How Air Force-Navy rivalry is just as vicious as Army-Navy

The upcoming Army-Navy game is one that temporarily divides our usually-united U.S. military, if only for a few hours. The rivalry is 118 years old, is attended by sitting Presidents, and is older than the Air Force itself. But for the men who compete for the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy, it can be even more daunting to head west and face the Air Force Academy Falcons.

There's no way the Air Force will ever get as legendary a rivalry as the Army-Navy game. It's one of the biggest games in sports. Even if it doesn't change the rankings on any given year, it's still got a huge fan base. The Air Force, despite being the better playing team for much of the past few decades, can't compare to that kind of legacy.

What they can do, however, is spoil the parties at West Point and Annapolis.

Air Force's 2014 starting QB Kale Pearson.

The trash talk

The Army-Navy game, while known for its mascot thefts and funny spirit videos, is also known for being overly polite. Not so at Navy-Air Force. Midshipmen hold a Falcon Roast pep rally during the week before the Air Force game, burning a wooden falcon in effigy.

"One thing I know about that game was there's a lot more trash talk in Air Force-Navy than Army-Navy," said Wyatt Middleton, a safety in the Navy class of 2011. Air Force even allowed the Navy side of the Commander-In-Chief's trophy to tarnish in the two years the trophy was in Colorado Springs.

A great game to watch

As for an interesting game, everyone knows the service academies aren't playing for the BCS National Championship, so the winner doesn't get more than bragging rights and the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy. But for fans watching a game, scoring is important. No one wants to sit through a Navy 0-7 win over Army, even Midshipmen. Moreover, there's no better ending to a game than a squeaker.

The average margin of victory in an Army-Navy Game over the last 15 years is almost 16 and a half points. For Air Force vs. Navy, that number drops to a two score game. And despite Army's recent uptick in the quality of their game, Air Force and Navy always field much more impressive and more explosive teams.

Despite all of these facts, the Air Force Academy Falcons will never quite measure up to the ancient rivalry that is the Army-Navy Game. The Air Force-Navy game happens on the first Saturday in October, followed by the Army-Air Force game on the first Saturday in November.

The 2018 Army-Navy Game will be on Dec. 8, 2018 at noon Eastern, presented by USAA, and live from Philadelphia.