Shutterstock
Army coach Jeff Monken wants to shake things up – and he’s talking about moving one of college football’s most sacred traditions to do it.
The Army-Navy Game has owned the second Saturday in December since 2009. That’s given it a clean window all to itself, separate from conference championship weekend and everything else. But Monken thinks it’s time to shift the rivalry back a week to Thanksgiving weekend so the College Football Playoff can start earlier.
“There’s not an appetite for the college football season to go all the way to the end of January,” Monken told The Athletic. “There’s a real hope that we can get this thing into one semester, and have the championship game around Jan. 1, which I think would be awesome.”
The CFP’s Schedule Problem
Here’s the issue: The playoff avoids going head-to-head with the NFL, and teams get a full week between games. That’s created some awkward spacing. The next two national championship games are set for Jan. 25 and Jan. 24 – deep into winter when most fans are already checked out.
Moving from four teams to 12 was supposed to make things better. Instead, it’s stretched the season even longer.
The Army-Navy Game sitting in its own protected window the week after conference championships means the CFP can’t start until after that. Bump the rivalry game up a week or two, and suddenly the playoff could begin earlier. That’d pull the title game back closer to New Year’s Day, where it feels like it belongs.
Navy leads the all-time series 64-55-7 and has won the last two matchups, including a 17-16 nail-biter last season. The game’s been played every year since 1930.
Trump’s Got Opinions Too
Any talk of moving “America’s Game” is going to ruffle feathers. President Donald Trump said last month he plans to sign an executive order preventing other games from competing with Army-Navy. That came after the now-defunct LA Bowl kicked off just 30 minutes after this year’s game started.
Monken gets the sensitivity around messing with tradition.
“I think Army-Navy is a huge part of the history of college football, and what it is today, even,” Monken said. “Give us a four-hour block on Thanksgiving, or on Friday of Thanksgiving, or on Saturday of Thanksgiving, and give us a four-hour block, and just say nobody else plays during this four-hour block. That’s still protecting the game.”
The rivalry’s been around since 1890. CBS Sports has aired it since 1996 and will keep the broadcast rights through 2038.
The pageantry matters – uniforms honoring military units, the march-on of cadets and midshipmen, all of it. It’s why the game has always had its own window in the first place. But if college football’s serious about wrapping things up before students are halfway through the spring semester, something’s got to give.
The 2026 meeting is scheduled for Dec. 12 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. That’ll be part of commemorating the 25th anniversary of 9/11.
Whether conference commissioners and TV executives are willing to shuffle one of the sport’s most iconic games for playoff scheduling remains to be seen.
