While some schools have kicked off their college gridiron seasons, service academy fans have a few more days to wait for a slate of season-opening Saturday home games.

If you’re still in summer-sports mode, or if you’re pacing yourself for the fall rivalry showdowns, you may have some catching up to do. Check out the handy (and alphabetized!) list (and links!) below and you’ll be ready for some football.

At a Glance: The Army Black Knights begin their season hosting Bryant at West Point at noon (CBS Sports Network). The Air Force Falcons kick off the year at 11 a.m. Mountain time (1 p.m. Eastern) when they host Duquesne (MW+), and the Navy Midshipmen host Towson at 3:30 p.m. (CBS Sports Network). 

Back Up: Last year, Navy finished an 11-2 season with a four-game win streak that included a 17-16 thriller over Army and a 35-13 thumping of Cincinnati in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. Army rebounded from the rivalry loss to beat Connecticut 41-16 in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl to finish 7-6. Air Force dropped close contests to both the Mids (34-31) and the Black Knights (20-17) as part of a 4-8 season.

Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy: The razor-thin wins by the Midshipmen over Army and Air Force kept the round-robin rivalry trophy in Annapolis for the second straight year. The annual presentation at the White House came with a presidential executive order aimed at preventing other college football games from airing during the Army-Navy contest.

Dial In: Check out the Army, Air Force, and Navy schedules for TV information. Streamers, take note: While CBS network programming is available with Paramount+, CBS Sports Network games aren’t included. Coast Guard fans will find the majority of Bears games on the FloCollege streaming service.

Extension: Army head coach Jeff Monken sits at 89-63 after 12 seasons on the West Point sideline – the second-highest win total in program history, behind the legendary Earl “Red” Blaik (121-33-10). Monken recently signed a five-year extension with the Black Knights.

Fantastic Flyover: What separates service academy football from other college atmospheres? Too many things to list, but an F-16 screaming overhead during an Air Force practice (flown by a former Falcon fullback, naturally), is among them.

Ground Games: Navy ranked first in rushing among all top-tier college football teams in 2025, averaging 285.6 yards per game. Air Force took third (261.4), just ahead of Army (254.9). With no major changes in offensive approach reported, expect some similarly gaudy ground numbers in 2026. The Air Force offensive line is ready for it, with its members referring to themselves as “The Diesel.”

Hellums’ Show: Army senior quarterback Cade Hellums rushed for 1,223 yards and threw for 694 more in 2025. Navy senior signal-caller Braxton Woodson had 414 yards on the ground and 110 in the air in limited action behind standout Blake Horvath last year. Junior Liam Szarka started seven games for Air Force behind center in 2025, leading the team in rushing (922 yards) and passing (1,294 yards).

In the Hunt: Could a service academy team make the College Football Playoff? One college football expert has Navy in his bracket, but other predictions for the Mids are a bit more middle-of-the-road.

Jacksonville-Bound? The Florida city reportedly will bid to host the Army-Navy game at some point between 2028 and 2032. Charlotte, N.C., could make its case as well. The Black Knights and Mids face off in East Rutherford, N.J., on Dec. 12, the rivalry returns to Philadelphia on Dec. 11, 2027 … and then the schedule is TBD, with announcements expected in the spring.

Keep Scoring! Air Force averaged 29.8 points per game last year, trailing Navy’s 31.5 but ahead of Army’s 23.8. The real offense came from the Coast Guard, which racked up a whopping 41.9 points per game. The Bears’ 92-60 homecoming shootout victory over Nicols set a new mark for most combined points in an NCAA Division III contest. 

Legendary Seasons: Navy will celebrate the centennial of its 1926 national championship. The Midshipmen went 9-0-1 that season, the tie coming against Army at Chicago’s Soldier Field. Alabama and Stanford also claim titles for 1926, which predates modern football polls. Army’s most recent title claim took place 80 years ago in 1946, a 9-0-1 season that included a scoreless tie against Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium in the second “Game of the Century.”

