One of the most highly-anticipated college football matchups every year is the annual Army-Navy Game.
The rivalry between the service academies dates back to 1890 when the first meeting between the teams was held on Nov. 29.
In all but 10 years since that point in time, the Army West Point Black Knights and Navy Midshipmen have faced off with the rivalry being renewed each year since 1930.
For a long time, the game was played on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which is when many college football teams ended their regular season.
However, more recently, the game has been played on the second Saturday in December as a standalone contest, showcasing Army and Navy in the final regular season game of the college football campaign.
Unfortunately, it isn’t a standalone game like it used to be.
The football schedule, both college and NFL, stays busy throughout December, which has led to analyst Joel Klatt offering up a bold idea about the Army-Navy Game.
Instead of it being the final regular season game, why not make it the first?
“So what do we do with Army-Navy? It’s getting pinched by the Heisman. It’s getting pinched by the Playoff. We now play a bowl game on the same day. It’s not in the right spot. Army-Navy needs to start the football season. Week Zero of football. And mind you, I didn’t say college. I didn’t say the NFL. It’s because it’s both,” he said on his podcast, The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast.
He does make some valid points throughout his discussion.
Outside of eight campaigns for Army and 10 for Navy, they have been independent schools in football. That is no longer the case as both are members of the American Athletic Conference, but this matchup doesn’t count toward their AAC records.
There would be a lot of intrigue out of the Army-Navy Game that ends the regular season if they were to face off in the conference championship just days before.
“I don’t think that we should have Army-Navy right after the conference championship games,” Klatt stated. “I believe that the Army-Navy game is one of the most special events that we have in our country. It’s one of the great football games on the planet, and it’s getting pinched where it’s at. I know it’s the traditional time frame and point of season, but think about it — Army and Navy are now in a conference. Yet, their game doesn’t have any bearing on whether they’re going to the conference championship game or not, which we just saw this year with Navy. Then, they’ve got to play that game, which is, you know — it’s going to mean everything to them and should, because again, in a lot of ways, outside of the Rose Bowl, it’s the most historic college football game that we have.”
There are probably a lot of people who agree with Klatt, and it is something that could certainly be taken into consideration down the line.
But, it is hard to imagine changes being made when it remains one of the most popular games on the college football calendar for viewership.
The 2024 edition was the second-most watched game on CBS this year behind only the Big Ten championship that was played between the Penn State Nittany Lions and Oregon Ducks.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
