Despite Army celebrations at the end of the last two Army-Navy games, Las Vegas has the Black Knights as one-point underdogs for this year’s clash in Philadelphia. (Elsa/Getty Images)
The Commander in Chief’s Trophy hasn’t settled into its new home and the folks in Annapolis haven’t finished rolling up the presidential welcome mat, but that won’t stop oddsmakers from having their say on the 2018 Army-Navy rivalry game.
The South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas released early lines for some of college football’s biggest games May 24, including the Dec. 8 service academy showdown. It’s the last game on the list — 15 weeks into the college football season, which won’t start for another three months — and the Mids are booked as one-point favorites.
This goes against a key historical trend — namely, Army’s two-game rivalry win streak. However, it continues another trend: Navy was a 12.5-point early line favorite at the Golden Nugget in 2016, then fell to a five-point favorite in 2017, and now has nearly lost its advantage … among bettors who can’t be bothered to wait for small details like the rest of the college football season before placing a wager.
Army did come out on top among the academies in another gambler-geared stat, with casinos putting the Black Knights at 7.5 wins in the 2018 season. Navy sits at seven wins, while Air Force is at 4.5. More bad news for the Falcons: South Point lists them as five-point underdogs at home against Navy on Oct. 6, and as eight-point underdogs to Army in West Point on Nov. 3.
Army kicks off the 2018 service academy slate on Friday, Aug. 31, at home against Duke. The Falcons and Mids begin play the next day against Stony Brook and Hawaii, respectively.
