AAC engaged in ‘encouraging’ talks with Army about replacing SMU

The American Athletic Conference continues to have “encouraging” discussions with Army about joining the league as a football-only member.

A league source on Friday confirmed ESPN’s initial report that the AAC has pinpointed Army as a top expansion target to replace SMU, which last week accepted an invitation from the ACC to join the league next year. No decision between the AAC and Army is expected for a few weeks, the source told On3.

Once the Pac-12 Conference began crumbling last month, AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco – no stranger to realignment and the role TV rights play in the equation – began exploring the possibility of adding Oregon State and Washington State. But Aresco said last week the league ended any recruitment of the Pacific Northwest schools. Both schools are likely destined to join the Mountain West Conference, either in a so-called reverse merger or a traditional expansion move.

Will Army still play Navy rivalry game?

The AAC’s next move and the fate of the remaining Pac-2 figure to be the last dominos to fall in a realignment round that dramatically reconfigured big-time college athletics and amplified questions regarding the non-financial cost of schools aggressively chasing TV rights dollars.

Eight schools left the ruined 108-year-old Pac-12 this summer for three power conferences after the league’s quest for a palatable media rights deal fizzled. SMU leaned entirely on its army of deep-pocketed donors to offset the coming financial hit of receiving zero broadcast revenue for its first nine years in the ACC.

Army is currently an independent. If Army joins the AAC, the expectation is that Army likely would maintain its annual matchup with AAC football member Navy on the December weekend following conference championship games. That would afford the tradition-rich matchup of military academies, an enduring rivalry since it was first staged in 1890, its usual broad national audience. 

The game has been nationally televised since 1945. Army-Navy remains an attractive property for CBS, which has broadcast the game since 1996 and holds the rights through 2028. If Army joins the AAC, the December matchup would likely be considered a non-conference game. 

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