The AAC's path is best divined by looking at what these same schools did in the CUSA, as 9 of the 11 were in CUSA, mostly at the same time. Army was in the CUSA. They go after them first. They would go after Air Force next.

While NIU or Buffalo are possibilities, they had chances and passed on those schools for CUSA. They picked Southern Miss, UAB, Rice, UTEP and Marshall. With the temporary dropping of football, UAB is not a possibility. UTEP is too weak in football and too far west. That leaves Southern Miss, Rice and Marshall. While all have drawbacks, so does the rest of the G5 and none of the others have been picked by these schools to join them before.