Army and Navy’s request to add a 13th regular-season game has been tabled by the Division I Football Oversight Committee, sources confirmed to CBS Sports.
Because their annual meeting in December is played the week after the College Football Playoff field is selected, an additional game would have helped with not only their CFP resumes but also standing in the AAC.
Both programs were in the running for a CFP berth well into November just this past season.
The Oversight Committee, which met recently to discuss the matter, has oversight responsibility of the regular season and championship administration. A source familiar with that meeting told CBS Sports there was “no support” from Oversight to honor the request. The source added that granting the schools’ request would be “a legislative beast” to be approved because of the impact on the regular season.
The Army-Navy request would require the NCAA to modify its rules which limits teams to 12 regular-season games. CBS Sports was first to report the schools’ request.
Proposal could let Army, Navy play 13th regular season game to fortify future College Football Playoff hopes
Dennis Dodd
NCAA Bylaw 17.11 sets the maximum number of regular-season FBS games at 12. Bylaw 17.11.4.1 allows a 13th game for teams that play a regular-season game in Hawaii.
Both Army and Navy are in the AAC. The Black Knights joined in 2024 after 20 years as an independent prior to its last conference membership in Conference USA from 1998-2004.
Both schools play only 11 regular-season games before conference championship weekend. The 12th game is the annual Army-Navy game, typically played the second week of December. Adding a 13th game would mean adding a fourth nonconference opponent, and the American currently plays eight conference games.
Former Army athletic director Mike Buddie, now at TCU, told CBS Sports previously it was important for both schools to have an extra “data point” in regard to CFP consideration.
“When it was a four-team playoff, there was language in the agreement that if Army or Navy was in consideration, they would hold off on the [CFP] announcement until after the Army-Navy game,” Buddie said last year. “When they switched to the 12-team playoff, they removed that language, which essentially rendered the Army-Navy game irrelevant for conference standings and irrelevant as a data point for the CFP.
“So it makes sense for Chet [Gladchuk, Navy AD] and I to approach it from this angle.”
The Army-Navy request is not believed to impact desires for any FBS conference to play additional games on the weekend of conference championship games. The Big Ten, SEC and Big 12 — at least — are believed to be considering play-in games to determine automatic qualifiers for the CFP beginning with the 2026 season.
Big Ten, SEC set to unveil grand plans for College Football Playoff change … but is anyone else on board?
Brandon Marcello
Whether automatic qualifiers are instituted at all in ’26 will be taken up by the FBS conferences at future CFP meetings.
Army went 12-2 last season, the most wins in program history. Navy, 10-3, posted its first winning season since 2019. The Midshipmen defeated the Black Knights 31-13 in their annual meeting last season for the 17th time in the last 23 showdowns.
The 26-person Oversight Committee is chaired by USF AD Mike Kelly.
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