Pres. Trump’s order may not prevent Army-Navy move

The Army-Navy game is under intense pressure to move to another date and not even a planned executive order from the president of the United States might help.

With Big Ten Conference officials seeking to expand the college football playoffs to include 24 teams from the current 12, the second Saturday in December, normally reserved for the annual battle between these two service academies, has become a talking point among college football observers. Add to that the expansion of bowl games to more than 40 and the desire to play games on that Saturday and official, and their fans, at both academies are nervous the schools may lose their coverted spot as the only college football game played at that time.

In December, two minor bowl games, the Celebration Bowl and the LA Bowl, were both held at the same time as Army-Navy. More bowl games want to play during that time slot and that could jeopardize the service academies’ lucrative deal with CBS Sports that, reportedly nets millions of dollars for each school and runs through 2038. That deal could be amended if scheduling changes.

Many have noticed the trend, including President Trump, who announced on Saturday that he plans to sign an executive order trying to prevent any other college games from competing with Army-Navy. Many media and legal observers doubt that the executive order would withstand legal challenges in court, but some say that the television networks and the NCAA may not want to go against the president or risk the ire of the Federal Communications Commission.

With Army and Navy both members of the American Conference, league president Tim Pernetti agreed with Trump’s move, calling the game a “national treasure” and welcoming the support of political leaders in Washington.

Because of the teams playing and the lack of college football competition on that day, the game typically draws between 7 and 8 million viewers, one of the better regular season ratings for a regular-season college football game.

Still, the heat is on. While all of the other major conferences seem content with a 16-team format that would probably include two spots for Group of Five teams, the Big Ten, now with 18 teams in its conference, seems adamant that it wants a larger format to accommodate more of its teams.

For now, the 16-team Southeastern Conference, the other leading conference with a lot of clout, is holding firm for a 16-team format, which will leave the second Saturday in December open for Army-Navy. But that could change quickly and that weekend could become host to as many as eight first-round games that would quickly push Army-Navy to the sidelines.

There are other solutions. One being bandied around is starting the season one week earlier or cutting a bye week for each team (most FBS teams get three bye weeks during each season). Then, the Army-Navy game would be moved to the first Saturday in December, which might be a better time slot for the game.

A second idea is moving the game to Veterans Day, Nov. 11, and making it a primetime game with no other college or professional games, though it is doubtful the academies would be happy having their entire student bodies travelling on a school night.

A third long-shot solution might be moving the Army-Navy game to a noon (EST) start on Thanksgiving Day and convincing the NFL to start its tripleheader at 3 p.m. or the day after Thanksgiving at an exclusive time.

One thing is certain, the date of the Army-Navy game is in the crosshairs of some pretty powerful people in college football. Now, the president of the United States and other political heavyweights, on both sides of the aisle, are making their feelings known about keeping the game special.