Has anyone else seen ESPN article that if Navy wins American South championship against Temple it would delay announcement of Cotton Bowl pairings and several other major bowls until after Army-Navy game which is not until December 10th. The bowl season starts on December 17th. I don’t know the answer but that is crazy. Bowl officials are on record to be rooting against Navy because of the implications. I always root for Navy since I served in the Navy during Vietnam War.
Navy plays Army a week after everyone else’s season ends, in part so CBS can show it. It was OK when Navy would finish 5-7 and Army 3-9, but suddenly Navy is very good, good enough that they might get the Group of 5 spot in the New Year’s Six bowls, which looks like Cotton this year. That Group of 5 bid has to go to a conference champ, not a highly ranked team that doesn’t win its conference. Right now, it looks like #17 Western Michigan, which plays in the MAC title game this week, or #19 Navy, which plays Temple in the AAC title game Saturday, then plays Army. WMU is 12-0, but Navy has played a much better schedule, so the Mids might sneak into that spot if they beat Temple and Army. But then that decision affects both the AAC bowls and the MAC bowls, so those would have to wait.
If Western Michigan wins the MAC championship and is 13-0, it will go to the Cotton Bowl. I don’t see the committee keeping an undefeated team out of the NY6.