Seriously. Army is a pipedream and people who think the MAC is capable of creating incentives to get Army to join are completely naive.
Right now Army has a TV deal that runs through 2028 that guarantees two national TV games on CBS. The value of those two games alone exceeds the TV deal payout MAC teams receive to play on Tuesdays at 9:30pm.
They also have 100% of games televised on CBS Sports. The MAC's offer reduces their tv revenue and requires that they play midweek games; unlike teams in the MAC, Army actually has a GameDay experience that generates real revenue for them, and is one of the best game day environments in college football. You think Army is going to throw away a hundred year tradition of Saturday morning parades, the corp marching to the stadium, fall Saturdays in the Hudson Valley to make less money on TV in the MAC?
It's not even remotely realistic.
The 12 team playoff might force Army to join a conference because they will be at a disadvantage recruiting without being part of the Top 6 conference champion set up. The Top 4 conference champs regardless of regular season CFP ranking get buys to the playoff.
That said do you think Army would join the MAC over the AAC? The AAC was trying to get Air Force to join up too and they nearly did this fall. All 3 academies could eventually be in the AAC.
My sense is that Army feels like they're always at a disadvantage recruiting, and that playoff eligibility is so far down the list of priorities for the average Army football recruit, that I don't know how much it moves the needle.
But if they go to a conference, it'll likely be AAC alongside Navy. At least the AAC has a TV deal comparable to their existing deal from a money standpoint.