The Air Force Falcons have added the Merrimack Warriors to their 2024 football schedule, FBSchedules.com has learned.
Air Force will host the Merrimack Warriors at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024, per the Air Force Academy Sports Information Department. The game will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools on the gridiron.
Merrimack College, located in North Andover, Mass., is a member of the Northeast Conference (NEC) in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The Warriors finished the 2022 season 8-3 overall and 6-1 in conference play.
The addition of Merrimack completes the non-conference football schedule for Air Force for the 2024 season. Other opponents scheduled for the Falcons include the Baylor Bears on the road on Sept. 7, the Navy Midshipmen at home on Oct. 5, and the Army Black Knights on the road on Nov. 2.
The Mountain West Conference has not yet released their 2024 football schedule. However, Air Force does know who they will play and where, barring any changes to the membership of the Mountain West. The Falcons will host Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawaii, and San Jose State and will travel to Nevada, New Mexico, San Diego State, and Wyoming.
Air Force is the second known non-conference opponent for Merrimack in 2024. The Warriors are also scheduled to play at the Fordham Rams on Nov. 23.
With only eight NEC members, Merrimack will again play a seven-game conference schedule in 2024. The 2024 season is a 12-game schedule for Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams, so the Warriors can add three additional non-conference matchups.
Football Schedules
The Mountain West must act quickly by adding California, Oregon State, Stanford, and Washington State to become a 16-team conference next year. Best fit for all four schools IMO! #atthepeak #riptothepac12
Division alignments are as follows:
Interior Division = Pod A: Air Force, Colorado State, New Mexico, and Wyoming + Pod D: Boise State, Nevada, UNLV, and Utah State
Pacific Division = Pod B: California, Oregon State, Stanford, and Washington State + Pod C: Fresno State, Hawaii, San Diego State, and San Jose State
I’m afraid Cal and Stanford will say no. They think they are too good for the Mtn. West.
Stanford would definitely go Indy first then hope to be picked up later. They have plenty of money and would join another league for other sports.
If anything I imagine MW teams would go to the PAC so they can use their name. Similar to when the Big East split they kept the name and added more teams.
Rumor of them grabbing a couple top American teams too.
Something along the lines of;
Oregon State
Washington State
California
Boise State
Fresno State
San Diego State
New Mexico
Colorado State
Air Force
Utah State
Tulane
Memphis
SMU
Nevada
UNLV
Rice
This would be a pretty good football conference with several major markets ie Denver, San Diego, Dallas, Memphis etc.
Seems to me Stanford will have a great degree of difficulty filling out 12-game FBS-worthy football schedules for ’24-25 without joining a conference.
There just can’t be that many schools with available space for games, particularly if Stanford would need something like eight games across Oct-Nov.