Army and Navy have one of the best annual rivalries in all of sports, and many are wondering what will happen to the game when the two teams are part of the same conference beginning in 2024. The short answer is nothing, but it is not quite that simple.
After weeks of negotiations, American Athletic Conference presidents voted on Tuesday night to accept Army into the conference as a football-only member. Navy is already part of the AAC, which left many wondering if the annual Army-Navy game will be impacted.
According to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, Army and Navy will continue to play their rivalry game on its usual date, which is the second weekend in December. The two teams will not play during the regular season. There is one scenario, however, where things could get awkward.
If Army and Navy are the top two finishers in the AAC at the end of the regular season, they would then play one another in the AAC Championship Game. That game takes place the weekend before the annual Army-Navy game. If Army and Navy both earned the right to play in the conference championship, they would then face each other two weekends in a row.
That would obviously be a bit strange. There probably would not be nearly the same hype surrounding the usual Army-Navy game if the two teams met with even higher stakes the week before. However, tickets for the Army-Navy game sell out well in advance and are extremely difficult to come by, and that is unlikely to change.
The odds of Army and Navy finishing with the top two spots in the AAC are quite low with where the programs currently stand. Still, starting next season, there will be a path to the two rivals facing off on consecutive weekends.
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