This season has been a special one for both the Army Black Knights and the Navy Midshipman, both currently heading into Week 8 of the college football season with undefeated records. And their success has prematurely sparked the bitter rivalry between the two programs, which Army head coach Jeff Monken contributed to during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
The Army-Navy Game has long been regarded as one of the most prestigious rivalry games in all of sports. But this year’s game may just be even more significant than ever before.
Considering both teams are undefeated, we may very well see a situation where the teams play in back-to-back weeks, first in the conference championship game in the AAC and then in their already scheduled Week 14 game designated for the Army-Navy rivalry.
If both teams remain undefeated going into these two games, we could very well see both games playing a factor into the College Football Playoff discussion for the first time in the CFP era, which only amplifies the impact of the games across the college football landscape.
During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday, Monken was asked about the possibility of playing Navy twice this season. But Monken doesn’t appear all that worried about their rival at this point, firing a jab at the program in the process.
“Coach, with how the season is going and you look across to your rival and how their season is going. Obviously, you guys are in the same conference now. Has the thought crossed your mind yet that you might be playing Navy in the Conference Championship and then in the Army-Navy Game in back-to-back weeks?,” Boston Connor asked Monken.
“Do they still have a football program at that school? Well, we’re gonna worry about this game this weekend,” responded Monken. That’s the only one we can do anything about. East Carolina’s got a good football team, a well-coached team. I assure you, that’s the only game we’re concerning ourselves with right now.”
“Do they still have a football program at Navy 😂
We’re only worried about the game this weekend and East Carolina has a good football team”@CoachJeffMonken #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/wIf2tC4OgB
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 16, 2024
You could argue that Monken asking if Navy “still had a football program” while being undefeated on the year is a bit of a disrespectful comment. But Monken does have a bit of bragging rights over the Midshipman, holding a 6-4 record in the Army-Navy game since Monken took over at Army.
Clearly, there is no love lost between the two programs. But for the time being, both Army and Navy seem to be solely focused on taking their undefeated season one game at a time.
