Saturday, Dec. 14
3:10 p.m. Eastern, 12:10 p.m. Pacific
CBS
The Army-Navy Game is an American sports classic, one of this nation’s proudest and most special annual traditions. In a sports world where few things are pure and still retain a central measure of innocence, this is the rare exception and the genuine article. One week after the conference championship games and one week before the start of the College Football Playoff, we have a game where the players involved aren’t thinking about the NFL draft, NIL valuations, the transfer portal, opting out of a bowl, or any of those stories which now dominate the month of December in college football. This is about Army and Navy, and singing second. This is about creating an eternal memory and leaving behind a legacy of winning the one game which matters more than anything else in West Point or Annapolis.
This year, we have one of the better backdrops to Army-Navy in recent memory. Army is 11-1 and the American Athletic Conference champion after hammering Tulane in the AAC title game. Navy is 8-3, bouncing back in a big way this season under coach Brian Newberry, who has skillfully replaced legendary Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo and made that transition a lot smoother than many people thought it might be. A natural point of interest for bettors is if Army – having played 12 games compared to just 11 for Navy, due to having played a conference championship game last week while Navy rested – will have any impact on the outcome.
Army Black Knights-Navy Midshipmen Odds
Spread: Army -6.5 (-115), Navy +6.5 (-105)
Total: 39 (Over -110, Under -110)
Underdog moneyline: Navy +210
Can Navy end Army’s magical season on a downer?
The fact that Navy had last weekend off while Army played a 12th game is certainly worth considering. Of course Army will play with maximum intensity. It’s the Army-Navy Game, after all. However, Navy did get to study a little extra film and accumulate some rest before this game. It’s not so much that Army might be hurt by playing last week, but that Navy might benefit from not having played last week. The Midshipmen are an eight-win team. They played terrible games in their three losses, but one of those games was against Notre Dame, which also pummeled Army by a large margin. If there’s one clear point of differentiation between these two teams’ seasons, Army crushed Tulane whereas Tulane blew out Navy.
Does that mean you should take Army? Not necessarily. Tulane’s game at Army was shrouded in uncertainty because it was known that Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall was in discussions with other schools. That might have made Tulane’s players distracted. Army definitely played well against Tulane, but that game had a lot of plot points which could lead to the belief that Tulane was simply not ready to play. Given that set of question marks, the proper approach to this game is to not bet on it. Just enjoy Army-Navy, one of the most special football games we