CFB Most Influential Programs
#24 Army Black Knights
School: Army Black Knights
First Game: November 29th, 1890
Winning Percentage: .569 (48th)
Appearances in AP/Rank:146 (59th)
Average AP Ranking: 7.7
National Titles: 3
Claim to Fame: It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, but Army absolutely dominated the World War II era of college football, which is when they won their 3 National Championships.
Why I have them in my Collection: I elaborated on the uniqueness of the Army vs. Navy football game when talking about Navy, so I won’t repeat myself here. I’ll just say that if you want a sporting experience unlike any other, let alone college football, find a way to get yourself to that game.
Apart from that, Army up until about 1960 was a mostly good to very good football program. Like the Naval Academy they have incredibly high standards of admission, but that did not stop them from fielding an excellent football team. Since the 60s, their success on the gridiron has been erratic at best, and unfortunately more not great than good.
However, one can’t overlook the fact that during what I called the World War II era of college football, Army was the dominant program. It makes sense, with them being able to draft the best and brightest young men America had to offer. Even pop-up academies that were training facilities for the military fielded amazing teams during this time. Take a look at AP rankings from about 1938-1948 and you’ll see some great names.
But Army showed themselves to be the dominant team during the time. That’s something we simply can’t overlook, and we certainly couldn’t write a complete history of college football without mentioning them.
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