College football: History of the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy dates back to 1972
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The Commander-in-Chief's Trophy is 2 1/2 feet tall and weighs over 170 pounds, but it's light as a feather for the military academy that gets to bring it home.
The coveted trophy goes to the service academy football team that sweeps the other two in an annual series dating back to 1972. The Army-Navy Game dates back to 1890, with Air Force not fielding a team until 1955, a year after the establishment of the academy.
The Army-Air Force series dates back to the first meeting in 1959, and Air Force and Navy first met in 1960. In 1972, former Air Force athletic director Gen. George B. Simler spearheaded the series, and the three academies have met every year since then.
In order to win the trophy, a team must sweep its two foes – a three-way tie at 1-1 does not produce a winner, and the team that presently holds the trophy gets to keep it for another year. With both Navy and Army beating Air Force already this season, the winner of this Saturday's clash in Baltimore (3 p.m. ET, CBS) will win the Trophy.
Army won the first Trophy in 1972 as Navy beat Air Force 21-17 and Army beat the Falcons 17-14, so Army's 23-15 win over the Midshipmen gave the Cadets the grand prize. President Richard Nixon presented the award, the start of a tradition that has been followed by future U.S. presidents.
Air Force leads the series with 21 wins, but none since 2022 – that means the Army-Navy Game meant nothing except for bragging rights, with Navy winning 12 of those 21 meetings.
The trophy was shared five times, in 1974, 1976, 1980, 1993 and 2021 – Navy ruined Army's clinching bid in the first three and Army did the same in the last two.
West Point last held the trophy following the 2020, 2021 and 2023 seasons, proudly displaying the prize outside of the football offices in the Army Sports Hall of Fame located in the Kimsey Athletic Center.
The original trophy is now on display at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. A replica was made after the 2020 season.
kmcmillan@th-record.com
X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
Year-by-year Trophy winners
Air Force – 21 times; Navy – 17 times; Army – 10 times
1972 – Army; 1973 – Navy; 1974 – shared; 1975 – Navy; 1976 – shared; 1977 – Army; 1978 – Navy; 1979 – Navy
1980 – Shared; 1981 – Navy; 1982 – Air Force; 1983 – Air Force; 1984 – Army; 1985 – Air Force; 1986 – Army; 1987 – Air Force; 1988 – Army; 1989 – Air Force
1990 – Air Force; 1991 – Air Force; 1992 – Air Force; 1993 – shared; 1994 – Air Force; 1995 – Air Force; 1996 – Army; 1997 – Air Force; 1998 – Air Force; 1999 – Air Force
2000 – Air Force; 2001 – Air Force; 2002 – Air Force; 2003 – Navy; 2004 – Navy; 2005 – Navy; 2006 – Navy; 2007 – Navy; 2008 – Navy; 2009 – Navy
2010 – Air Force; 2011 – Air Force; 2012 – Navy; 2013 – Navy; 2014 – Air Force; 2015 – Navy; 2016 – Air Force; 2017 – Army; 2018 – Army; 2019 – Navy
2020 – Army; 2021 – shared; 2022 – Air Force; 2023 – Army; 2024 – Navy
CIC Series records (since 1972)
Air Force leads Navy 31-23; Air Force leads Army 35-19; Navy leads Army 32-20-1
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Army in position to win Commander-in-Chief's Trophy with win over Navy
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