There Will Be Only One Army-Navy Game This Year as Usual, Thanks to Tulane

Both the Army Black Knights and Navy Midshipmen began their 2024 football seasons with much excitement and fanfare as both teams smashed expectations by going undefeated through the first half of their schedules. This led to the possibility of the two teams meeting on the football field twice this year, first in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) championship game on Dec. 6 followed by the regularly scheduled Army-Navy Game on Dec. 14.

Hopes of watching the two heated rivals duke it out on the gridiron were high, even among college football fans who don’t follow service academy sports. Unfortunately for everyone with an interest in seeing two back-to-back Army-Navy Games, there was a spoiler in the AAC: Tulane’s Green Wave.

On Nov. 16, 2024, the now-No. 20 Green Wave defeated the Midshipmen in a 35-0 shutout, dashing Navy’s hopes for an AAC Championship Game berth.

The Army-Navy Game is more than just a college football rivalry game. It doesn’t even happen during Rivalry Week. In fact, despite being considered a regular-season game, it actually takes place after most conference championships are decided. Since 2009, it’s been a standalone game on the second Saturday in December. The 2024 season allowed the possibility of two Army-Navy Games, because Army joined Navy in the American Athletic Conference after SMU departed for the ACC.

No one who followed the service academies’ football programs for the last few decades could have predicted that both Army and Navy would start their respective seasons off with six wins each. By midseason, both teams were undefeated for the first time since World War II, and both were ranked in the Top 25 for the first time since the Vietnam War. Their stunning victories led to projections of an AAC Championship Game between the two on Dec. 6, a week before the actual Army-Navy Game. But it wasn’t to be -- at least, not this year.

As of this writing, the Black Knights remain undefeated while Navy has fallen to 7-3, including two conference losses. Their surprising Nov. 2 loss to Rice wasn’t enough to completely dash their AAC championship hopes, but the 35-0 shutout to AAC powerhouse Tulane was the nail in the coffin for the Midshipmen.

But don’t start thinking about running to DraftKings to pour money into an easy Army win for the coming Army-Navy Game. The Black Knights are currently ranked No. 18 but have yet to face a significant opponent. Army was not scheduled against Tulane in the regular season, and the team’s first real challenge is coming on Nov. 23, when the Black Knights travel to New York to face No. 6 Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium. The Fighting Irish trounced Navy in a 51-14 drubbing on Oct. 26, and Army is currently a 16-point underdog.

No matter what happens at Yankee Stadium, the AAC Conference championship will still see Army against Tulane, so there is a chance Army will come into the Army-Navy Game as conference champion (but the Vegas odds are against that, too). Still, there’s a lot on the line when the Black Knights and Midshipmen meet at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, on Dec. 14. Aside from the usual bragging rights, both Army and Navy crushed the Air Force Falcons by double digits, so Army will be fighting to retain its undisputed Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy.

The 125th Army-Navy Game will take place on Dec. 14, 2024, at 3 p.m. Eastern. Fans can watch the matchup, along with the pregame fanfare, on CBS.

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