Army West Point Black Knights Have Path to Host Conference Title Game

The Army West Point Black Knights were interested observers during Tulane’s game with Memphis on Thursday night.

Army head coach Jeff Monken stands with his players for the Army Alma Mater after the game against Notre Dame at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, on Nov. 12, 2016. Notre Dame won 44-6. / Matt Cashore / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Entering this week’s games the Army West Point Black Knights and the Tulane Green Wave were undefeated in American Athletic Conference action and the Green Wave were poised to host the title game next Friday.

Not anymore.

The Green Wave (9-3, 7-1) fell to Memphis, 34-24, on Thursday night, removing Tulane from the ranks of the league’s undefeated teams and handing them a loss that likely ends any hope of playing in the College Football Playoff.

Now, Army (9-2, 7-0) is the only remaining AAC undefeated team and it has one more league game coming on Saturday when it hosts UTSA.

Had the Green Wave won on Thursday, it would have clinched hosting duties for the game, set for Dec. 6. That would have been due to the AAC’s tiebreakers. In the case of two undefeated teams in AAC action that had not played one another, it would have come down to rankings, in this case each team’s College Football Playoff ranking.

On Tuesday, the Green Wave were ranked No. 17 in the CFP. Army, which was ranked in the CFP for the first three weeks of those rankings, fell out entirely after its loss to Notre Dame last week.

Army was ranked No. 25 in the latest AP Top 25 released on Sunday.

With a win over UTSA on Saturday, Army can host the league title game at Michie Stadium and have homefield advantage in its first conference title game in program history.

If Army loses to UTSA, then Tulane would, most likely host the game, with the tiebreakers based on a set of computer rankings the AAC uses for such situations.

The Black Knights have never won a conference title before. For most of the program’s history Army was an independent in football. But, from 1998-2004 they were members of Conference USA.

The Black Knights’ short stint in that league was uneventful. They never won more than two league games in a single season. They joined the American this year as an affiliate member for football only. Most of Army’s remaining sports play in the Patriot League.

Also with a win on Saturday, the Black Knights can notch its first 10-win season since they won 11 games in 2018. Army also won 10 games in 2017.

The Black Knights have never won 12 games in a single season, but that also remains on the table, as they have four games remaining — UTSA, the AAC title game, Navy on Dec. 14 and a bowl game.

As for the bowl game, Sports Illustrated projected that Army will play West Virginia in the Independence Bowl on Dec. 28.