The 125th Army-Navy Game is set for Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland on Saturday, and it’s one of the best matchups in the rivalry’s recent history for fans and for Maryland sports betting. It’s worth wondering where this year’s Midshipmen team ranks in recent school history.
While the Knights of Army have won each of the last two installments of the year-end CFB stalwart, Navy’s record since 2000 in the game is 17-7. The Midshipmen dominated their archrival under head coaches Paul Johnson and Ken Niumatalolo, but current coach Brian Newberry is 0-2 against the Black Knights.
This year, oddsmakers from Crab Sports Maryland Sportsbook have Navy as a 6.5-point underdog in Saturday’s Army-Navy Game, with a +205 moneyline on the Annapolis-based military academy.
Navy enters Saturday’s clash at 8-3. BetMaryland.com broke down how the 2024 team compares with other recent success stories in Annapolis.
10 Best Navy Football Seasons In Past 40 Years
- 2019: 11-2 (.846) – Won Liberty Bowl over Kansas State (20-17)
- 2015: 11-2 (.846) – Won Military Bowl over Pitt (44-28)
- 2004: 10-2 (.833) – Won Emerald Bowl over New Mexico (34-19)
- 1996: 9-3 (.750) – Won Aloha Bowl over Cal (42-38)
- 2024: 8-3 (.727) – Army game TBD, Armed Forces Bowl Dec. 27 vs. Oklahoma
- 2009: 10-4 (.714) – Won Texas Bowl over Missouri (35-13)
- 2006: 9-4 (.692) – Lost Meineke Car Care Bowl to Boston College (25-24)
- 2010: 9-4 (.692) – Lost Poinsettia Bowl to San Diego State (35-14)
- 2013: 9-4 (.692) – Won Armed Forces Bowl over Middle Tennessee State (24-6)
- 2005: 8-4 (.667) – Won Poinsettia Bowl over Colorado State (51-30)
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How This Year’s Navy Team Stacks Up
Newberry’s 2024 team ranks fifth among the most past successful seasons for the Midshipmen since 1984 (with results of Saturday’s Army game and the Dec. 27 Armed Forces Bowl against Oklahoma pending). The 2024 edition is behind three double-digit win total teams (2004, 2015 and 2019) and the 9-3 campaign of 1996.
In terms of recent school history, Navy’s 8-3 mark through 11 games measures up as the program’s most successful season since that 2019 team that went 11-2 under Niumatalolo, with that team shellacking Army, 31-7, to cap off a 10-win regular season.
This year’s Midshipmen easily exceeded their preseason over/under win total, which was 5.5 wins at BetMGM Maryland Sportsbook, according to sportsoddshistory.com data.
This weekend, Army enters the Army-Navy game ranked 22nd in the CFP year-end top 25 poll, marking the first time since 2019 that one of the two teams enters the Army-Navy Game ranked. Here is a look at series history when one or both teams have been ranked. The data below is from Associated Press rankings, which began in 1936.
Army-Navy Games With Ranked Teams Involved:
- 2024: No. 22 Army vs. Navy – TBD
- 2019: No. 23 Navy beat Army, 31-7
- 2018: No. 22 Army beat Navy, 17-10
- 2015: No. 21 Navy beat Army, 21-17
- 1996: No. 23 Army beat Navy, 28-24
- 1963: No. 2 Navy beat Army, 21-15
- 1960: No. 7 Navy beat Army, 17-12
- 1958: No. 5 Army beat Navy, 22-6
- 1957: No. 8 Navy beat No. 10 Army, 14-10
- 1955: Army beat No. 11 Navy, 14-6
- 1954: No. 6 Navy beat No. 5 Army, 27-20
- 1953: No. 18 Army beat Navy, 20-7
- 1950: Navy beat No. 2 Army, 14-2
- 1949: No. 4 Army beat Navy, 38-0
- 1947: No. 12 Army beat Navy, 21-0
- 1946: No. 1 Army beat Navy, 21-18
- 1945: No. 1 Army beat No. 2 Navy, 32-13
- 1944: No. 1 Navy beat No. 2 Navy, 23-7
- 1943: No. 6 Navy beat No. 7 Army, 13-0
- 1941: No. 11 Navy beat Army, 14-6
In the previous 19 times that one or more of the teams in the Army-Navy Game were ranked, Navy went on to win 10 of those, including that 2019 showdown, while the Knights have emerged victorious nine times, last doing so in 2018.
You can monitor any last-minute line movement for the Army-Navy game, as well as wagers available for the bowl matchup against Oklahoma, at Maryland sports betting apps.
