The greatest rivalry in sports will write its latest chapter on Saturday, Dec. 14 at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, as Army and Navy square off in the final game of the 2024 regular season with bragging rights on the line. The pageantry of the Army-Navy Game is unmatched in sports, and CBS will have all of the action that Saturday afternoon in December.
Though this rivalry has become more hotly contested in the modern era, each team has had its own streaks of dominance. The Black Knights, for instance, have come out on top more often than not in the past decade. They have won six out of their last eight contests against Navy and, with a win this year, would match their longest winning streak (three games from 2016-18) since 1996.
It was all Navy before that, though. Notably, the Midshipmen won 14 straight games from 2002-15, which is the longest such streak in this rivalry’s history. Navy also holds the all-time series advantage with a 62-55-7 record and has won at least five games in a row on three separate occasions. With how the last three years have gone — neither team has won by more than six points in that span — this year’s Army-Navy Game promises to be a thriller.
Especially since the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy will be on the line. Both Army and Navy have already secured wins against Air Force, which means that their game against one another will be for all the marbles.
What should you expect on Dec. 14? Let’s take a look.
Army vs. Navy: Need to know
No College Football Playoff implications: The Army-Navy Game has plenty of stakes on its own, but even though the Black Knights are right in the thick of the race for the 12-team College Football Playoff, the result of this contest will not factor into the selection committee’s decision. In fact, the final set of rankings will be released six days before the Black Knights and Midshipmen face off. That being said, Army still has plenty of time to make an impression. The Black Knights have already locked down a spot in the AAC Championship Game, which happens two days before Selection Sunday.
Points (could be) aplenty: Both Army and Navy have undergone an offensive renaissance, of sorts, this season. The Black Knights currently rank fourth in the AAC with 35.3 points per game, while the Midshipmen aren’t too far behind in seventh place with a scoring average of 32.1. At one point, Navy had a top-10 offense nationally, but it has hit a bit of a lull over the past month (more on that below). Army, meanwhile, has seen fairly steady production. The Black Knights had five straight games from Sept. 21 to Oct. 19 where they scored at least 30 points.
All of this means that we could see one of the highest scoring Army-Navy Games in quite some time. The two haven’t combined to score more than 40 points since 2013 when Navy won 34-7. They’ve only eclipsed 30 points together three times in the interim years.
Navy trying to break a spiral: At one point, Navy was 6-0 with AAC Championship Game and College Football Playoff aspirations of its own. But a 51-14 loss against Notre Dame seems to have really knocked the Midshipmen off course. They followed that up with a 24-10 loss against Rice five days after Rice fired coach Mike Bloomgren, scoring what was at that point a season-low in points in the process. That was until Navy’s 35-0 loss to Tulane in Week 12. After scoring 30-plus points in each of its first six games, the Midshipmen have yet to reach that mark again. They do play a beatable East Carolina team in Week 13, which offers them a prime opportunity to right the ship — pun intended — before taking on Army.
How to watch Army vs. Navy live
Date: Saturday, Dec. 14 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
Location: Northwest Stadium — Landover, Maryland
TV: CBS | Live stream: Paramount + with Showtime, CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App (Free)
