Why does the Army-Navy game have no impact on the College Football Playoff?

One of the biggest rivalry games of the college football season will be renewed on Saturday just outside the state capital: the Army-Navy game.

The 18th-ranked Black Knights (11-1 overall) and Midshipmen (8-3) meet at Northwest Stadium for the 125th edition of “America’s Game,” a matchup that will feature a heavy emphasis on the triple option – like in most other games years.

Both programs enter Saturday’s contest with an overall record of 19-4, which is the most wins for either team prior to the Army-Navy game, according to Army game notes.

Required reading:College football bowl game schedule: The entire postseason lineup through the playoffs

In their first season in the American Athletic Conference, the Black Knights easily swept the league as Army went undefeated in conference play last Friday against Tulane en route to winning the conference championship title.

Navy has cooled off a bit after starting the year 6-0, finishing the regular season with just two wins in its last five games. Both programs saw the College Football Playoff resume and had their chances slightly dented by Notre Dame at two different points in the regular season.

Despite the Black Knights’ November 23 loss at Yankee Stadium, Jeff Monken’s team has maintained its top 25 ranking in the US LBM Coaches Poll over the past nine weeks. But Saturday’s Army-Navy game will have no impact on the CFP as both teams already accept invitations to bowl games in the coming weeks.

Here’s what you need to know about why Saturday’s Army-Navy game has no bearing on the College Football Playoff, including a look at the Black Knights and Midshipmen’s bowl game appearances:

Does the Army-Navy game have any impact on the CFP?

No. Saturday’s Army-Navy game will have no impact on the College Football Playoff. Either the Army or Navy could have automatically applied to the CFP as a “Group of Five,” but the Mountain West’s Boise State took that spot.

Why doesn’t Army-Navy influence the CFP rankings?

The reason Saturday’s Army-Navy game will have no impact on the CFP class and CFP Top 25 rankings is twofold.

The first reason is that Army is now a member of the American Athletic Conference along with Navy, but Saturday’s game is considered a non-conference game. The second and perhaps most notable point is that the 12-team CFP field has already been set.

According to The Athletic, Army and Navy officials “did not want to move the date of America’s Game to an earlier part of their schedule” “to accommodate final rankings in the 12-team playoff era.”

The CFP Committee had rejected the idea of waiting until after the Army-Navy game to announce the Group of 5’s automatic representative in the CFP bracket, assuming either team was in contention for that spot.

According to The Athletic, the reason for rejecting that idea was that the turnaround between the Army-Navy game and the first round of the CFP would have been too quick for a team that had learned the week before that it would be the 12th-seeded team field had reached but did not do so. I don’t know his opponent.

“There are a lot of complications involved in waiting a week in a 12-team playoff, and you only have a short time frame,” AAC commissioner Mike Aresco told The Athletic in April. “It’s one thing in a four-man team and you don’t play until the end of the month. It’s completely different when you play (two weeks later).”

College Football Playoff Series

Here’s a look at the final CFP category from Sunday’s final CFP rankings:

Oregon (13-0)*
Georgia (11-2)*
Boise State (12-1)*
Arizona State (11-2)*
Texas (11-2)
Penn State (11-2)
Notre Dame (11-1)
Ohio State (10-2)
Tennessee (10-2)
Indiana (11-1)
SMU (11-2)
Clemson (10-3)**

* denotes automatic bidding with a bye in the first round; ** denotes automatic bid

What bowl game is Army football playing in?

Army will face Marshall in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl on Saturday, December 28th. The Black Knights and Thundering Herd will kick off at 9:15 p.m. ET at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana.

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Why does the Army-Navy game have no impact on the College Football Playoff?

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