Army vs. Navy Picks with Odds and College Football Predictions

Army Black Knights vs. Navy Midshipmen, Saturday December 14, 3 p.m. ET

Army vs. Navy Implications

In terms of deeper meaning to this Army vs. Navy game , there is basically none. Navy has already secured a spot in the Liberty Bowl against Kansas State, and whether they go into it with nine or 10 wins doesn't mean anything. And Army comes in at 5-7, so they fell short of bowl eligibility, and nothing they do here will change that. The only real accomplishment on the line is symbolic - Navy has a chance to win 10 games with a victory here, which would be a strong counterpoint to their 10 losses of just last season.

College Football Predictions: Army vs. Navy Odds and Picks

If you love college football, you have to love this game - even if you never watch a moment of these teams playing all year. The tradition of this rivalry is unlike any other, and the spectacle is fantastic. And it's certainly helped by the fact that there are no other games on the schedule for it to compete with.

For a long while, the game was a foregone conclusion. From 2002 to 2015, Navy won the game every year, and it often wasn't that close. But Army has won the last three to start a streak of their own. They are going to be in tough to keep it going this year, though - it's pretty clear which team is the better one here.

Army vs. Navy Betting Storylines

It doesn't take a psychic to figure out what this game is going to look like. Navy leads the country with 360.8 rushing yards per game. Army is behind that at 311.7 yards, but that is still second best in the country. And Army's passing average of 86.8 yards is better than only Georgia Southern in the entire country. And Navy's 103.5 yards is third worst nationally. This is going to be as one-dimensional as a game can possibly be.

For Navy, the attack is centered around senior quarterback Malcolm Perry. He's only 5'9", which is a long way from the prototypical quarterback these days. But he has rushed for better than 1,500 yards and has scored 19 times, so what he does obviously works. And while he isn't setting any passing records, he is good enough through the air to make the triple-option threat scary enough to be effective. Perry was the offensive player of the year in the AAC this year. And given how deep and tough that conference was this year, that was an impressive feat.

The QB situation at Army is far less clear right now, and that's a big problem for the team. Starter Kelvin Hopkins Jr. was hurt against Hawaii last week, and his status isn't certain right now. But backup Jabari Laws is hurt, too, and third-stringer Christian Anderson also got hurt in the Hawaii game. Even at its best, the quarterback game has not been good enough this year for Army, but it's tough to believe that they are going to get what they need here. And in a matchup with Perry, that's an issue. The saving grace, though, is that Navy's defense isn't in a good place right now. They have allowed a total of 121 points in their last three games.

Army vs. Navy Odds and Betting Trends

The game opened with Navy favored by 10.5, and that has fallen slightly to 10 points in early betting action. A small majority of bets have come on Army, so the line movement is consistent with expectations. The total opened as high as 44 points, and it has fallen to 39.5.

Army is 4-0-1 ATS in their last five neutral-site games and 6-1 ATS in their last seven neutral-site games as underdogs. They are 2-6 ATS in their last eight nonconference games. Navy is 11-3-1 ATS in their last 15 games overall, but just 2-5-1 ATS in their last eight nonconference games, and 1-3-1 ATS in their last five neutral-site games.

Army vs. Navy Predictions and Picks

It's hard to find any way to go other than taking Navy and giving up the points. They have the best player on the field by a wide margin, and they have been much more effective than Army this year and have done so against a better schedule. Their last few games have not been great defensively, but it has come against strong competition, and they still won two of three. This is a good team driven to close out a strong year against an outmatched opponent. Navy is the pick.

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