One of the best surprises of the 2024 college football season so far has been the utter dominance we’ve seen from the Army and Navy football programs.
Through the first eight weeks of the season, both the Black Knights and Midshipmen are undefeated and among the highest-scoring teams in the country.
2024 marks the first time since 1960 that both teams are ranked in the AP simultaneously, and with the excitement surrounding both programs, there are some pretty crazy postseason possibilities starting to cross peoples’ minds.
With both teams undefeated heading into Week 9, there’s a real possibility that Army vs. Navy happens in consecutive weeks in December — first for the AAC Championship and then for the annual Army-Navy game the following week.
There’s one problem, though. The first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff field will be selected in between Championship Weekend and the Army-Navy Game. What would the CFP committee do in that scenario?
During an interview with ESPN’s Rece Davis on Tuesday night, CFP executive director Rich Clark how they would handle such a situation.
“Well I would say no impact on the College Football Playoff,” Clark said. “Impact on the country — two storied programs, they’re both crushing it this year. Both undefeated right now. But like you said, if they were to meet — in that hypothetical, if they were to meet in the conference championship, that conference champion would then be, potentially, one of the five conference champions that would go into the bracket. The next week, whatever happens there, we’re not going to change the ranking or the seeding for the playoff selection.”
In short, the winner of the first hypothetical matchup between these two would likely advance to the College Football Playoff as one of the five highest-ranked conference champions. Meanwhile, the loser would be left on the outside looking in, even if it was their first loss of the year.
However, they wouldn’t have to wait long to exact revenge, as the repeat game would allow for a chance to reclaim bragging rights and put their rival in a peculiar situation — one where they’ve got to get ready for a huge rivalry game while also preparing for a College Football Playoff game the following week. And, to top it all off, their first-round opponent would have the week off to get ready.
Talk about a season to remember. Army vs. Navy is one of the oldest rivalries in college football, dating all the way back to their first meeting in 1890. Navy holds the head-to-head advantage all-time, 62-55-7, but Army has won each of the last two meetings and six of the last eight.
