Army-Navy rivalry game will no longer be stand-alone matchup under new bowl schedule

The Army–Navy rivalry is one of the great traditions in college football. It’s also one that has been the only game on its Saturday, but that’s about to change.

College sports are going through major changes throughout the sport. That extends into the College Football Playoff and bowl season. With that, the schedule is getting changed and Army-Navy is no longer going to be a standalone matchup.

Under the new bowl schedule, the Cricket Celebration Bowl is set to kickoff at 12:00 p.m. ET. That comes before the Army-Navy Game will be played at 3:00 p.m. or the traditional time slot for the game. Later, the Camellia Bowl is going to be played at 9:00 p.m. Those changes came because of a shift in the bowl schedule.

The Army-Navy Game has been played since 1890. Since then, the two sides have met 124 times since then in one of the most unique games each season. During that time, Navy holds the all-time series lead with a record of 62-55-7. On top of that, it’s the final leg of the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, which is a competition between Army, Navy, and Air Force as the three play against one another throughout the season.

The 2024 Army-Navy Game is set to be played at Commanders Field in Landover, Maryland. That comes a year after playing the game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Future games are set to be played in Baltimore, East Rutherford, and Philadelphia as well.

Bowl Season executive director Nick Carparelli explained the change.

“Obviously the expanded College Football Playoff is going to add another level of excitement to our postseason,” Carparelli said. “With the opening-round games being played on that Saturday that had traditionally been reserved for the first day of bowl season, we were forced to move some games to the week prior to that, notably two games on Dec. 14, which were scheduled around the Army-Navy game. It was very important to us that we protected that time slot but at the same time providing a full day of college football, which I think our fans will enjoy.”

December 14, 2024, is also the day the Heisman Trophy winner will be announced.

For the time being, Army-Navy is still the only game in its time slot. However, with two other games being added to accommodate the changing CFP schedule, it won’t be the only game that day for fans to tune into.