'Biggest rivalry in sports,' Army-Navy will put spotlight on Baltimore

One of the first things Jeff Monken did after becoming Army's head football coach last December was deck the halls of the academy's practice facility with signs that said, simply, "Beat Navy!"

He had learned the power of the rivalry from the other sideline, as a Navy assistant, and he wanted it always on his players' minds, especially after 12 years of losing to the sailors from Annapolis.

Monken's friend and Navy counterpart, Ken Niumatalolo, feels the game loom over every season for his Midshipmen. "Now that it's here," said the man who's never lost to Army as a head coach, "it's everything."

Baltimore is not a college football town. There's no annual game to grip the populace as Ohio State-Michigan does in the Midwest or Auburn-Alabama does in the South. But for one day on Saturday, the city will be the center of the college football world — a stage for the 115th chapter of a rivalry that arguably packs more layers of meaning than any other.

The field at M&T Bank Stadium won't be filled with professional prospects, and the result won't affect anybody's final Top 25 rankings. But it's a game that has deep significance for the service academies, both socially and financially, and an appeal still far broader than that.

"I think the difference with our game is it's a national game," Niumatalolo said. "I think everybody has somebody in their family or knows somebody who either served in the military or is in the military. So I think it touches everybody, regardless of where you live. … I think people respect this game because both teams have young men who are going to be serving this country. Regardless of who you root for, you root for both teams."

Monken took it a step further. "This is the biggest rivalry in sports, bar none," he said. "I've been a part of some great rivalries, but nothing takes the place of this one. Just the history and tradition of these two academies, the teams, just what it means to the guys on these teams. It's a feeling that's very unique. You can't describe it unless you've been a part of it."

The day will begin with ESPN's "College GameDay" broadcasting from the Inner Harbor from 9-11 a.m. The show, which travels to the nation's biggest game each Saturday, has never been in Baltimore.

At noon, thousands of white-capped Midshipmen and gray-clad Cadets will stream down Ravenswalk in perfect columns for the annual pre-game "March On" to the stadium.

The game will kick off at 3 p.m., with Navy in special red, white and blue uniforms from Under Armour emblazoned with the phrase "Don't Tread On Me" and an accompanying rattlesnake.

In a final show of postgame solidarity, the teams will meet in the center of the field to sing their alma maters, first the loser's song and then the winner's.