Navy Midshipmen football the national championship based on retroactive rankings by both the William Boand and Deke Houlgate mathematical poll systems. † Co-champions Navy has participated in 23 bowl games, garnering a record of 11–11–1. The Army-Navy Game, played annually on the last weekend of the college football regular season in early December, pits the football teams of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York (Army) against the Navy Midshipmen. It is one of the most traditional and enduring rivalries in college football, and is televised every year by CBS. It was in the 1963 Army–Navy game that instant replay made
Army–Navy Game and breathe the phrase "Beat Navy!" while for midshipmen the opposite phrase, "Beat Army!" is ingrained. They have become a symbol of competitiveness, not just in the Army–Navy Game, but in the service of their country, and are often used at the close of (informal) letters by graduates of both academies. A long-standing tradition at the Army-Navy football game is to conduct a formal "prisoner exchange" as part of the pre-game activities. The prisoners are the cadets and midshipmen currently spending the semester studying at the sister academy. After the exchange, students have a brief reprieve to enjoy the game