It’s the last pre-bowl game day for this year! We made it through the first 3 months and are down to bowl games, FCS playoffs, and the Army/Navy game. Air Force has already won the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy and neither team is playing in a bowl, so it’s just pride and bragging rights today. But first, none of the games last night turned out well for the GCR (0-3). North Dakota St dominated Samford 27-9, Montana St just ripped William & Mary 55-7, and Incarnate Word upset previously undefeated Sacramento St 66-63…in regulation! The teams combined for 8 touchdowns (7 offensive) and 59 points in the 4th quarter alone! The 3 winners will move on to the semifinals along with the winner of today’s Holy Cross (12-0/94) and South Dakota St (11-1/123) game. HC is the last undefeated team in the FCS (joining Georgia and Michigan as the 3 out of 261 teams in Division I) while SDKS is AP ranked number 1 in the FCS polls. The game started at noon today (all times Eastern) and South Dakota St is holding a 21-14 lead at the half. The GCR thinks HC will pull it out winning 59.0% of the time.
…..
The Army/Navy game, at 3:00, was first played in 1890 with Navy shutting out the Black Knights 24-0 and this will be the 123rd installment with the Midshipman leading the series 62-53-7. With COVID, some players are getting tons of “extra” eligibility, (to drive the point home, Georgia’s QB Stetson Bennett is the same age as Lamar Jackson) but not the service academies. They do their 4 years and serve a post for 6 years, maybe more. Let’s tip our hat to the young men and women (including Air Force) who, despite their youth, have dedicated themselves to something bigger and wish them well today and in the future. Vegas likes Navy (4-7/106) to win -3.0, but the GCR is selecting Army (5-6/105) to pull the Vegas upset 56.5% in a close game.
…..
Here are the details in a table. One reminder, I won’t have another ranking until the championship is over. However, I am updating each game as it occurs, so the rankings and predictions published are as of the latest game. Thanks for reading and sharing – see you Monday!
…..
| Time | Away | Conf Rec | Home | Conf Rec | Vegas | GCR | To Cover |
| FCS Round of 8 | December 10, 2022 | ||||||
| 12:00 | Holy Cross (12-0/94) | PAT (6-0) | South Dakota St (11-1/123) | MVFC (8-0) | NL | HC 59.0% | NL |
| ARMY/NAVY | |||||||
| 3:00 | Navy (4-7/106) – N | AAC (4-4) | Army (5-6/105) – N | IND (2-0) | NAVY -3.0 | ARMY 56.5% | ARMY |
