Army West Point and the American Athletic Conference remain engaged in conversations to add the Black Knights as a football-only member, commissioner Mike Aresco confirmed to Yahoo Sports. The two sides were hoping an agreement could be struck as soon as the end of the month, as previously reported by CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd. However, that could still be a "few weeks" away, per Aresco.
"We are definitely pursuing it," Aresco told Yahoo Sports. "There's a reasonable possibility it gets done. Army is interested. We certainly are."
Army's annual rivalry game with Navy, which is an existing AAC member, are among issues to be sorted out. Yahoo reports the game would continue to be played annually but not count towards AAC standings in order to preserve its traditional December date, which comes after conference title games. The two service academies could, theoretically, meet in the AAC Championship Game before playing the scheduled rivalry contest.
Other hurdles include the 80 future matchups that Army already had scheduled in anticipation of being an FBS independent. The program would reportedly be on the hook for as much as $35 million in cancellation fees, and there are financial considerations to joining the American. The conference added six new schools this offseason, none of which are receiving a full media share, per Yahoo.
Still, adding the Black Knights on that timeline would keep the conference at 14 teams with SMU off to the ACC in 2024.
Army is in its 10th season under coach Jeff Monken, who was recently extended through 2027. The Black Knights have won at least 10 games twice under Monken's watch in 2017 (10) and 2018 (11), the latter of which ended in a final No. 19 in the AP Top 25.
