Editor's note, Dec. 14, 3:34 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to reflect that Louisiana Tech will replace Marshall in the Independence Bowl.
The Army Black Knights are having a dream season, and can secure their legacy at Saturday's Army-Navy Game in Landover, Md. Army is ranked No. 22 in the final College Football Playoff Top 25, with an 11–1 record after winning the AAC championship with a blowout win over Tulane. Quarterback Bryson Daily finished sixth in Heisman Trophy voting.
And yet ... for a portion of Saturday, they did not have an opponent for the Independence Bowl on Dec. 28.
With all due respect for the Independence Bowl, it is usually a game reserved for Power 4 programs floating around the seven-win mark, not a team that was on the periphery of the College Football Playoff conversation. The Black Knights were set to face Sun Belt champion Marshall, a solid 10–3 squad but one that played through coaching tumult all season, to the point that coach Charles Huff left the program for 1–11 Southern Miss, a conference foe that went winless in the Sun Belt this season.
Huff's departure led to a wave of Marshall players entering the transfer portal. With 25-plus players set to opt out, according to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, the Thundering Herd have withdrawn from the Independence Bowl.
WIthout any 6–6 teams available to slide in, Army's new opponent is the 5–7 Louisiana Tech according to Brett McMurphy of the Action Network. The spot is supposed to go to the 5–7 team with the highest academic progress rate (APR), but because many of the teams above the Bulldogs on that list were unable to mobilize in time for the game in two weeks according to Dellenger, they get the spot. Louisiana Tech's campus in Ruston is just over an hour from Shreveport, La., where the Independence Bowl is held.
Other potential foes at 5–7 included Kansas, Utah, Michigan State, Wisconsin, UCLA and Auburn, but the Bulldogs got the nod and will be a significant underdog against the Black Knights.
Even if Army had backed into a game against a name program, it deserved better than this kind of matchup given the season it's had. Unfortunately for the Black Knights, the AAC bowl tie-ins are what they are, and Boise State never opened the door for a Playoff berth with a second loss.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Army Loses Independence Bowl Opponent After Coaching Change, Transfer Portal Wave.
