Army West Point Black Knights To Face Louisiana Tech in Independence Bowl

The Army West Point Black Knights will face the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs after Marshall bowed out of the game.

Dec 14, 2024; Landover, Maryland, USA; Army Black Knights head coach Jeff Monken during the playing of the 125 Army Navy game against the Army Black Knights at Commanders Field. / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

Just before kickoff of the Army-Navy game, the Army West Point Black Knights learned that their hopes of a bowl game might not come true as Marshall opted out of the game.

By game’s end, the Independence Bowl found a replacement, and the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs will make the short drive from Ruston, La., to Shreveport to face the Black Knights on Dec. 28.

Kickoff is set for 9:15 p.m. eastern at Independence Stadium.

The original matchup was supposed to be a battle of conference champions, but Marshall (10-3) dropped out after their head coach, Charles Huff, took the job at Southern Miss. After his departure, more than 20 Thundering Herd players transferred away from the program, leaving them low on players and uncertain if they could play safely.

In a situation such as this, bowl berths are filled first by any remaining bowl-eligible teams that did not get an invitation. No teams fit the criteria.

At that point, 5-7 teams can be invited to a bowl game but must be ranked by their academic progress rate. Usually the team that ranks the highest is considered. LA Tech’s APR was 126 out of 134 teams and several were rated higher.

It's likely the Bulldogs’ proximity to Shreveport, in part, to inviting the Bulldogs as opposed to another team.

LA Tech is making its first bowl appearance under third-year coach Sonny Cumbie. Army is 2-0 all-time against the Bulldogs.

Army (11-2) is coming off a 31-13 loss to Navy on Saturday. Even with the loss, the Black Knights can still finish with a 12-win season, which would be a program first.

Army is heading for a bowl game for the first time since 2021. The Black Knights have been bowl-eligible for the past two seasons at 6-6 but did not participate in a game.

The Black Knights have played in the Independence Bowl before, which happened in 1996 under coach Bob Sutton. Army lost to Auburn in that game. That also happened to be Army’s first 10-win season.

Army has played five of its last six bowl games in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, dating back to 2010. That includes four appearances in the Armed Forces Bowl and another in the Heart of Dallas Bowl (now the First Responder Bowl). The only other bowl game in that span was the Liberty Bowl.

This has been a historic seasons for Army, as it won its first conference title in school history. Jeff Monken was named the American Athletic Conference coach of the year and quarterback Bryson Daily was named the AAC offensive player of the year.