The math speaks for itself: Of the 10 remaining undefeated teams in top-tier college football after last weekend, a full 20% are service academies. (Oct. 23 update: After a midweek upset, the list narrowed to nine.)

The Army West Point Black Knights (7-0) and the Navy Midshipmen (6-0) sit 1-2 atop the American Athletic Conference (AAC), are ranked in the Associated Press poll (Army’s 23rd, one spot ahead of Navy), and could continue an unprecedented path toward the newly expanded college football playoff … and two Army-Navy showdowns in one month.

Whether you’re a die-hard follower or limit your football intake to a few hours on the second weekend of December, you’ll want to get up to speed. So, let’s look at how the teams got here and how the next few weeks on the gridiron could end up.

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The Story So Far

Army’s first AAC season has been an exercise in dominance – a 6-0 conference mark, with the Black Knights scoring less than 37 points only once. Army quarterback Bryson Daily rushed for five touchdowns and threw for another in a 42-28 win over East Carolina on Oct. 19, making him the AP’s player of the week and the first Army player responsible for six TDs in one game since Elmer Oliphant led a 69-7 thrashing of Villanova in 1916.

Daily’s 19 rushing touchdowns are best in college football this season, and often come on the strength of moves like this one against Alabama-Birmingham:

Yet Daily wasn’t the first service academy QB responsible for six scores in a game this season – Navy’s Blake Horvath had four rushing touchdowns and threw two TD passes in the Mids’ 56-44 shootout win over Memphis on Sept. 21. That merits its own highlight reel:

The junior threw for three scores in a 51-17 rout of Charlotte on Oct. 19 and got help from cornerback Dashaun Peele, who became the first Midshipman to return two interceptions for touchdowns in the same game.

Eyes on the Irish

Army’s off until a noon Eastern showdown at West Point against Air Force on Nov. 2 (CBS-TV, Paramount+). But Navy will be in action this weekend against Notre Dame at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., home to the NFL’s Jets and Giants. It will be the toughest test to date for the Mids, who are 12.5-point underdogs to the 6-1 Fighting Irish. The teams last met in Dublin last August, with Notre Dame claiming a 42-3 victory.

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This year’s game will air on ABC at noon Eastern, and you’d expect some Black Knights to tune in during their bye week – Army plays Notre Dame on Nov. 23 at Yankee Stadium (7 p.m. Eastern, NBC/Peacock).

ESPN Analytics gave the Fighting Irish an 84.5% chance to earn the victory over Army as of Oct. 23, slightly less than its 91.0% win prediction against Navy … and also way less than the 96.1% win probability it gave Notre Dame against Northern Illinois.

That math ended up flawed.

Army-Navy Times Two?

The Notre Dame games may determine whether the Black Knights or the Midshipmen have a path to the first-ever 12-team college football playoff, but they won’t decide the winner of the AAC, as Notre Dame is not part of the conference. The two football teams with the best records in the 14-team league will face off Friday, Dec. 6, on the campus of the top-ranked club for the AAC title.

Navy has four AAC games remaining (at Rice, at South Florida, home against Tulane, at East Carolina) and likely will be favored in all four. Army has two AAC games left (at North Texas and home against Texas-San Antonio) and should be favored in both. If both teams run the table, they’ll be 1-2 at season’s end and would meet for the AAC crown (site to be determined by AAC tiebreaker procedures) the week before their Dec. 14 rivalry clash at Northwest Stadium, home to the NFL’s Washington Commanders.

Two Army-Navy football games in the same month (and three in the same year: Army sprint football beat Navy 17-3 on Oct. 4) would be a capper to an already-unlikely season, with one final twist – the game comes after the selection of the 12-team national playoff.

That means if the AAC champion from Dec. 6 makes the playoff, they could lose in the Dec. 13 rivalry game and still be on a path to compete for the national championship. It also means the AAC runner-up could lose out on both the conference title and a playoff berth, but could still end its regular season with the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy and a win in arguably the biggest rivalry game in all of college football.

Heading to any of the upcoming Army or Navy games? Keep an eye out for a MOAA presence at various gameday events, and follow us on social media for updates.