In last week’s opening College Football Playoff Rankings, the Army Black Knights just made the list, coming in at number 25. After a few upsets and another dominant win from the service academy, the program has made moves in the right direction toward fighting for a National Championship. 

In the second week of the rankings release, Army moved up a spot to 24th as they continue their historic season. The Black Knights moved to 9-0 over the weekend with a 14-3 victory over the North Texas Mean Green. It is the best start in program history, matching their 9-0 record from 1949; also, the last season, the Black Knights finished the year unbeaten. 

Army (9-0, 7-0 in American) still trails the Boise State Broncos in the rankings as they slid into the new rankings down one spot to 13th. With the newly formatted 12-team playoffs, the top-seeded ‘Group of 5’ team will receive a bid into the single elimination tournament. The Broncos only demerit of the season came in a three point loss to top ranked Oregon Ducks the second week of the season. 

For the first time in the rankings, a third non-power conference team, The Tulane Green Wave, entered the standings as well. The Black Knights AAC rivals debuted 25th this week. As it stands, the two teams are set to face off in the American Athletic Conference Championship, which could very well determine who will make the bracket against the 11 other programs. 

Without question, the championship game will be important as the College Football Playoff committee will only consider the conference champion for the at-large berth this postseason. 

Other than it’s traditional Army-Navy Game to finish the regular season, the Black Knights will be back in action on November 23rd after an off week this coming weekend. They will dive back into a non-conference showdown against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who is currently eighth in the updated rankings. A win against the Top 10 team would surely leapfrog Army over Bosie State as the new top G5 team considered for the playoffs. They will also play a home game against the UTSA Roadrunners to wrap up AAC play. 

As the Black Knights patiently wait to return to the gridiron, all eyes will be on two games this Saturday. The Green Wave will travel to Annapolis to take on the Navy Midshipmen and Boise State will head to CEFCU Stadium to take on Mountain West conference rival San Jose State. A loss by both contenders could instantly see the Black Knights make an enormous jump in the rankings while sitting on the sidelines in Week 12 of the college football season.