Army-Navy Game Date Worth Protecting, Says American Commissioner

American Athletic Conference commissioner Tim Pernetti says there’s no reason to move the Army-Navy game.

Dec 9, 2023; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; Navy Midshipmen wide receiver Eli Heidenreich (22) catches a pass against the Army Black Knights during the second half of the Army-Navy Game at Gillette Stadium. / Danny Wild-Imagn Images

All of the talk on Monday was about the American Athletic Conference championship game, as both coaches and league commissioner Tim Pernetti spoke during a conference call to start the week leading up to the game.

Army West Point will host Tulane in the AAC title game at 8 p.m. eastern on Friday at Michie Stadium in a game to be broadcast on ABC.

But that isn’t the end of Army’s season, win or lose. The Black Knights (10-1, 8-0 in American) still have their annual rivalry game with the Navy Midshipmen on Dec. 14 in Landover, Md.

That means that the game will be played after the College Football Playoff field is set and the bowl game invitations are handed out, and the Black Knights and the Midshipmen both have bowl bids coming.

That was the deal all parties struck when the CFP was expanded to 12 teams and when Army joined the AAC as an affiliate member this season.

League commissioner Tim Pernetti doesn’t see the game date changing as a result of anything that has happened this season, including Army being ranked in the CFP Top 25 for the first time in program history.

“Army-Navy is an institution,” Pernetti said. “Army-Navy was moved to a protected date a long time ago, ironically by Army, Navy and my predecessor Mike Aresco when he was an executive at CBS sports. And I think the challenges that came across in order to make that happen were worth the result.”

Pernetti said the commissioners discussed the Army-Navy game date during CFP meetings as recently as April. Many scenarios were discussed, but there was never a discussion about the Army-Navy game result having any impact on CFP selection, even in the case of an undefeated Army or Navy.

Army’s only loss is to Notre Dame. If anything, Pernetti said the game’s date actually puts the two teams at a disadvantage in this case.

“They're playing an additional game while you have other college playoff teams that are going to have the benefit of a week off in between their championship game and maybe their first college football playoff game,” Pernetti said.

If Army were to claim a CFP berth — which is unlikely but not completely impossible entering championship week — the Black Knights would have one week to prepare for a first-round game, likely on the road.

But, to Pernetti, the additional hoops to protect the game and its traditional yearly date were worth it.

“Army-Navy's different and if you haven't been then you don't understand,” Pernetti said. “But that's something that it's special. It's not a conference game, we knew that coming in, but we intend to do whatever we can to help Army and Navy protect the integrity of that game.”