These four left Army off their football coaches’ top 25 poll ballots

Army finished No. 19 in the final US LBM Football Coaches Poll but the biggest surprise may be the four coaches, out of 53 in all, who did not name the Black Knights as a top-25 team.

Failing to put Army on the ballot were Air Force’s Trey Calhoun; San Jose State’s Ken Niumatalolo; Southern Methodist’s Rhett Lashlee; and, Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea – all but Lea gave service academy rival Navy a No. 25 vote.

Army Black Knights head coach Jeff Monken speaks with Navy Midshipmen head coach Ken Niumatalolo before the 122nd Army-Navy game in 2021. DANNY WILD

It is clear that Army’s shocking 31-13 loss to Navy on Dec. 14 had a lasting impact on the voters. Navy (10-3) went on to beat Oklahoma 21-20 in the Dec. 27 Armed Forces Bowl, and Army (12-2) beat Louisiana Tech 27-6 in the Dec. 28 Independence Bowl.

It was an historic season for Army. The Black Knights – who also finished No. 21 in the final AP poll – captured the American Athletic Conference championship in its first season as a member, and their 12 wins matches a service academy record for most in a single season.

Navy finished No. 27 in the coaches poll. The Midshipmen appeared on 12 top-25 ballots and outpaced the Black Knights on seven of them. Army head coach Jeff Monken voted Army No. 19 and Navy No. 25 on his ballot.

Most surprising may be the decision by San Jose’s Niumatalolo, a long-time close friend and former coaching colleague of Monken. Less surprising may be Air Force’s Calhoun voting Navy No. 25 and Army not at all, even though the Black Knights beat his Falcons 20-3 on Nov. 2.

Army’s highest vote, at No. 14, came from Tulane’s Jon Sumrall, whose team bowed to the Black Knights 35-14 in the American Athletic Conference championship on Dec. 6. Army got No. 15 votes from Jamey Chadwell of Liberty; Jeff Fisch of Washington; and, Butch Jones of…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/four-left-army-off-football-003456976.html

Author : Times Herald-Record

Publish date : 2025-01-23 00:34:00

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