Navy vs. Army: Picks, Predictions and Odds

It's been a long and action-packed season, and now the best time of the year on the college football calendar has finally arrived.

After Championship Weekend produced more chaos last weekend, the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff field was announced on Sunday, which also officially marks the start of bowl season.

However, before we get there and dive into the new College Football Playoff first round matchups in all of their glory, the final game of the regular season will take place between Army and Navy at Northwest Stadium, home of the Washington Commanders.

Historically, the annual Army vs. Navy game is defined by low point totals and games that typically end in the upper 20s or low 30s. However, this year's installment is one that could produce more fireworks than anticipated, especially given the success that both of these offenses have experienced.

With kickoff set for 3 PM ET on Saturday, let's get into our expert's betting picks and predictions for this year's Army vs. Navy matchup.

Navy vs. Army betting picks and predictions

Navy +6.5 (-110)

It's been a very successful season for both of these programs, as each team greatly exceeded its preseason expectations and consistently beat the market throughout the campaign.

On one hand, Navy raced out to a red-hot 6-0 start, before stumbling a bit down the stretch due to injuries and a couple of bad matchups against tougher competition. With that said, an 8-3 record is more than enough for this season to be a rousing success thus far.  

On the other side, this Army program is in the midst of its best season for some time. After all, the Black Knights just finished off a historic 11-win campaign by capturing the AAC title with a statement victory over Tulane at home a week ago.

Army quarterback Bryson Daily has been one of the best in the nation in 2024, spearheading an offense that has been a machine all season long. The Black Knights are well-coached and certainly look like the better outfit on paper heading into this matchup. 

While these teams are both playing good football on offense, they still like to play ball control and keep the clock ticking, which means that possessions will be at a premium. This style of play favors the underdog, and that fits perfectly into the Navy's tactics, especially since the Midshipmen should have starting quarterback Blake Horvath back for this game. 

This rivalry has been decided by just one score in eight of the last 10 meetings, and our expert is going to back that trend one more time by taking Navy +6.5 (-110) for our Navy vs. Army predictions.  

Over 38.5 (-110)

While there are avenues for each team to cover the spread in this matchup, our expert's favorite play centers around the total, where we'll be taking the over at the current number.

As previously mentioned, Daily has been a force to be reckoned with under center this season, as the Black Knights quarterback leads an offense that is fourth in the nation in success rate, 10th in EPA per rush, eighth in EPA per dropback, sixth in Early Downs EPA and third in net points per drive (College Football Insiders). 

This Black Knights offense should have no trouble moving the ball against a Navy defense that is 83rd in rushing success rate allowed, 77th in 3rd/4th down success rate and 63rd in points per drive allowed this season.

Considering that the Midshipmen have faced pretty weak competition for most of the campaign, these are not encouraging season-long metrics when entering a matchup against an offense this potent, explosive and well-schemed. 

As for the Midshipmen, Horvath had been dealing with some injuries in recent weeks, but he is expected to start at quarterback in this one. He will take control of a Navy offense that should be able to at least get to 17 points against a Black Knights defense that is 93rd in success rate allowed, 76th in Early Downs EPA and 93rd in third down success rate allowed. 

Despite the historical trends that point to this game going under the posted total, our expert is bucking those trends and backing a rare over in this historic game between two service academies.

Navy vs. Army odds

Navy	+210 ML
Army	-260 ML
Spread	Army -6.5
Total	O/U 38.5

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.