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College Football Playoff could have a military problem

By Phil Watson

Dec 13, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; Army Black Knights nose guard Richard Glover (98) lines up against Navy Midshipmen center Andrew Martin (73) at the line of scrimmage during the second half at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 13, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; Army Black Knights nose guard Richard Glover (98) lines up against Navy Midshipmen center Andrew Martin (73) at the line of scrimmage during the second half at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports /
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With Navy leaving the independent ranks to join the American Athletic Conference in 2015, the College Football Playoff could have a timing problem.

For the first time in its 121-year history, the football program at the U.S. Naval Academy will play as a member of a conference in 2015.

The Midshipmen are joining the American Athletic Conference for football only and that could leave the school with a scheduling problem as it relates to their oldest rivalry, their annual matchup with Army that is played on the second Saturday in December.

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A problem could arise if Navy is ranked high enough to earn the New Year’s Six bowl bid for the Group of Five conferences (the AAC along with Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Conference and the Sun Belt Conference).

The top-ranked team out of that group of conferences earns a spot in one of the major bowl games.

Boise State was this year’s Group of Five representative and scored a 38-30 win over No. 10 Arizona in the Fiesta Bowl.

The concern of the management committee for the College Football Playoff is that as the schedule is currently laid out, a loss to Army would not count against Navy in terms of the CFP and the New Year’s Six bowls.

“All games should be done by Selection Sunday for those teams to be considered for a College Football Playoff bowl,” Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson told ESPN.com.

The current policy of the CFP states that “the rankings compiled by the committee on selection day will be the final version for purposes of identifying the team in the playoff.”

Selection day this year is Dec. 6, but Navy and Army don’t play until Dec. 12 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

It’s not as far-fetched as it might seem. Navy, playing as an independent, has compiled a record of 100-54 since 2003 and has appeared in a bowl game in 11 of the last 12 seasons and finished as high as No. 24 in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll after the 2004 season, when the Midshipmen went 10-2 and defeated New Mexico in what was then called the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco.

It’s not as much of a concern for Army, which has been to just one bowl game since 1997.

Army was a member of C-USA from 1998-2004 and was 13-67 in that span, including an 0-13 season in 2003.

The Black Knights’ only bowl appearance this century was a 16-14 win over SMU in the 2010 Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas.

Since 2003, Army is just 39-105.

Memphis, Cincinnati and UCF split the AAC title in 2013. Other conference members include East Carolina, Houston, Temple, South Florida, Tulane, Tulsa, SMU and Connecticut.

The AAC will hold a championship game for the first time in 2015 as Navy will be the conference’s 12th member.

“We’re perfectly aware of the issues and it behooves us to solve it,” AAC commissioner Mike Aresco said. “It’s not a game anyone wants to move.”

The Army-Navy game is under contract with CBS for the second Saturday in December date through the 2018 season.

Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk said moving the game is a non-starter.

“It needs to be a stand-alone game,” Gladchuk said. “That game has become a focal point for America. It’s just a wonderful event, an opportunity to showcase what America is all about. I’m hopeful [the committee] will find a solution and I’m confident they will.”

Sun Belt commissioner Karl Benson said finding a solution to the problem is very simple.

“If the rule is established [that teams playing after final ranking will not be eligible for New Year’s Six bowls], Army, Navy and their TV partner [CBS] will have to make a decision when to play the game,” Benson said. “There is an easy way to rectify this.”

Also at odds is the balance between tradition—a huge factor in college football—and conformity.

One commissioner, who asked not to be named, said that 126 of the 128 programs in FBS are following scheduling guidelines because of the CFP.

Army and Navy do not.

“That is the fundamental tension,” the commissioner said.

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