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Conference realignment continues to affect the college football landscape, and though we’re smackdab in the middle of the season, the movement isn’t stopping.
This week, it was announced that Army would be joining the AAC as a football-only member in 2024. That announcement is notable for a variety of reasons.
Firstly, this will be just the second time in the program’s 134-year history that its’ been affiliated with a specific league. Outside of a seven-year stint in Conference USA, the Black Knights have played as an independent.
That will leave just three remaining independents in college football in Notre Dame, UMASS, and UCONN.
AAC presidents voted Tuesday night to accept Army into the conference starting in 2024-25, sources tell @YahooSports.
Our story in September with details on the AAC’s courtship of Army and specifics of the deal between the league and its now-new school https://t.co/TuvvnrGhpa
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) October 25, 2023
Secondly, the move to the AAC officially makes Army and Navy conference rivals – with a twist.
Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports explained that while the two service academies would be in the same league, there would be no effect on the final weekend of the season.
Army and Navy play annually in Week 15 in one of America’s favorite rivalries. They’re typically the only teams playing on that final Saturday of the regular season, which comes after the conference championship games.
That could provide an interesting scenario in the future.
Dellenger says that Army would “continue playing Navy on its traditional date in a game that would not count in conference standings.” With the game being scheduled after those conference championships, there’s no way to both keep it on the season’s final week and make it count towards the league standings.
With that being said, if Army and Navy were to finish No. 1 and No. 2 in the AAC and meet in the league title game, they’d still play again the next week.
A double dose of one of college football’s greatest traditions in back-to-back weeks?? Sign me up!
The Midshipmen joined the AAC in 2015 after spending more than 120 years as an independent.
The addition of Army comes as a direct response to SMU’s plans to leave the AAC for the ACC come 2024. With Army in the fold, the conference can remain at 14 teams for football.