We all know that an expanded playoff will be a strong reason for Notre Dame to stay independent (see thread on that) BUT what about Army? We know that UMass would accept a FB bid to any league that offered. UConn is a wildcard and I have no idea how their administration feels.

Army is the biggest question in my opinion. Do they care enough about playing for a FBS National Championship they are willing to push for FB only membership with the AAC, MAC, Sun Belt, or even C-USA or do they just roll with their current setup knowing the odds are slim that they'll ever earn a spot amongst the 6 at-large bids and are okay with winning say 9-12 games and playing in a normal bowl game?

If you’re Army, joining the AAC has never been so attractive. 6 conference champs means the door is wide open to make the CFP. If SMU is off to the P12, Army should change their prior stance and get on that ASAP.

Theoretically, if Army wants to provide cadets that a football championship is possible, makes sense to join a conference.

Realistically, it’s not expected for any service academy to be in the playoff, or truly be competitive. The size difference between them and top contenders is too wide a gap.

Conference USA was a disaster for Army football. I would not expect a repeat in another alignment.

(12-01-2022 04:36 PM)DFW HOYA Wrote:  Conference USA was a disaster for Army football. I would not expect a repeat in another alignment.

When they were in C-USA, that league was a lot stronger. I think they’d fair ok in the present AAC. at 16 members, Army wouldn’t play all the league’s tough teams in the same year.

Army could schedule weak in the OOC, and get to .500 and a bowl more often than not.

I believe Army likes being independent, and the CFP format will have no bearing on them. I think they march to the beat of a different drummer than the typical CFB program.

I would be surprised in Army wanted to join the AAC due, in part, to the looming 12-team playoff.

But if Army is ever interested, the AAC needs to make it happen.

To preserve the Army/Navy game in its current weekend, if Army were to join a conference to gain access to the CFP, it would make more sense to pick another league than Navy and here’s why:

They could keep the Army/Navy game on the calendar for the 2nd Sat in December and it wouldn’t interfere with any CCGs.

Army and Navy could each play AFA, 2 additional OOC games, and 8 conference games. If either qualifies for their CCG, they can play that the 1st Sat in December and then the Army/Navy game the 2nd.

If Army joined the AAC, they’d need to either alter the date of the Army/Navy game or have Army/Navy play as an OOC game between 2 members.

(12-01-2022 04:46 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  When they were in C-USA, that league was a lot stronger. I think they’d fair ok in the present AAC. at 16 members, Army wouldn’t play all the league’s tough teams in the same year.

Army prefers an independent schedule, in part, because it allows them to schedule games in conjunction with non-athlete recruiting efforts. Playing the same AAC schools every two years may not be as flexible.

I fully expect Army to stay a football independent. I don't think an expanded playoff will affect their thinking much, if any.

It’s sort of a moot point right now, but if Army suddenly start putting a string of 10-2 seasons together and kept finding themselves ranked higher than the G5 autobid, they might want to rethink their stance.

if Army and Air Force came to the AAC, the footprint is so big that they’d be playing league games pretty much everywhere but the Midwest and West Coast. (And the league is big enough that they would be in the same cities every other year). They could use their OOC games (each would have 4 to work with) to hit those places or they could even strategically move a “home” game to say Chicago or San Diego to have a presence in those regions.

(12-01-2022 05:30 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  It’s sort of a moot point right now, but if Army suddenly start putting a string of 10-2 seasons together and kept finding themselves ranked higher than the G5 autobid, they might want to rethink their stance.

if Army and Air Force came to the AAC, the footprint is so big that they’d be playing league games pretty much everywhere but the Midwest and West Coast. (And the league is big enough that they would be in the same cities every other year). They could use their OOC games (each would have 4 to work with) to hit those places or they could even strategically move a “home” game to say Chicago or San Diego to have a presence in those regions.

Army played in a conference and didn't like it. It went back to indy status after that.

I know that Big Ten guys don't understand the allure of independence, but I think that you will find that Army, like ND, prefers that status, even in an expanded playoff era.

UConn may be interested in football conference membership but I suspect Army will not be.

I provided my perspective on this in the ND thread.