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Message: [QUOTE="kibblesnbits, post: 4466054, member: 97"] That's true, but it's because it took Army a while to find the right mix. In the early independent years they tried to play a normal college offense against a relatively difficult schedule. They can't do that because they can recruit athletes, but they couldn't sustain a passing attack as they lack advanced skill position recruits and the academy's PT requirements mean their lines are often 30-50 lbs. below the opposition. They usually had 4-5 what we would now call P5 teams on the non-CiC docket and were pretty beat up by the end of the year. In the Ellerson and Moncken years they switched to an option offense and started changing the schedule. Now they have a mix of perhaps 1-2 P5's (often a very good one such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Wake Forest etc. in recent years but if they add a second it's going to be a Duke, Vandy, etc. type). They have the 2 CiC games (AFA and Navy) and then fill out the rest with independents not named Notre Dame and lower level league teams - lots of MAC teams and schools with a city or direction in their name. They'll even schedule up to 2 FCS teams in a year as they did this year and next. With that type of schedule they can qualify for bowls most years and go into the Commander-in-Chief games relatively healthy and with the confidence of a winning record. [/QUOTE]