Army Reevaluating On Staying Independent


It looks like Army might be thinking of being in a conference soon. AAC might be a landing spot for them. AAC will hit a homerun if they land them as Army and Navy game gets over 5 million viewers.

(12-08-2022 08:53 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  Army Reevaluating On Staying Independent


It looks like Army might be thinking of being in a conference soon. AAC might be a landing spot for them. AAC will hit a homerun if they land them as Army and Navy game gets over 5 million viewers.

The actual headline is: "Army ponders how long it can remain independent in football", and the takeaway follows on a discussion of NFL prospect LB Andre Carter II:

Quote: Hopefully, he’ll continue to be high on people’s list and they’ll feel compelled to want to take him as a really high draft pick. It’ll be great for him, great for us.”

So, for now, is life as an independent.

So for anyone hoping for news from the story that is relevant to conference realignment in the short or medium term -- perhaps after reading David State's takeaway from an article without any support for his takeaway -- your hopes would be forlorn.

(12-08-2022 08:53 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  Army Reevaluating On Staying Independent


It looks like Army might be thinking of being in a conference soon. AAC might be a landing spot for them. AAC will hit a homerun if they land them as Army and Navy game gets over 5 million viewers.

Its not just joining a conference, but the NIL and Portal could have a big impact on the military academies. Not so much directly, but indirectly because other schools could benefit and the military academies can't.

(12-08-2022 09:00 PM)BruceMcF Wrote:  

(12-08-2022 08:53 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  Army Reevaluating On Staying Independent


It looks like Army might be thinking of being in a conference soon. AAC might be a landing spot for them. AAC will hit a homerun if they land them as Army and Navy game gets over 5 million viewers.

The actual headline is: "Army ponders how long it can remain independent in football", and the takeaway follows on a discussion of NFL prospect LB Andre Carter II:

Quote: Hopefully, he’ll continue to be high on people’s list and they’ll feel compelled to want to take him as a really high draft pick. It’ll be great for him, great for us.”

So, for now, is life as an independent.

So for anyone hoping for news from the story that is relevant to conference realignment in the short or medium term -- perhaps after reading David State's takeaway from an article without any support for his takeaway -- your hopes would be forlorn.

It is in this quot, Bruce.

Quote:“The realignment certainly gets your attention,” Army athletic director Mike Buddie said. “We weigh that option every year. We value our independence so much, it just hasn’t made sense for us up to this point. But the shifting tides of conference realignment, expanded college football playoff, all those things could play a factor in re-evaluating.”

That is what he is saying.

Quote:“The realignment certainly gets your attention,” Army athletic director Mike Buddie said. “We weigh that option every year. We value our independence so much, it just hasn’t made sense for us up to this point. But the shifting tides of conference realignment, expanded college football playoff, all those things could play a factor in re-evaluating.”

I said exactly this last week - it's been generations since the door has been this wide open for Army to play on a stage as big as the college football playoff, with a G5 champion guaranteed and the AAC champion a favorite for that spot.

Plus, "Army-Navy Week" might soon become "College Football Playoff Week" anyway.

An interesting article and thanks, DavidSt, for posting.

It does, indeed, seem Army is more open to joining a league (football only) now compared to, say, five years ago.

why is Air Force able to compete in the MWC but Army/Navy struggle in other G5 conferences?

Army and Air Force would be a huge get for the AAC. I wonder where, over the course of the Thanksgiving weekend, they could carve out a niche time slot for Army-Navy.

Maybe Friday at Noon Eastern?

(12-08-2022 10:05 PM)Glenn360 Wrote:  why is Air Force able to compete in the MWC but Army/Navy struggle in other G5 conferences?

Part of it may be that they all three have fitness standard which limit the size of linemen they can recruit, but the weight limits are Air Force, Navy & Army, in order from highest to lowest.

I’m not saying it’s what they should do, but I bet the academies would probably still get the same athletes at the FCS level. Would it make more sense for them to be in FCS in the Patriot League, where they’d be at the top of the attendance stats and national title contenders?

Even as FCS programs, there’d be networks all too happy to air their games.

(12-08-2022 10:05 PM)Glenn360 Wrote:  why is Air Force able to compete in the MWC but Army/Navy struggle in other G5 conferences?

Although Navy hasn't played in a bowl game since 2019, their record shows that it's not accurate to summarize Navy's time in the AAC as a "struggle," overall:

2015 11-2*
2016 9-5*
2017 7-6*
2018 3-10
2019 11-2*
2020 3-7
2021 4-8
2022 4-7

*bowl game

average: 6.5 wins per season

(12-08-2022 09:57 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  An interesting article and thanks, DavidSt, for posting.

It does, indeed, seem Army is more open to joining a league (football only) now compared to, say, five years ago.

Is there any difference to the similar article that could have been written five years ago except for a different set of things being name-checked that aren't presently leading Army to "not want to join a conference now but, who knows, might do so sometime in the future"?

(12-08-2022 10:32 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  I’m not saying it’s what they should do, but I bet the academies would probably still get the same athletes at the FCS level. Would it make more sense for them to be in FCS in the Patriot League, where they’d be at the top of the attendance stats and national title contenders?

Even as FCS programs, there’d be networks all too happy to air their games.

Makes no sense. All 3 have turned out top-25 teams recently. All 3 have gotten big names agree to visit their stadium, including bluebloods Notre Dame and Oklahoma.

Their alums and donors would riot if an administrator suggested it.

(12-08-2022 10:41 PM)BruceMcF Wrote:  

(12-08-2022 09:57 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  An interesting article and thanks, DavidSt, for posting.

It does, indeed, seem Army is more open to joining a league (football only) now compared to, say, five years ago.

