Navy Football Gets Better of Army in Unofficial American Conference Media Poll – Sports Illustrated

The Army West Point Black Knights won the American Conference title last year. The Navy Midshipmen would love nothing more than to succeed them.
The American Conference held its media day in Charlotte on Friday. The American opted not to do an official preseason poll this season, following in the footsteps of the Big 12, which also nixed its poll this season.
Tiger Sports Report, a part of the On3 Network, put together an unofficial poll and 13 media members participated.
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Navy was the higher ranked of the two service academies, as the Midshipmen finished in third with one first-place vote and 170 points. But the Mids weren’t far off the top spot.
Tulane claimed seven of the 13 first-place votes and finished with 177 points to finish first Memphis was right behind Tulane with 172 points. The Tigers picked up three first-place votes.
Along with Navy, USF and USF each received a first-place vote. UTSA was fourth and USF was fifth.
Army was sixth. The Black Knights did not get a first-place vote and finished with 139 points.
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The remaining spots, in order, went to North Texas, East Carolina, UAB, FAU, Rice, Charlotte, Tulsa and Temple.
Navy went 10-3 last season, concluding the campaign with a victory over the Oklahoma Sooners in the Armed Forces Bowl. The season was Navy’s sixth with at least 10 wins and fell one win short of their 11-wins seasons in 2015 and 2019.
Quarterback Blake Horvath will be a huge part of any Midshipmen run to the American title.
He rushed for 1,246 yards and 17 touchdowns and throw for 1,353 yards with 13 touchdowns and four interceptions. He threw for the 10th most yards in program history. He also became the third quarterback in Navy history to rush and pass for more than 1,200 yards in the same season.
More News: Army Counting on New Faces To Maintain Strong Rushing Attack This Season
Army won its first conference championship in program history last season, as the Black Knights joined the AAC as an affiliate member, went undefeated in league play and defeated Tulane, 35-14, in the title game played at Michie Stadium.
They finished the season ranked in the final College Football Playoff Top 25 for the first time. Army won 12 games for the first time. Quarterback Bryson Daily finished with the highest Heisman Trophy placing for an Army player since the 1950s.
The Black Knights must find a replacement for Daily during fall workouts.
For more Armed Forces news, head over to Armed Forces Sports On SI.
Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers Major League Baseball for OnSI. He also covers the Big 12 Conference for Heartland College Sports.
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