Tulane’s Conference Home Seeking New Member From Mountain West: Report
The American Athletic Conference is reportedly talking with Air Force about luring the Falcons from the Mountain West Conference, per a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Thamel reported that the Falcons were a “serious target” for the conference. Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger also reported that the AAC has interest because it would bring the three service academies under the same umbrella.
Army West Point joined the AAC this year for football. Navy has been a member since 2015.
Late Monday, commissioner Tom Pernetti released a statement.
“The American Conference is a pioneering brand, firmly grounded in grit and hard work, with powerful and prestigious member institutions,” he said. “In the past five months we have prioritized seizing every opportunity that enhances value for our member institutions and student-athletes. Whether through private capital, naming rights, innovative partnerships or realignment, we have proactively assessed each opportunity, and are prepared to collaboratively take action-steps, to be at the forefront of success and sustainability.”
Air Force is a charter member of the Mountain West Conference, which formed in 1999. But the league is also suffering some huge hits.
Last week the Pac-12 Conference invited four current Mountain West schools to join the league for the fall of 2026 — Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State. All four have accepted the invitation and will join the league, which includes Oregon State and Washington State.
The Pac-12 needs two more members to reach eight schools, which is the minimum needed to be considered a conference by the NCAA.
The Mountain West will be down to eight schools for football in 2026-27, which includes Hawai’i as an affiliate member for the sport. Losing Air Force would put the conference in the Pac-12’s position.
This report comes shortly after reports this weekend that the Pac-12 has Tulane on its radar.
Fox Sports’ Bruce Feldman reported during Big Noon Kickoff on Saturday that "sources tell me that the Pac-12 has some interest in Tulane and Memphis from the AAC."
Feldman did not report a timeline for any additional expansion decisions.
Late last week, Matt Brown at Extra Points, a newsletter devoted to the business of college sports, wrote that Tulane was one of three American schools he was aware of that had hired a consulting company or a third-party firm to help prepare them for potential realignment in the Pac-12 or other conferences.
If the American were to lose Tulane, Memphis or any other schools it would likely react by adding new membership, such as it did when UCF, Houston and Cincinnati left for the Big 12.
Tulane joined the American Athletic Conference in 2022. Per The Athletic, the American’s television deal with ESPN pays members about $7 million per school. If the Green Wave were to leave the league, it would owe a $10 million buyout on 27 months’ notice. UConn negotiated an exit of $17 million to leave sooner when it returned to the Big East.
This could be seen as the American being strategic in case it loses any membership.
