Report: Army to join AAC as football-only member in 2024

The American Athletic Conference voted to add Army as a football-only member starting in 2024, ESPN reported Wednesday.

The Black Knights would keep the AAC's football membership at 14 by replacing SMU, which is joining the Atlantic Coast Conference next year.

Navy has a similar arrangement with the AAC, with both service academies competing in the Patriot League for all sports besides football.

As far as the annual Army-Navy game, ESPN reported that the Black Knights and Midshipmen will not face off in the AAC regular season and that the rivalry will continue as a non-conference contest.

Should Army and Navy finish the regular season in the top two spots in the conference standings, they would meet in back-to-back weeks -- first for the AAC championship and then in the rivalry match, ESPN reported.

Army will also maintain its traditional early November matchup with Air Force, per the report.

Army has competed primarily as an independent since 1891, other than a seven-season stretch with Conference USA from 1998-2004.

Longtime head coach Jeff Monken's Black Knights are 2-5 this season heading into Saturday's game against UMass (1-7) in West Point, N.Y.