Could the Army-Navy sport be on the transfer?
Army coach Jeff Monken isn’t in opposition to moving the sport up two weeks or so to the weekend after Thanksgiving. Right now, the two service academies meet on the Saturday after convention championship sport weekend between the remainder of the school soccer common season and bowl season.
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Though in 2025, the first bowl sport kicked off only a couple hours after Army-Navy ended, thanks to the method Saturdays fell all through the 12 months on the calendar.
“I think Army-Navy is a huge part of the history of college football, and what it is today, even,” Monken told the Athletic. “Give us a four-hour block on Thanksgiving, or on Friday of Thanksgiving, or on Saturday of Thanksgiving, and give us a four-hour block, and just say nobody else plays doing this four-hour block. That’s still protecting the game.”
Army and Navy have occupied their unique window in December since the two groups have been unbiased. Now, each groups are members of the American Conference. However, since the sport is performed so late in the season and after the American’s title sport, it doesn’t have any bearing on the convention race. And it has no playoff affect, both. The playoff discipline is ready practically per week earlier than the sport occurs.
Moving the sport up to the conventional finish of the common season would imply the sport couldn’t solely rely in the direction of the American title race, however even playoff inclusion. Army received 12 video games in 2024 and Navy received 11 video games a season in the past.
A transfer would additionally imply the playoff would have room to shift round in December, too. Even if it stays at 12 groups.
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With Army-Navy performed on the second weekend of December, the 12-team playoff has begun on the third weekend of the month over the previous two seasons. That leaves the quarterfinals on New Year’s after which the semifinals and nationwide championship sport in January.
And in 2026, the size of the playoff is very excessive. With New Year’s Day on a Friday, the semifinals should not Jan. 7 and Jan. 8 as a result of at the least one staff would have to play on a brief week. Instead, they’re on Jan. 14 and Jan. 15. The practically two-week break between the quarterfinals and semifinals means the nationwide championship sport isn’t till Jan. 25.
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Having one other weekend in December out there for the CFP might be an enormous profit to shortening the season. Especially the switch window stays the place it’s. The sole switch window opened whereas the CFP was nonetheless happening in January and groups like Oregon, Indiana, Miami and Ole Miss have been each signing recruits whereas getting ready to play postseason video games. The earlier the school soccer season ends, the higher likelihood gamers can have of having the ability to switch after each staff’s season is over.