Schedule and potential bowl games

[Coach MC]

When I first looked at the schedule in the summer I thought it wouldn't be too bad. But now that we are into October, we have had a pretty tough road the first 5 weeks. Duke is good, Oklahoma is Oklahoma, and Hawaii and Buffalo have been better than expected. And do not sleep on Eastern Michigan. They are tough again this year. Having said that, and without jinxing it, I look at the remainder and think with a few breaks our way and the how we have been playing, we could run the table the rest of the way. Which brings us to the bowl schedule. I do not believe we have an automatic tie-in this year, which means hypothetically we would take the place of a conference team that could not fulfill its requirement. I know the Lockheed Armed Forces and Uniserv First Responders have been mentioned. It makes sense because Texas is a fertile recruiting ground for us. The other possibility I saw was the Independence in Shreveport, LA which would draw a strong opponent. Has anyone heard anything?

[DoubleOvertime99]

Until they actually receive an invite (which they will) it's all speculation.

[keco616]

With no intel, I am betting on the Independence Bowl.

It will have the opening, will appeal from a logistics/geographic standpoint, pays well, and is a little more within the prime bowl schedule window, and will attract a noteworthy opponent.

Liberty Bowl would also be an outside shot. I think they steer clear of another Dallas trip and the Military Bowl (Annapolis)

[DoubleOvertime99]

Just noticed in CBS's bowl projections a footnote that says Army will play in the Armed Forces Bowl if eligible, but there's no source and the Armed Forces Bowl website does not corroborate.

Personally, I wouldn't mind the Military Bowl because it's in driving distance, but I'm admittedly selfish.

[guppie58]

I also wouldn't sleep on SJSU. They've dramatically improved in their first four games. They played a decent game against Oregon and had no less than six opportunities to beat a strong Hawaii team. Their record is 0-4, but I think their record is a poor reflection of their abilities.

I lurked on their board earlier this week and saw some fans mentioning that Army is a very winnable game and that their athletes are far superior to ours. I hope Army crushes them, but they could be a trap game with their deceiving record.

[RABBLE]

All games that we are possibly the favorite are trap games, more so if the game is AWAY from West Point. We can take no future foe lightly. We MUST have 6-7 bowl qualifying wins to get a bid. We are only half way there right now. I still wish we had a tie-in this year. It would take some of the pressure off at the moment including myself. I have had enough "sitting by the fireside at home at Christmas" for me in my remaining years. If they play bowls, I want Army to be a part of it.

[armyhockeyfan]

I have seen BYU, Cal, SDSU, and a few others as potential bowl opponents in a few different bowls. It would be great to play someone like Cal or BYU that is/has been nationally ranked this year. Anybody want to share a top 10 or top 5 list of dream bowl opponents you would love Army to play?

For me:
1 UCF - to be their first loss in two years and it would be a very entertaining game. Especially if Navy get blasted by them, the win would be sweeter
2 ND (I hate ND)
3 Penn State/Ohio State/Michigan State/whichever Big 10 team doesn't make the playoff or committee bowls. Didn't mention Mich because they are
making the playoff. Go Blue!
4 LSU/Georgia/Auburn/A&M/Kentucky/Florida/whichever SEC team doesn't make the playoff or committee bowls
5 Miami (as an Florida State fan also, I hate them. That was not a forward pass is if you watched that game this weekend!)

[ArmyFan1995]

I've read everything from Armed Forces Bowl to Military Bowl to Independence Bowl to the Birmingham Bowl to the Quick Lane Bowl so it is basically a crap shoot but I think we will land depending on record ... if no other teams qualify and Army is 8+ wins it would be pretty hard for the Independence Bowl to pass them up. Once they become Bowl eligible will be interesting to see which representatives from the bowls show up to see the team play

[RABBLE]

I don't like the idea that we have no tie-in to any bowl this year. With our 10th and 11th games against FCS competition, bowl committees will not be so inclined to give us a bowl bid because beating those two teams will not show that much interest in us. I think we have to win all our remaining games thru the Colgate game to insure that we get invited to somewhere., anywhere as far as I am concerned and against anybody, be competitive and as long as we can beat Navy and be eligible.

[DoubleOvertime99]

I also wouldn't sleep on SJSU. They've dramatically improved in their first four games. They played a decent game against Oregon and had no less than six opportunities to beat a strong Hawaii team. Their record is 0-4, but I think their record is a poor reflection of their abilities.

I lurked on their board earlier this week and saw some fans mentioning that Army is a very winnable game and that their athletes are far superior to ours. I hope Army crushes them, but they could be a trap game with their deceiving record.

Since 2016, Army is 7-2 when coming off of no game (bye week, opening game, bowl break), both losses to Duke (weird), with wins at Temple and Air Force, the two Navy wins, and the two bowl wins, and a route of Fordham in Michie.

I'll think they'll be plenty prepared (and eager) for San Jose State in Santa Clara.