Army Football Disrespected After First College Football Playoff Rankings

Despite being undefeated the Army Black Knights barely made the first College Football Playoff Rankings.

Danny Wild-Imagn Images

The Army Black Knights are having a fantastic season. The team is off to an 8-0 start in their first season in the American Athletic Conference, but not everyone is as impressed as they should be. 

On Tuesday, the College Football Playoff committee released its first Top 25 of the season, and the undefeated team barely made the cut. The Black Knights debuted at 25 despite no losses on their record. With the new format beginning this season, where 12 teams will play in a single-elimination tournament for the national championship, only one guaranteed spot is available for a ‘Group of 5’ program. 

Despite being the only undefeated team in the country other than the Miami Hurricanes (ACC), BYU Cougars, Indiana Hoosiers, and Oregon Ducks (both Big Ten), which are in Power-4 conferences, Army has found itself behind its competition for a spot in the dance. 

ESPN’s staff writer David Hale expressed his displeasure with the committee in his recent College Football Playoff Anger Index

“All Army has done is win every game without trailing the entire season. Last season, when Liberty waltzed through its weakest-in-the-nation schedule, the committee had no objections to giving the Flames enough love to make a New Year's Six bowl," writes Hale. "But Army? At No. 25? Thirteen spots behind Boise State, the Knights' competition for the Group of 5's bid?”

So why is Army ranked so low, despite not losing a single game this season? Unfortunately is due to something they can’t control, the performance of their opponents overall this season. 

According to the team's resume, Army has the worst strength of schedule in college football. Among 133 teams at the FBS level, no team's opponents are considered the most ‘weak’ based on who they have already played this season. 

The good news is that will change for the remainder of the season. With some tough matchups coming up, including a showdown with the tenth-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the Black Knights' remaining strength of schedule is the 28th toughest across college football. 

If the Army continues to win and picks up significant wins on the season against teams such as the Irish, the committee will have no choice but to move them up and surpass Boise State, whose only loss on their record is a one-point defeat against Oregon, the best team in the country. 

Although they are not getting the love they deserve at the moment, the program controls its own destiny if it finishes the season 12-0 and goes undefeated for the first time since 1949.