Once again, the American Athletic Conference has had one of its teams poached by a Power Five conference. SMU – along with Cal and Stanford – is heading to the ACC.
It’s the latest domino to fall in conference realignment, which has reshaped college athletics since Texas and Oklahoma announced in 2021 they were leaving the Big 12 for the SEC in 2024. When that happened, the Big 12 turned to the AAC and lured away its best brands: UCF, Cincinnati and Houston. The AAC restocked with refugees from Conference USA, bringing aboard North Texas, Rice, FAU, Charlotte, UTSA and UAB. There was a lot of shifting around in the Group of Five.
SMU’s departure – effective after the 2023-24 academic year ends – leaves the AAC with 13 football-playing members (Wichita State is a full member but doesn’t have football. Navy is a football-only member).
So, if the AAC wants to get back to an even number, where does it look?
Apparently what’s left of the Pac-12 – Washington State and Oregon State – aren’t options the league is still considering. Unlike the ACC, the AAC doesn’t want to expand all the way to the West Coast. Its western-most member at the moment is UTSA.
So, east of Texas, is there a team that makes sense for the American Athletic Conference? We have a few ideas in no particular order.
1
Army
This makes some sense, but there are hurdles.
The Black Knights seem like a natural fit for the American for a few reasons. For starters, they’re an independent – so they wouldn’t have to pay an exit fee to another league and can join the AAC for the 2024 season. Second, they’re in the footprint on the East Coast. And third, Army has that storied rivalry with Navy, giving the American a marquee event.
But that game could be one of the hurdles to Army joining up. The Army-Navy game is typically played on the second Saturday in December, the week after FBS conference championships when no other college football games are being played. The Army-Navy game owns that day, and folks at both academies like the spotlight being on them for that signature date on the college football calendar.
Should Army join the AAC, that game would almost certainly have to be played before the American championship game – and the AAC title game is going to grow in importance as the College Football Playoff expands to 12 teams.
One more thing to mention: Army has been in a conference before, playing in Conference USA from 1998 to 2004. And things didn’t go so well. The Black Knights cycled through three head coaches and went 10-59.
Army has since turned things around under Jeff Monken, going to five bowl games since 2016, but with independence, it has the ability to craft a softer schedule.
Is Army open to playing in a conference again? Are the Black Knights – and the Midshipmen – willing to sacrifice their day in the spotlight on the college football calendar?
Sources: After a call with AAC presidents and ADs this morning, it was clear that Army is the league’s top expansion target. Commissioner Mike Aresco has begun informally exploring Army as an expansion candidate.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 1, 2023
2
Appalachian State
In part because of the upsets it has pulled off over Power Five opponents in the last 20 years – Michigan, UNC and Texas A&M among them – App State has some national appeal and recognizability in college football as a giant-killer. Just last year, Boone, N.C. hosted ESPN’s College GameDay. And since jumping to the FBS in 2014, the Mountaineers have been pretty good, going 86-30 overall and 6-1 in bowl games since joining the Sun Belt.
App State’s success and brand power alone should make it appealing to the American as an expansion target. But here’s one more thing: App State would be the AAC’s third team in North Carolina, and it would give the Mountaineers the chance to build rivalries with East Carolina and Charlotte into their regular season schedule.
The Mountaineers would be sacrificing their rivalry with Georgia Southern, but both sides could use a nonconference date to keep that going. As it is, App State typically uses one or two of its nonconference games to play in-state opponents: This year it has ECU and UNC on the schedule.
App State’s place in the AAC’s geographic footprint and its success at the FBS level could make it a good fit.
3
North Dakota State
OK. So, the American doesn’t want to expand west of Texas. But, how about north of Texas?
North Dakota State’s campus in Fargo is no further west that UTSA is, and it would give the American Athletic Conference new territory and a recognizable brand. Sure, NDSU isn’t an FBS team, but the Bison’s success has made them into a team that people know.
NDSU has won nine FCS national titles, beginning in 2011, and have produced a handful of NFL players – Trey Lance and Carson Wentz among them. And their previous head coaches – Craig Bohl and Wyoming and Chris Kleiman at Kansas State – have found success at the FBS level.
If an invitation by the AAC is extended, NDSU would be the latest to make the jump from FCS to FBS, following Sam Houston, Jacksonville State and James Madison in recent years.
MORE COLLEGE FOOTBALL:
