Last Week’s Record
Biggest 10 Games (Straight Up: 8-2; Vs. Spread: 8-2)
Overall (Straight Up: 20-2; Vs. Spread: 14-8; Moneyline Upsets: 0-0)
Season Record
Biggest 10 Games (Straight Up: 100-50; Vs. Spread: 71-76-3)
Overall (Straight Up: 504-175; Vs. Spread: 343-321-8; Moneyline Upsets: 23-18)
Week 14 Review: Well it was a pretty non-eventful Championship Saturday. There were some good moments this year but overall it hasn’t been one of the best in recent years. At least my “hot” streak continued. I’ve got a pretty solid cushion ATS heading into the bowl games. Amazingly, I’m within striking range in the Biggest Games. And I’ve got one more big game to get even closer before bowl season.
Week 15 Preview: Once again, there is only 1 game in week 15, and as always, Army-Navy is a big game. Placing the Army-Navy game apart from the rest of the season was definitely a good call.
Saturday
Game 1: Army (+7) vs. Navy (Landover)
Pick: Navy covers
Comments: Last season was a historic year for the military academies, as all three teams (Army, Navy, and Air Force) played in a bowl (and finished with winning records) in the same year for the first time. Both Army and Navy went bowling in the same year for the first time since 1996. It was also the first time since 1996 that both teams finished with a winning record.
Sadly, only Air Force will go bowling this year, and they will be the only service academy team to finish with a winning record. This will be the first year since 2006 that only 1 service academy team will go bowling.
The history of the Army-Navy rivalry is not just one of a football grudge match. Like no other rivalry, Army-Navy has obviously been affected by the state of affairs between the country and the rest of the world. For now, let’s just focus on the results on the field.
This is the 112th meeting. The teams first met in 1890 and they have played every year since except for 1894-1898, 1909, 1917-1918, and 1928-1929. This will be the 10th different venue to host the Army-Navy game.
Navy holds a 55-49-7 edge in the all-time series. While their edge in the W-L record isn’t overwhelming, the Midshipmen have outscored the Black Knights by 323 points (1717-1394) over the course of the series.
Navy won the first ever meeting back in 1890, shutting out Army 24-0 at West Point. Army won the next year, 32-16, at Annapolis. Navy won 3 of the next 4, and they held a 4-2 edge on their rivals through 1900. Army then won 4 straight before the first ever tie between the two teams in 1905. Navy won 5 of the next 6 and the Midshipmen held a 9-7-1 edge in the series through 1912. Army then reeled off 4 straight wins before Navy won 3 in a row. At that point the series was as tight as it could be, with Navy holding a slim 12-11-1 edge through 1921.
Army would then enjoy one of the longer stretches of dominance in the rivalry’s history, going 8-0-2 against the Midshipmen over the next 10 games, including winning 5 straight from 1927-1933. Navy eventually broke the skid but Army still won 3 of 5 from 1934-1938 and at that point they had a 22-14-3 edge in the all-time series.
Over the next decade, control of the rivalry would swing back and forth. Navy won 5 straight from 1939-1943. From 1944-1949, Army went 5-0-1 against their rivals. Navy then experienced a longer period of success in the rivalry than they had heretofore known, going 10-3-1 against the Black Knights from 1950-1963. That brought the all-time series record just about back to square one, with Army now holding a 30-29-5 edge.
It would be silly not to assume that issues outside of football affected the ebb and flow of the rivalry up to that point. All of that must be saved for another time. It should also be noted that Navy and Army hadn’t merely been relevant (if that is the appropriate term) due to their rivalry up to that point. The service academies were some of the strongest programs in college football history up to that point.
Army won recognized national championships in 1914, 1916, and 1944-1946. They had also won “unrecognized” national titles in 1922, 1926, 1928, 1931, 1949, and 1950. Navy never won a recognized national championship but they earned “unrecognized” national titles in 1910, 1926, and 1963. The service academies would become less capable of having success on a national level from this point forward. But the rivalry between the two most prominent service academies would continue to be as strong as ever.
Following Navy’s great run from 1950-1963, the Black Knights finally stemmed the tide and took things back in the other direction, going 6-2-1 against the Midshipmen from 1972-1964. That put Army ahead 36-31-6 through 1972. Then Navy went on another roll, going 10-2-1 against the Black Knights from 1973-1985. For the first time since early in the century the Midshipmen held a sizeable (relatively) lead in the all-time series, 41-38-7 through 1985. But Army controlled the next decade, going 9-2 from 1986-1996. Up to that point, Army held a 47-43-7 edge in the all-time series through 97 meetings.
But it was the year 1997 that marked the beginning of Army’s lowest point as a football program. Exacerbating Army’s decline was an ill-fated decision to join Conference-USA from 1998-2004. At about the time Army was rejoining the ranks of the independents, Navy would begin one of the most successful periods in the last 50 years or so of their football program. Naturally, Navy has held the upper hand in the rivalry ever since, having won 12 of the 14 meetings from 1997-2011.
Navy has won 9 straight (series high) in the rivalry by an average of 26 points per game. In fact, Navy has been the top military academy team over the last decade. They won 7 straight Commander-in-Chief Trophies from 2003-2009, but Air Force has now won back to back. Army has lost 12 straight games against service academies (Air Force and Navy) and hasn’t won the CIC since 1996.
The two teams have been off since November 19th and the 21-day rest will give both teams time to get healthy. Army is 3-8 overall and 5-6 ATS. They’ve been outscored by just 3.2 points per game. The Black Knights have lost 3 straight and 5 of their last 6 games. They’ve lost their last 2 ATS.
Last season the Black Knights went 7-6, snapping a streak of 13 straight losing seasons, and they went to a bowl game for the first time since 1996. Army will miss out on the bowl season this year and they are guaranteed to finish with a losing record, but none of that will matter much on Saturday.
Navy is 4-7 overall and 6-5 ATS. They have a +0.3 average scoring differential. The Midshipmen lost their last game, at San Jose State, snapping a 2-game win streak and a 2-game win streak ATS. More importantly, the loss to SJS guaranteed Navy of a losing season.
Going into this season, Navy was riding a streak of 8 straight 8+ win seasons and 8 straight bowl appearances. Those streaks will come to an end this season, as the Midshipmen will finish with a losing record and be at home for the bowl season for the first time since 2002. However, their most important game of the year will be this Saturday, against Army, just as it has been their most important game every year since 1890.
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