With the topics of conference realignment and expansion putting up Hall of Fame numbers this offseason, one new league has entered its name into the fold.
According to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the AAC is eyeing a new target to join the league through conference expansion.
“Air Force has emerged as a serious target to be added to the American Athletic Conference,” Thamel said. “Air Force had emerged in conversations as a potential AAC add in recent months, prior to the Pac-12 taking four Mountain West schools last week.”
While this isn’t the first time the AAC’s name has popped up in realignment talks, it is the first time this offseason that the headlines have circled adding members rather than subtracting them.
On Saturday, ahead of the 11:00 a.m. slate of games, The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman provided an interesting update regarding the status of Pac-12 expansion.
“Sources tell me that the Pac-12 has some interest in Tulane and Memphis in the AAC,” Feldman said. “There’s a bunch of other schools they are also considering. Keep in mind, this is not going to be an automatic bid into the CFP, so we’ll see how much interest comes on the other side of this as the league reforms itself.”
With two of their key member institutions involved in realignment rumors of possibly joining the reformed Pac-12, the ACC jumped back onto the scene by linking themselves to the Mountain West’s Air Force.
While there certainly hasn’t been a shortage of realignment rumors over the past few months, should the AAC find a way to add the Air Force to the league, the group would have the collection of three service schools in its ranks with Army, Navy, and Air Force.
