AAC Football: These 3 teams should get realignment invite

The American Athletic Conference has the difficult task of trying to replace the biggest names from its conference — UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston once they officially leave for the Big 12. The problem is, the best options may also be in contention to join Power Five schools in the next wave of college football realignment. AAC football can’t afford to do nothing, so it’ll have to find the right partners who can grow into their conference without fear of a Power Five conference scooping them up.

The Action Network and CBS Sports report the AAC has extended invites for Air Force and Colorado State to join their conference, with an announcement coming as soon as the first week of October.

The problem is, those two schools alone will not move the needle for the premier Group of Five conference. This is a conference that’s losing UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston — teams that have been highly ranked and/or have been to big bowl games in recent years.

It would be interesting to see if recent Top 25 teams such as Coastal Carolina or Liberty would have any desire to join the AAC; however, those schools may be courted by bigger conferences if conference realignment expands even further. ACC anyone?

The same goes for Boise State and San Diego State, who will likely be holding out for a Big 12 or Pac-12 conference invite within the next couple of years. Not to mention the terrible travel for those two teams. Can you imagine the trip San Diego State would have to make for a conference game against Temple in Philadelphia? Yikes.

Unless the AAC can add some additional name-brand schools, it looks like the Mountain West and Sun Belt Conference will have the strongest Group of Five football conferences, much to the chagrin of Memphis and SMU.

AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco needs to identify programs that are already in geographically close quarters, can grow into a slightly bigger conference, and aren’t in contention to be scooped up by a Power Five conference. Having an appropriately sized stadium or (plans for one) would also be an important factor.

Let’s take a look at the teams who fit those qualifications.