Is there any difference to the similar article that could have been written five years ago except for a different set of things being name-checked that aren't presently leading Army to "not want to join a conference now but, who knows, might do so sometime in the future"?

Yes, the AD mentioned playoff expansion.

Indeed, I mentioned this as well recently in the thread referencing Notre Dame remaining independent.

It's not ND, though, that need be concerned about conference membership for access to the conference AQ and CFP money, it's Army West Point, UConn and UMass.

I know the MAC would be very receptive to adding West Point as a football affiliate, but I can certainly foresee the Black Knights joining the AAC as a backfill for SMU if/when the Mustangs move to the Pac-12.

The only work around in West Point joining the AAC is the scheduling of the Army/Navy game with both teams in the same conference, but I'm sure that can be resolved.

It will also be interesting to see what the future holds for UMass and UConn.

(12-08-2022 10:50 PM)BeatWestern! Wrote:  Indeed, I mentioned this as well recently in the thread referencing Notre Dame remaining independent.

It's not ND, though, that need be concerned about conference membership for access to the conference AQ and CFP money, it's Army West Point, UConn and UMass.

I know the MAC would be very receptive to adding West Point as a football affiliate, but I can certainly foresee the Black Knights joining the AAC as a backfill for SMU if/when the Mustangs move to the Pac-12.

The only work around in West Point joining the AAC is the scheduling of the Army/Navy game with both teams in the same conference, but I'm sure that can be resolved.

It will also be interesting to see what the future holds for UMass and UConn.

The MAC is probably a bit too Midwestern for Army. That’s a lot of trips to Ohio and Michigan and not a lot of visits to the other 48 states in the union, which is bad for recruitment and veteran/active service engagement.

Personally, I think the AAC is probably the best move. That gives them a pretty broad group of opponents over a big footprint and with their OOC schedule they can fill in the places the AAC lacks, namely the West Coast and Midwest.

Army and Navy belong in the Ivy League

(12-08-2022 09:10 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Plus, "Army-Navy Week" might soon become "College Football Playoff Week" anyway.

I hope so. Army-Navy week is far and away the dullest week of the year for me that technically still counts as college football season. Army-Navy deserves a protected timeslot of their choice, and they should NEVER have to play that game while other college football teams play on another channel. But there is no need to kill a week for their game, and they might get even better ratings with other games on that day as well so that more fans would devote the day to watching football instead of seeing it as a day to do other things entirely before the bowl games start.

(12-08-2022 09:57 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  An interesting article and thanks, DavidSt, for posting.

It does, indeed, seem Army is more open to joining a league (football only) now compared to, say, five years ago.

Yes, very interesting indeed!

It would be interesting to add a poll to this thread, asking viewers which conference Army would be most likely to join, in their view.

• The American might be high on Army's short list, if they could get the same deal with ESPN that Navy has, since it would provide them the most revenue. Navy has been able to compete in the AAC, so Army should be able to do so, as well, particularly with Cincy and UCF joining the Big XII.
  
  ---The ability to count the Army-Navy game as a conference game could free up another OOC game for their schedule, although they couldn't continue to play that game after championship week.
  .
• The C-USA would be another option that Army might consider. Army would probably be one of the most competitive teams in the C-USA, and they would have a realistic shot at going undefeated and making their way into the playoffs.
  .
• The MAC might be appealing to Army for similar reasons. Army would be just as competitive in the MAC as they would be in the C-USA, and the travel time for their cadets would be significantly lower.
  .
• The Sun Belt might be somewhat appealing, but the SBC is a much more competitive football conference, with many quality FB programs, and Army might not have such a clear path to the playoffs in the SBC for that reason.
  

It seems unlikely that Army would join the MWC, given the travel distances, but if they were to join as a FB-only member, this would be less of a concern, and they would be able to free up an OOC schedule spot, since annual rival Air Force plays in the MWC.

If I were going to make a guess, I'd guess that they might be most likely to join the AAC, but anything is possible.

(12-08-2022 11:26 PM)Milwaukee Wrote:  

(12-08-2022 09:57 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  An interesting article and thanks, DavidSt, for posting.

It does, indeed, seem Army is more open to joining a league (football only) now compared to, say, five years ago.

Yes, very interesting indeed!

It would be interesting to add a poll to this thread, asking viewers which conference Army would be most likely to join, in their view.

• The American might be high on Army's short list, if they could get the same deal with ESPN that Navy has, since it would provide them the most revenue. Navy has been able to compete in the AAC, so Army should be able to do so, as well, particularly with Cincy and UCF joining the Big XII.
  
  ---The ability to count the Army-Navy game as a conference game could free up another OOC game for their schedule, although they couldn't continue to play that game after championship week.
  .
• The C-USA would be another option that Army might consider. Army would probably be one of the most competitive teams in the C-USA, and they would have a realistic shot at going undefeated and making their way into the playoffs.
  .
• The MAC might be appealing to Army for similar reasons. Army would be just as competitive in the MAC as they would be in the C-USA, and the travel time for their cadets would be significantly lower.
  .
• The Sun Belt might be somewhat appealing, but the SBC is a much more competitive football conference, with many quality FB programs, and Army might not have such a clear path to the playoffs in the SBC for that reason.
  

It seems unlikely that Army would join the MWC, given the travel distances, but if they were to join as a FB-only member, this would be less of a concern, and they would be able to free up an OOC schedule spot, since annual rival Air Force plays in the MWC.

If I were going to make a guess, I'd guess that they might be most likely to join the AAC, but anything is possible.

Army would just as easy of a path in the SBC as MAC or CUSA maybe easier.