Army Coach Jeff Monken Was ‘Honored’ Black Knights Made Playoff Rankings

The Army West Point Black Knights were ranked in the Top 25 of the College Football Playoff rankings in five out of six weeks.

Nov 9, 2024; Denton, Texas, USA; Army Black Knights head coach Jeff Monken celebrates with defensive lineman Dre Miller (97) after a 14-3 victory against the North Texas Mean Green at DATCU Stadium. / Danny Wild-Imagn Images

The Army West Point Black Knights finished the season ranked No. 22 in the College Football Playoff rankings, making them the second-highest ranked Group of 5 team, behind only Boise State.

The Broncos made the playoff as the highest-ranked Group of 5 conference champion. The Black Knights (11-1), who won the American Athletic Conference championship, will play in the Independence Bowl.

Some might want to make the case that the Black Knights should have gotten a better bowl game or even a playoff berth, given its only loss was to Notre Dame, which made the playoff.

But Army coach Jeff Monken said earlier this week, in preparation to face Navy, that was just an honor to see his team in the rankings nearly every week.

“First of all, just to be in the college football playoff rankings is great for our program,” he said. “We're honored to be mentioned with all the great teams on that on that list. We didn't do ourselves any favors by getting beat by Notre Dame like we did. And I don't know that playing them closer would have made a difference in the rankings, but I'm sure getting beat by them like we did didn't help. We've managed to win every other game. I'm proud of our guys for that.”

The Black Knights were ranked in five of the six CFP rankings, which don’t start until November.

In Week 9, Army was No. 25, followed by No. 24 the next week and No. 19 the following week.

The Black Knights slipped out of the rankings the following week after their loss to Notre Dame. They slid back into the rankings last week at No. 25 after beating UTSA.

Army was rewarded with a bump after their 35-14 win over Tulane in the American Athletic Conference championship game on Friday night.

It’s been an impressive year for the Black Knights in the Associated Press Top 25, too.

The Black Knights (11-1) moved up to No. 19 entering their game with Navy on Saturday.

The Black Knights have been in the AP Top 25 every week since Oct. 13, when they moved into the Poll at No. 23. From there, the Black Knights were in the poll for seven straight weeks, their longest streak since 1958. Army got as high as No. 16 on Nov. 17.

Army nearly dropped out of the poll after its 49-14 loss to Notre Dame a couple of weeks ago when they fell to No. 25. The Black Knights moved up one spot to No. 24 after win over UTSA.

But, now it’s Army-Navy week and Monken says none of that matters.

“This game is a big game, and we don't apologize for talking about this game and having signs up around campus and saying, ‘Beat Navy’ at every turn — it's just this rivalry,” he said. “It transcends the boundaries of just one season. This week is 365 days a year.”