The 2024 college football season was one of change for the Army West Point Black Knights.
For the first time, outside of a seven-year stretch from 1998-2004, they were a member of a conference for football. Army joined the AAC, where many expected them to be a middle-of-the-pack team.
Under head coach Jeff Monken, the Black Knights were a solid program, finishing with a .500 or better record in four consecutive campaigns, and seven out of the last eight.
Chris Vannini of The Athletic placed them at No. 66 in his preseason power rankings out of 134 schools. They quickly proved that ranking was too low, as Army turned in the most successful campaign in program history.
The Black Knights won their first nine matchups of the year, heading into a game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish with legitimate College Football Playoff aspirations.
Those playoff hopes were dashed by the eventual national champion runner-ups in a decisive 49-14 blowout.
But, Army didn’t let that game knock their season off the rails.
They handled business the following week against the UTSA Roadrunners, finishing a perfect 8-0 in conference. With the Tulane Green Wave being upset by the Memphis Tigers on Thanksgiving evening, the Black Knights hosted the AAC championship game at Michie Stadium.
Army blew out Tulane, 35-14, to take home the conference title in their first campaign as a member.
A loss to the Navy Midshipmen in the annual Army-Navy Game certainly hurt, as they lost the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy in the process. But, the season ended on a high note with a victory over the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in the Independence Bowl.
The 12 victories were the most in a single season in program history, resulting in Monken and several of his players took home awards and accolades for their efforts.
Quarterback Bryson Daily was named the AAC Player of the Year and the performance of the offensive line was recognized by them winning the Joe Moore Award, given to the best unit in the trenches.
Given how successful they were, it should come as no surprise that Army finished well ahead of where Vannini had them at the beginning of the season.
In his final power rankings, he put the Black Knights at No. 27. Their 39-spot jump was one of the largest from start to finish.
They were No. 3 amongst AAC programs, as Navy finished at No. 25 and Memphis was No. 26.
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