Army will indeed host Air Force in the first leg of its defense of the Commander in Chief trophy this fall.
Army Athletics announced Wednesday the game is set for Michie Stadium on Nov. 2. It’s the first time that the service-academy rivals will play at West Point since the 2020 COVID-19 season.
There was some thought that the game would be played at a neutral site with Michie Stadium renovation construction expected to be ongoing.
Army athletic director Mike Buddie said Saturday during an interview with Nikolai Busko on the YES Network that construction on the East stands, which will be a two-year project, is likely to begin in full force after graduation in May.
“The immediate future is to minimize the impact on our lacrosse programs, both nationally-ranked lacrosse programs,” Buddie said. “We’ll let them get through their seasons with as little interruption as possible and then once that season is over and graduation, there will be a construction fence up and when the cadets return in the fall, the East stands will be gone and construction will have begun in earnest.”
The Air Force game is the marquee matchup on Army’s 2024 home schedule and certainly has the potential to be a sellout. Portable seating could be brought in for the game to make up for some of the estimated 8,000 seats that would be lost due to construction.
Army’s complete 2024 schedule, which includes its first season in the American Athletic Conference, is expected to be released later next month. Though the games haven’t been officially announced, we believe Army will open at home against Lehigh on Labor Day weekend and play Notre Dame in November, likely at Yankee Stadium as its two non-conference games (that are not CIC games.)
2024 Army football schedule
Nov. 2 AIR FORCE
Dec. 14 Navy at FedEx Field, Landover, Md.
AAC conference games at home: UTSA, Rice, East Carolina, UAB
AAC conference games away: Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Temple, Tulsa
