The CFP could begin and end earlier if the proposal by Army's coach were to be adopted


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The Army-Navy Game, which has been held on the second Saturday of December since 2009, has been at the center of recent discussions with regard to College Football Playoff expansion and scheduling due to its unique placement on the regular-season schedule. In a departure from recent tradition, Army coach Jeff Monken said he would like to see the historic rivalry game move up a week to pave the way for the CFP to start earlier.

The rivalry series, dubbed "America's Game," holds its contests the week after conference championship games to retain its own timeslot. The pageantry and tradition involved with one of college football's most storied rivalries has long justified the separate window. But amid calls for the season to wrap up earlier than late-January, Monken said moving the Army-Navy Game back to Thanksgiving weekend is necessary.

"There's not an appetite for the college football season to go all the way to the end of January," Monken said to 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."

Because the CFP avoids broadcast competition with the NFL and prioritizes giving teams a full week between games, the playoff schedule for the next two years comes with lengthy layoffs (nearly two weeks between rounds) and national championship games scheduled for Jan. 25 and Jan. 24. Playoff expansion from four teams to 12 only led to the season extending deeper into the winter.

If the Army-Navy Game were to move back to Thanksgiving weekend, or even to conference championship week, the CFP could begin a week earlier and thus prevent such late winter championship games.

Any proposal to move the annual contest from its protected window would likely receive pushback. President Donald Trump last month said that he plans to sign an executive order which would prevent any football games from going head-to-head with the Army-Navy Game. That came after the now-defunct LA Bowl kicked off a half hour after the start of the 2025 installment.

"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 Army-Navy series began in 1890, and the football game has been contested every year since 1930. Navy holds a 64-55-7 all-time advantage and won the last two meetings, including a 17-16 thriller last season.

CBS Sports has held the broadcast rights for the Army-Navy Game since 1996 and will continue to air the game on its networks through 2038. The 2026 meeting will take place on Dec. 12 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, as part of commemorating the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

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