With CFP expanding and bowl games possibly shifting, the future of Army-Navy is murky

Navy QB Xavier Arline scrambles during the first half of Army’s win over Navy on Dec. 9. (Danielle Parhizkaran/Getty Images)

For the last 15 years, on the second Saturday in December, just after 3 p.m. ET on CBS, America’s Game kicks off.

In the renewal of one of the oldest rivalries in American history, the Army Cadets and Navy Midshipmen meet in a usually sold-out stadium in front of a captivated television audience.

Plenty of things set apart the Army-Navy Game from all others in college football. After all, what game features the student bodies from each school marching onto the field in uniform before kickoff? What other college football series has attracted 10 sitting U.S. presidents? And what other rivalry regularly includes 18-play drives and fewer than 30 total points scored.

But there’s something else that makes Army-Navy different than any other: The game holds an unencumbered window on a Saturday in the fall as the only Football Bowl Subdivision game scheduled for that day and the final major college football game before the bowl and postseason arrives.

Soon, that could very well change.

The expanded College Football Playoff puts at risk the Army-Navy game’s future as a standalone event and its relevance in the CFP’s selection of the 12-team field — issues that concern the game’s stakeholders enough for one to have penned a letter to CFP leaders earlier this month.

The CFP’s expansion from four to 12 teams starting this fall has triggered two conversations, both of which could impact Army-Navy:

– Bowl Season officials and their TV partner, ESPN, are exploring moving up the start of bowl games to the second weekend of December to free up television windows for the four first-round playoff games scheduled for the third weekend of December.

– CFP leaders are examining how to consider a game…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/with-cfp-expanding-and-bowl-games-possibly-shifting-the-future-of-army-navy-is-murky-140041678.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-02-28 13:44:27

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