The state of Texas added another strong argument that it’s the center of the college football world on Wednesday. 

The American Athletic Conference became the latest to officially announce that it will move its headquarters to Texas. The AAC was previously based out of the old Big East offices in Newport, R.I.

The conference’s new offices are located at an 18,000-square foot space in Irving at The Summit at Las Colinas. 

“We are excited to begin serving our membership from our state-of-the-art office in Texas,” said AAC commissioner Mike Aresco in a statement. “The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is a national epicenter for intercollegiate athletics and allows us to be geographically closer to many of our members schools.” 

With the departure of UConn, keeping the offices in Rhode Island made little sense. The closest school was Temple University, which is located nearly 300 miles away. The trek for SMU from Dallas to Newport is more than 1,700 miles. 

Instead, the AAC shed its old Big East ties and reoriented itself as a South-leaning conference. The AAC has football member institutions in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee, along with a few outliers in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Kansas-based Wichita State is also a non-football member. 

Of course, the AAC might have to rethink the annual "Clam Bake" that happens annually at conference media days. Instead, may we suggest a barbecue? 

The AAC becomes the third high-profile tenant in the Las Colinas region of Irving alone. The Big 12 is located just a short 10-minute walk away on Highway 114. The College Football Playoff is also based out of The Summit at Las Colinas. You’d have to imagine UCF is happy that they can lobby the playoff for inclusion right from their conference office building. 

In addition, Conference USA gives Texas headquarters for three of the 10 FBS conferences. C-USA’s offices are in the Cypress Waters development, fewer than 10 miles from Las Colinas. No other state is home to more than one FBS conference office. 

In addition to the three FBS conferences, Texas is also home to the American Southwest Conference (Richardson), Lone Star Conference (Richardson) and Southland Conference (Frisco) in the NCAA alone. The Football Writers Association of America, National Football Foundation and Cotton Bowl also rank among the high-profile organizations based in the area.

Adding the AAC office is just another indicator – college football runs through the state of Texas.