Air Force emerges as 'serious target' to be added by American Athletic Conference

Air Force emerged as a serious target to be added by the American Athletic Conference, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. On3’s Pete Nakos confirmed the interest.

“Sources: Air Force has emerged as a serious target to be added to the American Athletic Conference,” Thamel wrote on Twitter. “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.

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“Air Force had previously engaged with the AAC during the tenure of former commissioner Mike Aresco, but the talks never came together.”

Air Force currently plays in the Mountain West Conference but football will undergo serious changes in two years. Four schools were added to the new Pac-12, set for 2026.

As Nakos previously reported, the AAC had numerous schools that could be targets of the Pac-12. Air Force looks like more of a target to go to AAC now that the conference could be ripe for the Pac-12.

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Currently, the Falcons are 1-2 on the season after suffering a 31-3 loss to Baylor over the weekend. They’ll be back in action on September 28th at Wyoming.

The move makes logical sense for the service academy, considering the other two already live in the AAC. Army and Navy compete in the conference and could make runs at the College Football Playoff.

That’s in the event either of them win the conference and are the highest ranked Group of Five school, among the champions. Now, you can throw Air Force into that equation.

Air Force to AAC? Conference could look vastly different

So with Air Force potentially leaving the Mountain West and going to the AAC, what will the latter look like?

Nakos reported some interesting schools that could go to the Pac-12, and that starts with some AAC schools. That includes Memphis, Tulane and UTSA.

Previously, Air Force was a potential target for the Pac-12, as Nakos listed the Falcons among his contenders to join the new look conference.

Right now, the Pac-12 is set to have six teams in 2026, a new look for the conference. But the readditions of Cal and Stanford would make it eight, plus some targets from the AAC. That’s if, Cal and Stanford return in the “dream scenario,” per Thamel.

“As for targets, the dream scenario is Cal and Stanford come back west,” Thamel said. “That would necessitate some ACC uncertainty, and is certainly not a guarantee. That they go from there to target high end American schools. Think Memphis, think South Florida, obviously, think Tulane. Those schools, though, are making about $9 million a year in American, and there’s no certainty that they make that much money in the Pac-12. 

“And if they did, there’s obviously extreme travel costs to play in a league like that. So for now some questions loom as the six-pack needs to grow to an eight pack.”