I have seen Army and Navy play over ten times, just never against each other. When my buddy Que said he could get tickets for this week’s game in DC, I jumped at the chance. I am not sure yet if we are tailgating or not, but either way I am looking forward to it. This year is particularly special given that both the teams are very good. Army won the American Athletic Conference this year and they are currently ranked No. 19 in the country. They will go on to face Marshall, winner of the Sun Belt, in the Independence Bowl
Of course, as anyone in or associated with the military will tell you, this week’s game against Navy is the most important game of the season. Navy, at 8-3, also had a great season and will face Oklahoma in the Armed Forces Bowl. The Midshipmen, however, would much rather beat Army. It would make their season a complete success. I won’t pick a winner as I have friends and relatives on both sides. I am just looking forward to a good game with great friends and all the tradition this classic game brings.
The Playoffs
It should come as no surprise that I really don’t take much issue with the playoff selection process. I like that conference champions get an automatic slot but they should not skip over the ranking process when they seed the teams. I prefer something more like the NCAA hoops process, but I am sure they will tweak the bracket selections in the future. In considering last week’s games, I was a bit disappointed as more than a few of the games were blowouts.
- Georgia beating Texas was not a surprise. They already beat them on the road and the SEC championship was basically a home game. Not sure how losing their starting QB, Beck, is going to impact them.
- James Franklin of Penn State tends to get a fair amount of criticism from me these days, but I thought he had the Nittany Lions prepared for the Ducks. PSU and Oregon were well matched. If the ball (or some calls) went the other way, Penn State would be number one right now.
- Glad to see SMU got in. They really turned that game around. SMU was a better team than Clemson after the first quarter. They had just spotted them too many points.
- If you count Army this week, I will have seen four conference champions this year: Army, Jax State, Georgia and Ohio. Not too shabby.
And while I didn’t make any official picks on the site, I went 6 for 9 in another pool I am in. Go figure.
That’s all I got – enjoy the game this week.
Tree