Army West Point Black Knights Return to College Football Playoff Rankings

The Army West Point Black Knights were back in the College Football Playoff rankings after a one-week absence.

Nov 30, 2024; West Point, New York, USA; Army Black Knights quarterback Bryson Daily (13) celebrates his touchdown against the UTSA Roadrunners during the second half at Michie Stadium. / Danny Wild-Imagn Images

The Army West Point Black Knights, who were left out of last week’s College Football Playoff Top 25, moved back into the rankings at No. 24 in Tuesday’s penultimate rankings.

The final CFP Top 25 will be released on Sunday as part of the selection process for the 12-team playoff.

Army dropped out of last week’s CFP rankings after its 49-14 loss to Notre Dame. The Black Knights (10-1, 8-0 in American) followed that up with a 26-21 victory over UTSA on Saturday, which wrapped up an undefeated conference season in their first year in the AAC as an affiliate member.

On Tuesday, Jeff Monken was named the AAC coach of the year and quarterback Bryson Daily was named the AAC offensive player of the year.

For the first time in program history, they will host a conference championship game, as Tulane (9-3, 7-1) will visit to determine the AAC champion.

The game is set for 8 p.m. eastern with the game to be broadcast on ABC.

Army has a steep climb if it hopes to slide into the CFP bracket and Friday’s game is its final chance to impress the committee. The five highest-ranked conference champions will receive an automatic bid into the playoff.

It is highly likely that the ACC, the Big 12, the Big Ten and the SEC champions will get four of those berths, though it is not guaranteed. But, if so, that leaves one spot left to a Group of 5 conference champion.

That team would most likely be the champion of either the AAC or the Mountain West.

Since the initial rankings, Boise State has been the highest-ranked Group of 5 team and that didn’t change on Tuesday, as the Broncos were ranked No. 10.

Boise State will face UNLV in the Mountain West Conference title game. UNLV was ranked No. 20 in the CFP Top 25.

Tulane, which was ranked No. 17 last week, fell out after losing to Memphis on Thursday. The Tigers were No. 25.

Army has at least 10 wins for just the fourth time in program history and for the first time since 2018, when the Black Knights went 11-2. Army also went 10-3 in 2017 and reached 10 wins for the first time in 1996.

There is a chance the Black Knights could set a program record for most wins in a season, as they have three games remaining — vs. Tulane, the rivalry game with Navy on Dec. 14 and a bowl game, which will be determined on Sunday.

The Army-Navy game will not impact either team’s bowl designation or CFP chances. Army hasn’t played in a bowl game since 2021 when it won the Armed Forces Bowl.