For the past 15 years, on the second Saturday in December, after 3pm ET on CBS, America's Game begins.
In a revamp of one of the oldest rivalries in American history, Army cadets and Navy officers meet in what is usually a sold-out stadium in front of an enthralled television audience.
There are a lot of things that set the Army-Navy game apart from all the other games in college football. After all, what game shows groups of students from each school marching onto the field in uniform before kickoff? What other college football franchise has attracted 10 American presidents? What other competitions regularly involve 18 rounds of play and fewer than 30 total points scored.
But there's something else that makes Army-Navy different from any other game: The game maintains an unrelated window on a Saturday in the fall as the only Football Bowl Subdivision game scheduled that day and the final major college football game before the arrival of the bowl and postseason .
Soon, that could very well change.
An expanded College Football Playoff jeopardizes the future of the Army-Navy game as a standalone event and its importance in the CFP's selection of the 12-team field — issues that matter to the game's stakeholders enough for someone to write a letter to CFP leaders earlier this month.
Expanding the CFP from four to 12 teams starting this fall has sparked two conversations, both of which could impact the Army and Navy:
– Bowl Season officials and their television partner, ESPN, are exploring moving the start of bowl games to the second weekend in December to free up television windows for the four first-round games scheduled for the third weekend in December.
– CFP leaders are considering how to consider the (Army-Navy) game beginning six days after CFP selections are made when the new format automatically assigns a spot to the top-ranked Group of Five champion.
“It's tough. I don't envy the decision makers,” said Mike Buddy, the Army athletic director who sent a letter Feb. 16 to the CFP management committee about the situation. “I'm a realist. I realize there is a lot of money and a lot of games to be played, but I still believe that Army-Navy is beyond the sport of college football and has been for decades.
As the CFP expands, questions loom over the future of the game.
Should you move the dates? Should she share her history? And how, if history doesn't move, should it be taken into account in CFP selections?
“There's still some uncertainty about it all right now, but we hope they respect the fact that this is the American game,” Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk said. “It is special at the national level and especially for our forces around the world. There is a respect for them that has been appreciated so far. Our partners left this weekend alone.
Animating the game is a non-starter, Gladchuk said. The contract with CBS requires that the game be played on that date. There are obligations to sponsoring companies, host cities and the army itself.
“We're not changing the game,” Glachuk said. “It's staying there.”
The game's television ratings have soared since it moved in 2009 from the conference championship on Saturday to its independent slot the following weekend — a shift made to highlight the struggle of America's armed soldiers and draw attention across the country. The 2009 game was the series' most watched in a decade.
Last year's Army-Navy game brought in 7.2 million viewers to make it the 21st most-watched game of the college football season. The 2017 game attracted more than 8 million viewers to record the series' highest rating in nearly a quarter century.
However, the game could soon get competitive by moving bowl games.
During last year's Bowl Season opening day, Saturday, December 16, seven bowls were played. On that day this year, Saturday, December 21, three first-round playoff games are scheduled to begin, with a fourth scheduled for the previous Friday.
Nick Carparelli, executive director of Bowl Season, confirmed to Yahoo Sports that the organization is exploring moving at least some of these bowls weekly to expand TV windows and avoid TV conflicts with playoff games. Final decisions will likely fall to ESPN, the owner and rights holder to the majority of bowl games.
Regarding the conflict with the Army and Navy, Carparelli said: “We will respect that game. We know its history.”
Mike Aresco has an interest in this situation. As a CBS executive, he programmed the game for 16 years and was central to the idea of bringing it to the independent window. Now as commissioner of the American Athletic Conference, he has recruited Army to join the league starting next school year. The Navy has been a member since 2015.
“We can't stop the vessels from moving up, but I hope they try to keep the Army-Navy window clear,” he said. “This match is very important for the country. It means a lot. There are many windows on that day that are not related to the Army and Navy.
Aresco is a member of the CFP Management Committee, the group of FBS commissioners that controls playoff-related decisions, including policy for handling the Army-Navy game. There is currently a CFP protocol in place that requires the selection committee to delay any pairings — a New Year's Six bowl game or playoff seeding — that involve Army or Navy if the outcome of the game affects that.
While the chances of Army or Navy impacting the four-team playoffs were slim, the 12-team format gives any program a greater chance because it gives automatic berths to the five highest-ranked champions in an FBS division that now includes four powerhouse leagues. Stakeholders acknowledge that the chances of the Army and Navy influencing expanded qualifiers are remote, but the possibility remains.
In fact, if the CFP's 12-team format had been used in 2015, Navy likely would have qualified as the top-ranked Group of Five team when reflecting the realignment shifts that have occurred since then. If the CFP format is used in the first 10 years of the CFP (2014-2023), the Group of Five champion will be selected as the 12th seed in nine of the 10 years. The Stranger is AAC champion Cincinnati in 2020.
Army and Navy stakeholders support CFP retaining its existing protocol for the new expanded field. That means, in all likelihood, the selection committee will seed 11 of the 12 teams and reserve two options for the No. 12 seed: Army or Navy and the next-best conference champion in the Group of Five.
In a letter sent to the CFP management committee and obtained by Yahoo Sports, Buddie emphasized that a school recognizes it as a No. 12 seed if it is in contention and then wins the Army-Navy game, allowing the committee to complete all other first-round pairings.
“If you're honest and real, this conversation probably comes every 30 years,” Boddy said. “It's easier to just say, ‘Hey, let's keep the current protocol there.'”
At recent CFP meetings, the current protocol was “under discussion,” Aresco said. Waiting a week to name the No. 12 seed means the No. 5 seed — the two matched up in the first round — will be tasked with preparing for two opponents and won't learn about their opponent until a week before kickoff.
“If the Army-Navy matchup is decisive in the selection process, then let's play the game in the spirit it represents,” Glachuk said. “Someone has to be held back, but most of us during the season only have five days to prepare for the opponent anyway.”
For the CFP, the alternative would likely be for the selection committee to pick the 12th seed regardless of the Army-Navy score — a protocol that could end with either team losing in a rivalry match, still making the field and costing the G5 champion the last spot.
For G5 programs, the opportunity to reach the CFP is crucial.
Part of the Army's decision to move from independence to conference was rooted in having a path to both the CFP and CFP revenues. Aside from Notre Dame, FBS independents receive about a quarter of the CFP revenue distribution ($300,000 annually) as Group of Five conference-bound programs (about $1 million annually) — one reason for the recent rush of conference movement from independents.
Five independent football programs have joined a conference since 2019. The most recent move — UMass to the MAC — leaves only one independent football team in the FBS besides the Irish: UConn.
The Army's impending addition to the US forces comes with conditions to protect the engagement with the Navy. The Black Knights and Midshipmen will not meet in a regular season conference game but both could qualify to play each other in the AAC Championship game.
This means a rematch next week.
Given the history and tradition, this is not easy, Glaczuk said.
“We all aspire to be in the championship game, but there's nothing like the Army-Navy game,” he said. “It's an independent and extraordinary event.”
Questions loom: Will it remain stand-alone? What is its importance to the expanded CFP selection process?
Letter from the Army to CFP by Yahoo on Scribd