Men of Troy: Troy Calhoun’s tenure as Air Force head coach began in 2007, before his newest recruits were born. His time at the academy goes back even longer: A 1989 academy grad, Calhoun served as a graduate assistant coach until 1990, then returned as a recruiting coordinator in the mid-90s before a career that spanned assistant roles in the college and NFL ranks. Learn more about the “elder statesman.”

Newberry’s Numbers: Navy head coach Brian Newberry is 26-12 in his role with the Mids entering his fourth year and is the first coach to secure back-to-back seasons of 10 or more wins. He went a perfect 6-0 at home last year, including a 41-38 win over South Florida (then 25th in the Associated Press rankings) on Senior Day. 

On the List: Senior linebacker Blake Fletcher racked up a team-best 108 tackles last season at Air Force. He’s the only service academy player on this year’s watch list for the Bednarik Award, which goes to the best defender in college football. Chuck Bednarik, a Hall of Fame two-way player for the Philadelphia Eagles, served as a B-24 gunner during World War II.

[WHO WAS CHUCK BEDNARIK? Meet ‘Concrete Charlie’]

Penalty-Free: The Black Knights reportedly play nicer than anybody in college football. (Air Force ranks second, Navy takes sixth).

Questions, Answered: Made it this far but still need more football? Get all your stats, records, and trivia tidbits from the official media guides: Air Force | Army | Navy

Raider Reveal: Check out the B-21 Raider-inspired uniforms Air Force will debut in its Oct. 3 rivalry showdown with Navy in Colorado Springs.

Secretaries’ Cup: There’s a new home for the annual clash between the Coast Guard Academy and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, as the schools will face off at Audi Field in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 14. It’s only the second time the series has been played at a neutral site – the Merchant Marine Academy downed the Coast Guard 39-38 in 2025 at Fenway Park in Boston.

Texas Pride: Air Force senior fullback Owen Allen, Army senior offensive lineman Henry Appleton, and Navy senior wideout Luke Hutchinson were named to the watch list for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, which goes to the nation’s best college football player with Texas ties. Allen was second on the Falcons with 750 rushing yards in 2025, Appleton started all 13 games for the Black Knights on a line that allowed just seven sacks, and while Hutchinson caught just five passes for the Mids, three were touchdowns (and he added a fourth rushing TD).

[WHO IS EARL CAMPBELL?: Ask These Poor Defenders]

Upset Special? Navy and Notre Dame clash in Foxborough, Mass. – home of the NFL’s New England Patriots – on Oct. 31 at noon Eastern. The Fighting Irish ranked fourth in the Associated Press preseason poll and haven’t lost to the Mids since 2016. The teams have played every season since 1927 except for a COVID-caused break in 2020.

VIP Experience: Army’s Michie Stadium has undergone a major makeover entering the new season, with additional premium seating options, better views, and a new (and longer) Corps of Cadets seating section.

Weight-Room Warriors: Navy senior linebacker Marcus Bleazard ranked 52nd on Bruce Feldman’s annual college football “Freaks List (registration required),” which recognizes players who’ve achieved impressive workout measurements. The 224-pound Bleazard’s 385-pound bench press and 545-pound back squat helped him make the list, while Army 260-pound junior defensive lineman Javon Smith took 98th in the rankings thanks to an eye-popping 655-pound squat, 735-pound deadlift, and 455-pound bench press.

A Little eXcited? NFL coaching legend Jon Gruden seems happy to have received some swag from Annapolis.

Youth Movement: With academy lineups usually heavy on upperclassmen, Navy’s depth chart includes two sophomore starting outside linebackers: Christian Johnson and Trent Gillis. Gillis played in every game as a freshman special teamer last year; Johnson played in just three games. The second-level edges will be tested throughout the season but will be especially critical to stopping the Army and Air Force run attacks.

(Almost) Zero History: Heading back to this weekend’s openers, Army has never faced Bryant, a Rhode Island school whose football program started in 1999. Air Force has never faced Duquesne, a Pittsburgh school with a gridiron history dating back to 1891 that includes decades without a team and spending much of the 1970s and 1980s in Division III. Navy has played nearby Towson (less than an hour’s drive from Annapolis, depending on traffic) only once, notching a 41-13 victory over its in-state foe in 2008.