There's a real possibility that Army will join the American Athletic Conference as part of the NCAA's seemingly never-ending conference realignment. The AAC is looking to replace SMU, which has agreed to leave the conference in favor of the ACC. A potential Army-AAC union does come with a catch.

Army is the AAC's top choice to replace SMU, ESPN's Pete Thamel reports. AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco has started to investigate adding the school to the conference and has “engaged” with Army athletic director Mike Buddie, according to the report. However, only the Army football program would be added to the conference.

Navy has a similar agreement with the AAC. The Navy football program ended its 134-year run as an independent in 2015 when it joined the conference.

The date of Army-Navy football game is important in potential negotiation, according to Thamel. The Army football program wants to keep playing against its rival after the top sport's conference championship games have all been played.

The AAC reportedly considered trying to expand by adding other schools, but Army came out as the clear top choice.

Tulane is the reigning AAC football champions. The Cincinnati football team won the conference title in each of the previous two years. Since the conference came to be in 2013, no program has won three straight AAC football championships.

SMU joins Stanford and California as the newest additions to the ACC. The ACC's expansion will give it 18 total teams. The decision by Stanford and California to leave the Pac-12 appears to be the final nail in the coffin for the conference.