Navy Midshipmen Falls in Latest Power Rankings After Bye Week

After a bye week the Navy Midshipmen took a hit in one publication's latest college football power rankings.

Nov 16, 2024; Annapolis, Maryland, USA; Navy Midshipmen head coach Brian Newberry stands on the field during the second half Tulane Green Wave at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

The Navy Midshipmen did not play a game last week, so they were not able to improve upon a recent stretch that saw them lost three of their previous four games.

Prior to that stretch, the Mids started the year with a six-game win streak that was powered by complete and utter domination week in and week out.

Now, outside of one contest against the South Florida Bulls, the Midshipmen have been on the other end of that domination for the better part of a month.

The rough patch has seen the program's stock take a hit in the eyes of the media, and it did so once again this week despite the team not playing a game, as Chris Vannini of The Athletic dropped Navy out of the Top 50 in his weekly college football power rankings to 51st after having them ranked 46th last week.

The Mids were jumped by the Oklahoma Sooners, who beat the Alabama Crimson Tide; the Kansas Jayhawks, who beat the Colorado Buffaloes; the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, who beat the Troy Trojans (though also fell from 47th to 48th); the Nebraska Cornhuskers, who beat the Wisconsin Badgers; and the West Virginia Mountaineers who beat the UCF Knights.

Every team that jumped the Midshipmen except for the Ragin' Cajuns holds a worse record this year, though they do all boast better wins, with the majority of those coming this week.

It has been a crazy year in college football as a whole, with the expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams from just four, and the immense amount of conference realignment that took place ahead of the season, and it has made the product that much more compelling.

Gone are the days of the Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs being top seeds in the playoffs perennially as they must now fight through the SEC gauntlet that now includes the Texas Longhorns and the Sooners.

Here are the days of Group of Five teams standing a chance at making those playoffs with undefeated campaigns and conference championship victories.

At one point this year, Navy looked to be one of the Group of Five teams that had a chance at making the College Football Playoffs, but after three losses in their last four contests, everyone has had a rude awakening from those dreams.

The Mids do still have one game left in the regular season, however, as well as the annual rivalry game against the Army Black Knights in December, and a bowl game, so all is not lost in 2024.