PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The race for the 2014 American Athletic Conference football title will begin Aug. 30 and will culminate in four games as part of Championship Week as the league’s 11 schools battle for the league crown and a College Football Playoff berth.Commissioner Mike Aresco announced the complete 44-game conference schedule Tuesday as The American looks to build upon a highly successful first season, which was capped by UCF’s win against Baylor in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.The 2014 season begins for American Athletic Conference teams Thursday, Aug. 28, and continues through three nationally televised games that will be part of Championship Saturday Dec. 6. The 44-game conference schedule kicks off Aug. 30, when Tulane visits Tulsa in the first American Athletic Conference game for both schools.The 2014 season is the first under The American’s new television contract, which provides for 80 percent of conference-controlled games on national television platforms, including ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews and CBS Sports Network.Highlights of the 2014 schedule include an intriguing series of Thursday and Friday games on either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU as well as a number of exciting nonconference games that will pair American Athletic Conference teams against the nation’s top programs. UCF, which went 12-1 and finished the 2013 season ranked No. 10 nationally, opens its season against Penn State Aug. 30 on ESPN2, in a game that will be played in Dublin, Ireland. Tulsa will host Oklahoma on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 Sept. 6.The nonconference schedule includes games against nine teams ranked in the top 25 of last year’s USA Today Coaches’ Poll, including games against No. 5 Missouri, No. 6 Oklahoma, No. 10 Ohio State, No. 13 Baylor, No. 16 UCLA, No. 18 Texas A&M, No.21 Wisconsin, No. 22 Duke and No. 23 Vanderbilt.Additionally, The American previously announced three games for member institutions against Brigham Young – all on ESPN – as UConn opens its season against the Cougars Aug. 29 from Rentschler Field, Houston visits BYU Sept. 11, and UCF hosts the Cougars Oct. 9 at Bright House Networks Stadium.Kickoff times and television designations for the first three weeks of the season will be made final in June, while the rest of the schedule will fall under the 12-day and six-day selection processes.The Championship Week matchups begin with UCF at East Carolina Thursday, Dec. 4, in a battle of teams that won at least 10 games last year. The three games Saturday, Dec. 6 include Houston at Cincinnati, Temple at Tulane and SMU at UConn.The first year of American Athletic Conference saw the league place two teams in the top 15 of the final AP and USA Today polls, while the league was one of just three conferences to produce two 12-win teams, joining the Big Ten and the SEC.