In College Football, the 'Big' Games Are Played by the Smaller Programs

One of the many things people don't get about these games is why they are different. The people at Versus, who televised the game, simply couldn't wait another five minutes to get to their postgame show so that some ex-jock talking head could shake his head and say, "Wow, that was some game."

If they had skipped that analysis, they could have shown one of sport's best postgame traditions: the playing of the alma maters. At Army, Navy and Air Force, they play the alma maters after every game. When the teams play one another, all the players and coaches line up in front of the losing team's student body and band first and then walk together across the field to do the same thing in front of the winning team's students and band.

They stand at attention, often shoulder-to-shoulder, in a show of respect for one another. They make it clear that they are not ordinary football players, and their futures likely won't play out like the guys at big-time programs, who will drop out of school as soon as the season is over to prepare for the NFL draft.

It is to the credit of some civilian schools that they understand this tradition when they play Army, Navy or Air Force. The players and coaches at both Rutgers and Wake Forest stood behind the Navy players during the playing of Blue-and-Gold after suffering difficult defeats last month. I wish I could say the same for the Duke players and coaches who pranced and preened after their win over Navy and couldn't stop for 60 seconds to show respect for what was going on a few yards away from their celebration.

What made that scene even more embarrassing was that Kevin White, Duke's new athletic director, came from Notre Dame, a school that plays Navy every year and frequently plays Army and Air Force. He was fully aware of the postgame tradition. Clearly, he didn't make anyone on the field aware of it.

What is most remarkable about Navy and Air Force is how competitive they are on a consistent basis against schools that have dozens of advantages -- like being able to say to recruits, "No, you won't have to go to war when you graduate." Edges like that should make it impossible for the academies to beat civilian schools.

And yet, both Navy and Air Force won at Notre Dame last year. There is no way that should happen, even in Notre Dame's worst seasons. They both went to bowls last year and may very well do so again this year. Army has lagged behind badly because of the mismanagement there the last 11 years.

Navy has been to five straight bowl games, has undergone a coaching change this year and is still 4-2, even though quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada has only played one game from start to finish all season. Air Force is 3-2, with losses against undefeated Utah, 30-23, and to Navy, 33-27.

After a week off, Navy next plays Pittsburgh, which is coming off a win at then-No. 11 South Florida. The Panthers are 4-1 and perhaps headed for a BCS bowl as the Big East Conference representative. A year ago, before the Midshipmen played at Pitt, I was on the field talking to Matt Cavanaugh, Pitt's offensive coordinator. Cavanaugh has nothing but respect for the kids who play at service academies; he has a son who is in the Army and has served in Iraq. Even so, he was amazed by the life the players lead at the academies.

"So they have to do everything all the other students do?" he asked. "No special privileges, nothing?"

Well, he was told, they do get to miss class on Fridays when they have to fly to a game on the road. Of course they're expected to make up anything they miss.

Cavanaugh shook his head and said: "They have to be remarkable young men."

Navy beat Pitt that night in double overtime. The Mids also beat Wake Forest, unbeaten and ranked 16 th at the time, on the road two weeks ago.

Wake Forest is ranked 21 st in both polls this week. Navy didn't receive a single vote in either poll.

My bet is that those who are voting just aren't paying much attention -- which is too bad. They are missing a lot of very good football, played, as Matt Cavanaugh pointed out, by some remarkable young men.