Army and Tulane were both on the College Football Playoff radar recently.
The Black Knights were as high as No. 19 in the CFP rankings before a 49-14 loss to Notre Dame on Nov. 23 in New York.
The Green Wave were No. 17 before losing at home to Memphis 34-24 on Thanksgiving night.
No. 24 Army (10-1, 8-0 American Athletic Conference) and Tulane (9-3, 7-1) won’t be going to the CFP, but both still have a lot to play for when they meet in the AAC championship game on Friday night in West Point, N.Y.
The Black Knights have an opportunity to win the title in their first season in the conference before they have their traditional season-ending game against Navy next week.
“This is a new experience for our guys,” Army coach Jeff Monken said.
This matchup was set two weeks ago, though the site wasn’t determined until Tulane lost to Memphis and the Black Knights defeated visiting UTSA 29-24 two days later.
Army quarterback Bryson Daily had his ninth consecutive 100-yard rushing game, leading the nation’s top ground game (312.5 yards per game).
But Army, which is last in the country in passing yards per game (89.2), needed season highs of 17 attempts, 10 completions and 190 yards from Daily to beat the Roadrunners. Daily’s passing was a key reason his team was successful on 8 of 17 third downs and 4 of 5 fourth downs.
“We would not have won the football game if we had not been able to convert on third and fourth downs,” Monken said. “We’re a running football team and we want to be good at that and that’s how we’ve gotten positioned where we are. But I’m glad we were able to make some plays (in the passing game).”
Tulane will be looking to get running back Makhi Hughes back on track after he was held to season lows of nine carries, 15 yards and a 1.7-yard average by Memphis.
Green Wave coach Jon Sumrall is focused on the opportunity that remains and not the one that slipped away.
“You can’t let one (loss) become two,” Sumrall said. “We’re thrilled to still be playing football. There are nine FBS conference championship games and that means there are 18 teams playing in a conference championship game this weekend.
“This opportunity is special. It doesn’t come around (for everyone). There are 14 teams in our conference and two get to play in this game and our guys earned that opportunity.”
This is the third consecutive season that the Green Wave have played in the American title game. They hosted the last two, beating UCF two years ago before losing to SMU in 2023.
Sumrall, who was hired away from Troy to replace Willie Fritz after Fritz left for Houston at the end of last season, didn’t experience those other championship appearances, but some of his players did.
“The majority of our team hasn’t won a conference championship,” Sumrall said, “but there’s some carryover at least in knowing what this moment is like and being mentally focused on what it takes to win the game. Experience is always a good thing to have on your side.”
–Field Level Media
