Navy Midshipmen Football Awaiting Several Options for Bowl Game

The Navy Midshipmen won’t play Army for two weeks, but they’ll find out soon where they’ll be playing in their bowl game.

Oct 5, 2024; Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA; Navy Midshipmen head coach Brian Newberry in the third quarter against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Stadium. / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Navy’s next game is in two weeks against Army West Point. The result of that game will have no bearing on the Midshipmen’s bowl destination.

But, Navy (7-5) will know its bowl destination next weekend when Bowl Season released the lineup on Dec. 8, the same day the College Football Playoff bracket is revealed.

A member of the American Athletic Conference, the Midshipmen are one of seven teams that are bowl-eligible. An eighth, North Texas, can clinch a bid with a win this weekend.

But, the Middies might get one of the conference’s first-tier bowl options because they are tied for third in the conference after Friday’s win over East Carolina.

Navy is tied with Memphis, which it beat earlier in the season. So, in terms of a pecking order, bowl partners will likely pick the Midshipmen before the Tigers.

Army West Point and Tulane will finish ahead of Navy. The pair are set to play in the American Athletic Conference championship game on Dec. 6.

The winner could sneak into the CFP, if it is one of the five highest-ranked conference champions. Army might be the only team with a chance to do so after Tulane lost to Memphis. But the Black Knights probably need help from Boise State in the form of a loss.

The American has four primary bowl tie-ins, one of which Navy hosts — the Military Bowl at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.

The other three are the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas; the Fenway Bowl in Boston; and the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La.

The Midshipmen haven’t played in a bowl game since 2019. That year they played Kansas State in the Liberty Bowl. Before that, Navy appeared twice in both the Armed Forces Bowl and the Military Bowl. So it’s possible it could end up in the Military Bowl once again.

If, for some reason, the committees for the four primary American bowl tie-ins pass on the Midshipmen, there is a large group of bowl games to which the conference can send their remaining teams.

That list includes the Birmingham Bowl in Birmingham, Ala.; the Frisco Bowl in Frisco, Texas; the Cure Bowl in Orlando, Fla.; the Boca Raton Bowl in Boca Raton, Fla.; the Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa, Fla.; the First Responder Bowl in Dallas, Texas; the Myrtle Beach Bowl in Myrtle Beach, Fla.; and the New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque, N.M.