Our next betting picks and prediction college football preview features the 123rd playing of the Army-Navy Game as the Navy Midshipmen (4-7) battle the Army Black Knights (5-6) on Saturday afternoon.
The two programs have the college football spotlight all to themselves, with kickoff scheduled for 3:00 pm ET from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA.
The winner will take home the Secretary’s Trophy, the third leg in the series for the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. Air Force has already secured the CinC, but that won’t dampen the suspense around this one one bit.
This rivalry dates all the way back to 1890, with Navy leading the all-time series 62–53–7. The Midshipmen were victorious a year ago as the two have exchanged victories over the last four years.
Navy Midshipmen vs. Army Black Knights
Matchup Info
- Date: Saturday, December 10th, 2022
- Time: 3:00 pm ET
- Venue: Lincoln Financial Field
- Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- How to Watch: CBS
This will mark the 90th time Army and Navy will clash in the City of Brotherly Love and the 14th time it will be played inside Lincoln Financial Field.
Franklin Field and Veterans Stadium combined to host the contest 35 times with JFK Stadium in the Nation’s Capital the only venue to host more (41). We should be in for one of the better matches on the NCAAF schedule.
Navy Midshipmen Performance Recap and Analysis
Navy will not be participating in a bowl game for the third consecutive year, the program’s longest stretch without a bowl appearance since 1997-2002.
They finished their 2022 campaign with just four wins, but only two of their seven defeats came by a margin of two touchdowns or more.
Five of their last six opponents will be playing in a bowl game this month, and they’ll actually enter this one coming off an upset win over the 20th-ranked UCF back on November 19th.
The Midshipmen won outright by three as 15.5-point underdogs, as the other Knights would go on to lose the AAC Championship to Tulane this past weekend.
Key Injuries
There is a lot to sift through with college football injuries now that we’re in December, and Navy certainly wasn’t immune to the bug this season.
Starting quarterback Tai Lavatai sustained a season-ending injury back on October 29th, leaving a void under center. Lavatai threw for five touchdowns and rushed for another five in his eight NCAAF games this year.
A Real-time QB Competition
That opened the door for a bit of a real-time QB competition, with Xavier Arline and Maasai Maynor battling for snaps.
Saturday, it should be mostly Arline, but it will be an interesting situation to monitor when making your Navy vs Army betting picks.
Betting Trends to Know
Navy is 5-0 ATS in their last five games following a bye week and 11-2 ATS over their last 13 vs. a team with a losing record.
Army Black Knights Performance Recap and Analysis
The back half of Army’s season was much better than the first half as the Black Knights won four of their final six games after starting the year 1-4.
Much of the year was considered a disappointment, but they have finished strong, winning back-to-back games heading into this clash with Navy, victories over the likes of UConn and UMass in convincing fashion.
When taking a look at the Army Black Knight standings, we see, of course, that Army is one of seven independents that will finish the regular season above only the Minutemen.
Some of their more high-profile losses came against the likes of Coastal Carolina, Wake Forest, Air Force, and Troy.
Key Injuries
Army has dealt with a ton of injuries this season, mostly on offense, while the defense has been leaky throughout much of the year.
The two biggest setbacks the Black Knights have faced have been to quarterback Tyhier Tyler and slot man Tyrell Robinson.
Tyler returned to the lineup in the Air Force game, and it took a few weeks for him to put it back together. Robinson, on the other hand, has been sidelined since the Wake Forest game in early October, and he’s proven rather irreplaceable. Robinson was the team’s biggest threat out of the backfield and most explosive player.
Betting Trends to Know
Army is 5-0 ATS in their last five games overall and 12-5-1 ATS in their last 18 games in December.
Navy vs. Army Odds
Before making any Navy vs Army betting picks, it is important to take a quick look at the NCAAF standings and the betting odds.
Navy is now the favorite in this one, as according to the NCAAF odds, the Midshipmen are laying 2.5 points with an over/under of 32.5. A quick check of the Navy Midshipmen odds finds that they enter this one 7-4 ATS this season.
Navy vs. Army Betting Picks
Moneyline
Army opened as the slight favorite, but the line has gone the other way. We’ll follow the movement.
NCAAF Pick: Navy (-140)
Over/Under
This is an extremely low total, but these offenses will keep everything on the ground and try to wear the opposing defense down.
Enjoy the pageantry, but the offensive fireworks will be at a minimum when you consider that over the last five years, these two have gone over this total just once.
NCAAF Pick: Under 32.5 (-110)
Spread
The Midshipmen are better overall, and even though Army won their final two games, they came against, arguably, two of the worst programs in college football.
NCAAF Pick: Navy -2.5 (-110)
Navy vs. Army Score Prediction
Here’s is the last of our Navy vs Army betting picks: Navy will win for the second year in a row by a final score of 14-10.
NCAAF Pick: Navy (-140)
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