Football Follies 2018: NCAA week 15 The Game

A World War I commemoration: Upper right, soldiers of the 1st Inf Div launch the attack at Cantigny, France in May 1918. USA/LOC. Lower left: USS Jacob Jones, DD-61, the first U.S. Navy destroyer ever lost in combat. DD-61 was attacked and sunk by a German U-Boat on 6 Dec 1917 off the UK's Scilly Islands, southwest of Cornwall. 66 sailors (2 officers and 64 men) were lost with the ship. 35 survived and were rescued by HMS Camellia and the SS Catalina, an American steamer. USN photo. The seals are those of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis.

We feel sure there is something positive to say about Navy’s chances in The Game on Saturday.  We’re going to crowdsource that, so have at it.

Army is giving 7 as of this writing.  We predict lots of running.  Navy comes in 3-9, by the way, and Army is 9-2.

The president plans to attend The Game, and will perform the coin toss.

The Army uniforms are the style winner this year.  (We still love Navy’s tribute to Bill the Goat.  But it was going to be hard to top the Blue Angel uniforms from last year’s Game, which walked away with the beauty contest.)

Both teams have released their uniforms for the 119th Army-Navy Game.

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Who won the uniform battle? pic.twitter.com/RCNPP4kidA

— Army-Navy Game (@ArmyNavyGame) December 3, 2018

Army is honoring the 1st Infantry Division (the Big Red One), which as a matter of fact we were just talking about a few months ago.  The Black Lions of the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, whose patch will be on the Army jerseys, saw action in the May 1918 attack at Cantigny, France, the first operation in World War I assigned to the United States AEF for independent execution.

Army and Nike have a terrific video to present the tribute uniforms.

For this year's Army-Navy game, Army and Nike have teamed up on a uniform to honor the soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division.

The hype video might just be the best uniform video of the year. ???? pic.twitter.com/3F0oQnUsVn

— Front Office Sports (@frntofficesport) December 3, 2018

For your leisure enjoyment, a few selected spirit spot videos.  Best in show this year is the USS Wasp video, in our humble opinion.

For an array of inspiring photos of Army-Navy from glory days past, do revisit the epic 2017 post on The Game, which for some reason remained popular on the Web last year for weeks after the event.

It will be a bit brisk for the game: mid-30s at the 3 PM Eastern kickoff at Lincoln Financial Field, and partly cloudy.

Inner Circle

Several from our FBS Inner Circle have retired honorably from the season.  We wave a fond farewell to 2018’s University of Tulsa, which beat Notre Dame 28-27 on 30 October 2010, Air Force, Kansas State, and Wyoming.  Happy hunting in 2019.

For our bowl-bound members, we’ll give a chronological list starting from the opening round of Booger’s Best next Saturday.  More on the epic contests as each week of Booger-Fest develops.

21 December – Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl: FIU and Toledo

22 December – Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: Houston and Army

26 December – Cheez-It Bowl: California and TCU

29 December – NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl: Arkansas State and Nevada

30 December – College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl: #1 Alabama and #4 Oklahoma

31 December – Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman:  Cincinnati and Virginia Tech

31 December – AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Missouri and Oklahoma State

1 January – PlayStation Fiesta Bowl: #11 LSU and #8 UCF

Other ranks

In FCS, the quarterfinals are this weekend.  The championship game will be on 5 January 2019.

In Div II, Slippery Rock bowed out last week to Notre Dame (OH).  Notre Dame advances to the semifinals on 8 December, with the championship game next weekend.  A rousing Bravo Zulu to the Rock for a super season.

The Central Oklahoma (UCO) Bronchos prevailed over Angelo State last week in the prestigious C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl in Waco, with a heart-stopping, 28-point fourth quarter comeback.  Well done, Bronchos!  Great job on the season.

In Div III, the tournament semifinals are on Saturday 8 December, with the championship Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl next week, the night of 14 December in Shenandoah, Texas.  Salem, Virginia will miss its Stagg Bowl for sure, but (except for the out-of-sync Houston-y vibe), the Shenandoah name kind of helps keep a sense of tradition going.  (For now.  Remember, this game will be moving to Ohio in a couple of years, where it’s much more convenient for Mount Union.*  * That was a joke.)

And remember, Navy: SING SECOND.

GO NAVY!!!

BEAT ARMY!!!