They can, but it doesn't mean they want to do it or have to do it.
Hence why I made the statement that Navy made its decision to join the Patriot League 1 year after Army did. There was a strong reason Navy wanted to be in the same conference as Army given that back then the CAA was still a stronger conference than the Patriot League. Also, if the Patriot League competed as a DI-FBS conference, then it is very likely both would be full members of the Patriot League now.
The ACC can try to court Navy all it wants with a full membership offer. However, unless the ACC is also willing to make that same offer to Army, then I guarantee you Navy's response will be "Thanks, but no thanks." The ACC will receive that same response if it approached Army with the exact same offer. Now if the ACC were to offer a football-only member to either Army or Navy, then it is likely both schools would at least entertain the idea. Nothing I have read on either school indicates that position will change any time soon particularly if the DoD is involved in the decision process. There is even the possibility that the DoD wouldn't allow Army and Navy join the same power conference or a power conference if Air Force couldn't find a home in a power conference too. That is 1 giant factor that should always be considered whenever someone tries to compare the 3 academies with VT's and UVA's history.
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In response to this post by Stech)
Posted: 03/05/2022 at 1:34PM