fourth time in the last five years. But it’s worth noting that it would have been a one-bid league in each of those seasons if the regular-season champion had won the automatic bid, as the AAC hasn’t produced more than one team with a viable at-large resumé since 2018, when UConn and Houston were still members. — Aaron Fitt