American Athletic · Jeff Monken, year 13 (90-64) · Michie Stadium · 38,000 · 22,604 avg in 2026
LastL 24–28 vs South Florida · Sat Sep 12 · Godspower Nwawuihe 94 rush yds, 1 TD, 4 rec yds
Nextat Temple · Fri Sep 25 · 4 pm ET · Lincoln Financial Field · Army by 3 · series 8-7, won the last 4 · Game preview
Updated Tue Sep 22 · through week 2
| Wk | Date | Us | Opp | Line | Opponent | Result | Record | Conf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 5 | #39 | #206 | -37.5✓ | Bryant | W 59–3 70 | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| 2 | Sep 12 | #39 | #64 | -3✗ | South Florida | L 24–28 117 | 1-1 | 0-1 |
| 4 | Sep 25 | #41 | #96 | -3 | @Temple | |||
| 5 | Oct 3 | #40 | #91 | @Louisiana Tech | ||||
| 6 | Oct 10 | Tulane | ||||||
| 7 | Oct 17 | Florida Atlantic | ||||||
| 8 | Oct 24 | @Tulsa | ||||||
| 9 | Oct 31 | @Memphis | ||||||
| 10 | Nov 8 | Air Force | ||||||
| 12 | Nov 21 | East Carolina | ||||||
| 13 | Nov 28 | @Rice | ||||||
| 15 | Dec 12 | Navy (N) |
| Date | Opp | Result | Yds | TO | TOP | EPA/play | Success% | Explosive% | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 12 | South Florida | L 24–28 | 347 | 1 | 35:46 | +0.128 | 51.6% | 64.7% | |
| Sep 5 | Bryant | W 59–3 | 648 | 0 | 32:58 | +0.686 | 65.3% | 128.7% | |
| Season average (2 games) | 498 | 0.5 | +0.407 | 58.4% | 96.7% | ||||
Army's whole season bends toward one Saturday in December — Beat Navy — and in 2025 the Black Knights lost it 17-16, surrendering the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy and the only standard West Point truly keeps.
Black Knights fans say the sport treats Army as a quaint December novelty — a parade of cadets and a salute — and forgets that those same cadets went 12-2 and won the Trophy a year ago; they say the…
The season in chapters
What fans said
Real posts from the day of the game, chosen by community score · usernames not shown
What it is like to watch them2025 · 7-6 · last season
✓ measured from 13 games · ranks are among American Athletic teams the same season
Recent form · last 10 games · incl. 2025
Mixed. 6-4 over the last 10, and lost the last one.
First of all, Lane Kiffin is the Kim Kardashian of college football. Wherever she goes or he goes, there’s destruction and carnage in his place
Next Sep 25
vs Temple · away
✓ fact on line · ~ our read on style
Market outlook
Sportsbook consensus · best odds across multiple books · 2026-09-22
the open questionis this a real, durable shift in the program's tier?
Monken's 7-6 record last season keeps Army in dynasty-caliber territory despite a talent rank outside the top 100 — proof the triple-option can outwork the odds.
our readfront page
Carson Smith sees a real spike in usage once the game is out of reach, and his efficiency in competitive snaps sits below the position baseline -- the numbers lean on the opponent giving up.
our readdeveloping
Noah Short produces at a notably LOWER rate when his team is an underdog than when favored -- he fades when the pressure is on, and his per-target value drops too.
our readdeveloping
Noah Short is a real deep-ball threat -- a high share of his targets come on throws past the sticks.
our readbackground
Army collapsed 37 spots in SP+ — Jeff Monken's task is to halt the slide under the weight of a triple-option offense with no talent advantage.
our readbackground
Outcome band · Army · 2026
Floor, base and ceiling come from the season-path projection, which plays out conference title games and the CFP — so a ceiling can run past 12 games.
Army has climbed into dynasty-caliber territory — into the top 35% of FBS by power rating over the last three seasons, up from the top 46% a year ago. It is a 23-14 record over the last three regular seasons. A real, measurable rise in the model. The room has caught up; now the schedule has to agree.
The off-field storyline driving the noise right now. Not analysis — the soap opera, and that's the point.
The 'resurgence is real' read: the numbers are starting to back the hype.
The 'wait and see' counter -- power shifts often get overread before the season proves them.
Nothing in our corpus yet — this door stays open for when there is.
Army enters 2025 rated No. 74 in SP+ (+0.8), down 37 spots from 2024. SP+ reflects three years of tape; a drop this steep is structural, not noise. The recovery window is open but the room knows it. The preview consensus leans in — but preseason ratings reward the recent past, not the season ahead.
The off-field storyline driving the noise right now. Not analysis — the soap opera, and that's the point.
The 'the projection is underselling us' read -- fans betting the season beats the preview number.
The 'the model has seen the tape' counter -- efficiency ratings reward what a program has actually done, not hope.
Nothing in our corpus yet — this door stays open for when there is.
This event was in 174 of 742 board posts (23%) over the last 60 days — a fanbase consumed by it. Fan text shown verbatim, attributed to the community not the individual poster.
The boards ≠ the fanbase: a vocal, self-selected slice.
Fan mood index · most recent r/cfb data
More in this tab
Army is the West Point service academy whose triple-option offense and Commander-in-Chief's Trophy chase make every Saturday a salute to a different version of college football.
Army extends Monken's contract
Army locks Monken in after a 28-24 gut-punch to USF — program is betting the triple-option dynasty narrative survives the rough patch, not that it's time to recalibrate.
Felton commits to Army
SP+ dropped Army 37 spots, class sits at #130 nationally, and the OT depth pressure is real — Felton's commitment at least shores up a defensive back room that needed bodies before fall camp.
LB Nick Miletto commits to Army
Miletto slots into a linebacker room that needed bodies behind the starters — class rank 130 doesn't tell the whole story when Monken's defense just jumped 37 spots in SP+ and needs the depth to sustain it.
Ryder Reeve commits to Army
OT depth was a pressure point at #130 nationally — Reeve's family military background isn't a recruiting pitch here, it's the actual reason he's there, and Monken's line room needed this body.
Top 3 commits
Recruiting Footprint · 2026
TX leads the 2026 class with 12 commits. National footprint reaching 22 states.
Where they recruit · 2023-2026
189 signees across 36 states, 2023-2026. TX leads the pull.
Miles from home · 2026 roster
The median Army player grew up 762 miles from campus.
Half this roster came from closer than that; half came from farther.
Straight-line distance from each player's listed hometown to Michie Stadium. Hometowns are placed at city-centroid precision, not street address — fine at this scale, but a player's true door-to-door number can differ by a few miles. 189 of 196 listed players have a geocoded hometown. Service academies are left out of the national ranking: their rosters arrive through congressional nomination and a service commitment, not ordinary recruiting, so ranking them against it would compare two different things. Source: CFBD roster hometowns.
Top community posts · last 12 months · r/cfb
Fan confidence in a typical range for this program right now
47th percentile among FBS programs
The penalty battle is a wash: 6 penalties committed vs. 8 drawn on opponents.
70 penalty yards committed vs. 51 drawn on opponents, 2026 season total.
Outcome band · Army · 2026
Recruiting Footprint · 2026