Army vs. Navy 2021 College Football Week 15 Odds, Preview & Pick

By Hank Blaine • December 9, 2021

The 2021 college football regular season comes to an official end on Saturday with the best rivalry in the sport, Army vs. Navy. This year, it’s being played across the river from New York City in honor of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks (a few months officially past the anniversary) that brought down the Twin Towers in NYC. Both schools will wear special uniforms per usual.

This will be the season finale for Navy with a 3-8 record as it didn’t qualify for a bowl. At 8-3, Army will play Missouri in the Armed Forces Bowl at TCU’s Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas and is set for an 8 p.m. EST kickoff on Wednesday, Dec. 22. It will be the 19th rendition of the Armed Forces Bowl, which started in 2003.

Coach Jeff Monken has led the team to five bowl games in six years and will be making back-to-back appearances for the first time since leading the Cadets to three straight in 2016-18. It will be Army’s 10th all-time bowl appearance. Army is 6-3 in the previous games, which includes a 3-1 record in the Monken era.

No matter what happens Saturday, Army will keep the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy because it beat Air Force earlier year and Air Force beat Navy. Thus at worst, the three schools would tie 1-1 if Navy upsets Army on Saturday and Army is the defending trophy winner and thus would get to keep it. The last time the three schools went 1-1 against one another was in 1993 when Navy beat Air Force, Air Force beat Army and Army beat Navy. The last time Air Force beat Navy, Army beat Air Force and Navy beat Army was in 1980. That same scenario also played out in 1974 and 1976.

Check out the College Football odds, analysis, and a free pick for Army vs. Navy. Check out for more sports betting odds and lines, exclusively at our online BTC sportsbook.

Army vs. Navy Game Information

When: Saturday, Dec. 11 at 3:00 pm ET
Where: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
TV: CBS
Radio: WBPM-FM 92.9 (Army) / WBAL 101.5 FM (Navy)
Live Stream: WatchESPN
College Football Odds: Texas A&M (-6.5) / LSU (+6.5)

Why Bet on the Army Black Knights?

Last year, Army beat Navy 15-0 at West Point. Tyhier Tyler scored on a 4-yard run early in the fourth quarter, and the Army defense stoned Navy with a goal-line stand in the third. It was the first meeting between the teams at West Point since a 13-0 Navy shutout in 1943. The storied game is typically played at a neutral site like Philadelphia or Baltimore but the pandemic changed those plans.

Saturday will be the 122nd meeting. With only 10 Division I-A rivalries featuring more games than the Army-Navy series, MetLife Stadium will mark as the 16th different site since the birth of the series in 1890. Navy leads 61-53-7 but has lost four of the past five.

Both Army and Navy per usual run the ball all day and rarely pass. Army ranks second in the nation in rushing at 301.2 yards per game and has recorded 43 touchdowns on the ground. The Black Knights are led by fifth-year quarterback Christian Anderson, who has rushed for 519 yards and 6 touchdowns while completing 21 of his 44 pass attempts for 545 yards and 5 touchdowns. Sophomore running back Tyrell Robinson leads Army in rushing with 582 yards and 3 touchdowns on just 59 carries (9.9 yds/carry).

Defensively, Army has created takeaways on the opponent’s opening drive in 3 games in 2021. Since 2015, the Black Knights have killed 15% of all opponent opening drives by creating a takeaway (13) – the most in all of college football. The rest of the NCAA has only averaged nearly 5% over the same time frame (4).

Why Bet on the Navy Midshipmen?

Navy is fielding one of its youngest teams in recent memory. The Mids have 2 freshmen and 10 sophomores on the offensive depth chart and 8 freshmen and 10 sophomores on the defensive depth chart. Due to injuries, Navy has had to start 9 different combinations along the offensive line in its 11 games and has started 5 different offensive tackles, 5 different offensive guards and 3 different centers.

Ken Niumatalolo, the longest-tenured coach in school history and in the American Athletic Conference, is in his 14th year as the Mids’ head coach. With 104 career wins, Niumatalolo is the winningest coach in school history. With his 9 wins against Army, he is the winningest coach in the history of the Army-Navy game.

Navy is 66-19 under Niumatalolo when scoring first, including 1-4 in 2021. The Mids are 85-6 under Niumatalolo when entering the fourth quarter with the lead, including 1-1 in 2021. They are 72-18 under Niumatalolo when scoring 30 or more points in a game, including 2-1 in 2021. Navy is 89-25 when holding the opposition to under 30 points, including 2-2 in 2021. Navy is 74-10 when having more total offense than the opposition under Niumatalolo, including 3-1 in 2021. Finally, the Mids 84-38 when winning the time of possession, including 3-6 in 2021.

Since going 2-for-7 in the red zone in its first two games of the season, Navy has scored on 28 consecutive trips. For the year, Navy has scored just 18 touchdowns on 35 red zone opportunities (.514). Navy ranks fifth nationally in time of possession, averaging 34:50 per game. Army ranks first in TOP.

Army vs. Navy Betting Trends

Army are 4-2 ATS in the last 6 games.
Army are 4-1 SU in the last 5 games.
The total went under in 6 of Army’s last 8 games.
Navy are 4-1 ATS in the last 5 games.
Navy are 3-13 SU in the last 16 games.
The total went under in 5 of Navy’s last 7 games.

Army vs. Navy Expert Betting Predictions

Pick: Army 27, Navy 17

Check out our latest sports betting guides for the 2021 College Football season. Stay tuned for more Football previews and articles and don’t forget to check out the latest Football betting odds at our online Bitcoin sportsbook.

*All odds stated are subject to change without prior notice.