CFP clarifies bowl situation, rankings if Navy wins AAC

The College Football Playoff selection committee is taking the necessary measures to ensure Navy's success doesn't complicate bowl season.

The final College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings are scheduled to be released on Dec. 6, however, should Navy win the American Athletic Conference (AAC), the selection committee will wait until after the Army-Navy game on Dec. 12 to release all the rankings, according to a statement obtained by USA TODAY.

The Midshipmen's final game of the season counts towards their yearly evaluation, but happens after Selection Sunday.

If Navy wins the AAC, it will head to the conference championship game and join a group of six candidates for the Group of Five slot in the CFP New Year's Six.

"If the committee believes the result of the Army-Navy game could affect Army's or Navy's ranking and therefore its place in the playoff or its selection as the group of five representative, only the pairings that affect Army and Navy would be delayed until after the Army-Navy game," committee executive director Bill Hancock wrote in a memo.

Navy's lone loss this season came to Notre Dame, 41-24, in South Bend on Oct. 10, therefore the contingency plan also considers Notre Dame. As an independent, if the Fighting Irish finish in the top six, the committee won't consider the Army-Navy game, which would hurt the Irish's strength of schedule.

The committee added that it will rank the teams one through 25 and will publicly issue those rankings on Dec 6, as scheduled, with Army and Navy ranked according to their performances to that date.

But if either team isn't in contention for the playoff or to be a Group of Five representative, the committee would announce all the bowl pairings.

The Midshipmen are currently 5-0 in the conference and will host SMU on Saturday.