Army football has had just one winning season since 1997, yet starting in 2016 the SEC will recognize a game against Army in the same way it would a game against Ohio State, Texas, USC or Florida State. Starting in 2016 the SEC’s non-conference scheduling requirement will go into action, requiring SEC schools to schedule at least one game each season against another school from a Power 5 conference (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 or even the SEC). Notre Dame was always expected to fulfill that requirement, but on Thursday the SEC decided games against BYU and Army will also count. Notre Dame makes sense given its place among the powers in college football today. BYU even makes a decent case. But Army?
This is not meant to be critical of anyone involved with the Army football program. We all know it has been difficult to keep the football program going through life as an independent and with the different approach the military academy takes to recruiting compared to other programs. The same goes for Navy and Air Force. And perhaps it is unfair to single out Army when the SEC scheduling requirement also approves of games against programs like Wake Forest and Iowa State and Purdue. But independents are unique, which is why this whole concept of a non-conference scheduling requirement seems to address a concern in a positive way but is somewhat puzzling in its execution.
Navy will no longer be an independent but is incredibly similar to Army in terms of football identity. The biggest difference between the two is Navy has been far more superior on the football field. Since 2003, Navy has had just one losing season, but the Midshipmen are shipping out to the American Athletic Conference, abandoning independence starting this fall. Because of that, Navy will not count toward meeting the SEC’s power conference scheduling requirement. Neither does Boise State. Or Colorado State. Or Air Force. But Army (7-15-2 all-time against the SEC) does?
Lumping the three football independents together is unfair anyway. Each program is run differently, with different resources and different philosophies and requirements. Notre Dame has a power conference connection with its affiliation and scheduling arrangement with the ACC. Based on on-field performance, you can make a case BYU should be given similar treatment. Army, a team that lost on the road against an FCS program (Yale) last fall, does not deserve to be included in this mix at this time.
One suggestion I would offer the SEC and ACC is to organize some four or five-year review of non power conference opponents and develop a metric to determine which teams should be considered for satisfying the non-conference scheduling requirement. This could also be used to weed out the dead weight in some power conferences as well.
Note: The ACC does not recognize a game against army as a power conference opponent. Not yet at least.