As we enter the penultimate weekend of games prior to the release of this season’s first College Football Playoff Poll, storylines aplenty have taken shape.
For example, Alabama has already suffered two losses, and as a result, its playoff aspirations are on life support. In addition, it’s still October and we’re on to our fourth number one ranked team in the country — Georgia, Alabama, Texas and now Oregon have all claimed the top spot in the AP Poll at some point this year.
Also, the SEC doesn’t have a single remaining unbeaten team as the mega conference has begun cannibalizing itself — leaving proud programs such as Oklahoma, Auburn, and Florida looking like also-rans.
And then there’s Notre Dame and its’ rival military academies in Navy and Army. As has been well documented, the Irish are already in playoff mode courtesy of the NIU loss in Week 2 — despite Notre Dame being ranked #8 by ESPN’s Football Power Index.
Meanwhile, West Point (Notre Dame plays the Black Nights on Nov. 23) and the Naval Academy are 7-0 and 6-0 respectively, and both are ranked in the Top 25. To put into perspective just how rare this feat is for the service schools, 1945 was the last time that Army and Navy began a season 6-0.
This Saturday, one of the five ranked versus ranked matchups will in fact be Notre Dame against Navy. These two institutions have a well documented history — one that lends itself to having a rivalry of respect and admiration rather than disdain and hatred.
This weekend’s fixture from the Meadowlands will be the 97th meeting between the Irish and Midshipmen — Notre Dame leads the head-to-head battle 80-13-1.
So without further ado, here’s three bold predictions for this game between storied foes, Notre Dame and Navy.