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
2007 Navy vs. North Texas football game the season, Navy needed to win at least one more to become bowl eligible. Sponsors had arranged for Navy (which was unaffiliated with any college football conference) to play in the Poinsettia Bowl if they won six games. The Midshipmen defense allowed an average of 38.8 points per game. Using a spread offense scheme implemented by first-year head coach Todd Dodge, the Mean Green experienced some offensive success; however, defensive woes led to a 1–7 record through the first eight games of the season. In a rivalry game against SMU on September 8 Mean Green quarterback Daniel Meager threw for