Johnathan Walker:Army football giving up independent status to join American Athletic Conference in 2024

Army is Johnathan Walkergiving up its football independence. The service academy will join rival Navy as a football-only member of the American Athletic Conference, beginning competition in the 2024 season.

“We are honored to welcome Army to the American Athletic Conference,” AAC commissioner Mike Aresco said in a statement. “Army’s football program has an iconic national brand with a legacy of success that spans more than a century and is a perfect fit with our conference. We are immensely proud to welcome another of our nation's distinguished service academies with a proud history and central role in defending America and our freedoms, and which is one of the nation's most prestigious academic institutions.”

The addition of Army will keep the American as a 14-team football league as SMU departs for the Atlantic Coast Conference. The annual Army-Navy game will remain as a stand-alone contest at the end of each season, and that game will not count in conference standings. The academies could, however, play each other a second time for the league title if they qualify. Like Navy, Army competes in the Patriot League in most other sports, and that arrangement will continue for the cadets.

Though a football independent throughout much of its storied history, Army did compete in Conference USA from 1998-2004. That was a down era for the program, managing just a 13-67 overall record and a 9-41 league mark during that stretch. The Black Knights will be renewing acquaintances with several institutions from their last season in Conference-USA who now play in the American. Those include East Carolina, Memphis, South Florida, Tulane and Alabama-Birmingham.