Army-Navy
Saturday, Dec. 13
3:10 p.m. Eastern, 12:10 p.m. Pacific
CBS
Army-Navy is an American sports treasure. There is nothing quite like it anywhere on the sports landscape in the United States. The College Football Playoff, the NCAA Tournament, the World Series, the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals — these and other sports showcases are all about the trophy, the champion, and who wins. Those are cutthroat pursuits in which the winners get the glory and the losers suffer public humiliation and savage criticism. Army-Navy is different. This is a game where young men aren’t treated as professionals or NIL windfall recipients in the new world of college football economics. This is an old-school game where fans appreciate the fact that these men will serve the United States after they graduate from West Point or Annapolis.
In Army-Navy, the losing team receives empathy and understanding. The respect, the brotherhood, which defines a game between two service academies runs deep and makes this — even more than The Masters — a tradition unlike any other in sports. For many, the most emotional moment of this event is not the game itself, but the singing of the alma maters afterward. The goal for these players and coaching staffs is to sing second, the privilege given to the winning team, the side which genuinely gets the last word in this historic clash which concludes each and every college football regular season.
What adds to the uniqueness of this game is that with two running offenses and very few penalties, Army-Navy games usually fly by very quickly. Fewer plays, fewer possessions, fewer moments to make an impact — everything about this game heightens a sense of urgency.
This game will decide the winner of the 2025 Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy. Both teams beat Air Force early in the season, so the winner gets the trophy outright this season.
Army-Navy is likely to go down to the wire once again
Midshipmen do look better, but they are not invincible
Army-Navy is usually close, and this year does not figure to buck the trend. Navy is 9-2 while Army is 6-5. Navy is clearly the better team on paper with dynamic quarterback Blake Horvath at the controls. Army has certainly looked like the weaker team for most of the season, most notably in an ugly home-field loss to Tulsa a few weeks ago in which the Black Knights improbably blew a 25-14 fourth-quarter lead by crumbling down the stretch. Yet, for all of Army’s limitations, the Black Knights are good at bouncing back. After that ugly and horrific Tulsa loss, they went down to San Antonio and won in the Alamodome against UTSA, a team which is normally excellent at home.
Army can punch above its weight. Navy is 9-2, but the Midshipmen have not consistently dominated their opponents and will need an airtight performance to get the job done here.
Army Black Knights-Navy Midshipmen Odds
Hear T.J. Rives and Jason Powers preview this game on the “3 Dog Thursday” podcast by clicking play below:
Spread: Army +6.5 (-115), Navy -6.5 (-105)
Total: 38.5 (Over -105, Under -115)
Underdog moneyline: Army +195
The sense that this will be a close game leads us to think Army plus 6.5 points is the right play. We’re not sure about the total, so pass on that one, but if you want to take Army plus 7.5 with an adjusted line, that could be part of a parlay on Saturday along with the Washington Huskies’ moneyline against Boise State in the LA Bowl. If you’re asking strictly about the 6.5-point line, Army is the play.