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Air Force vs. Navy is happening. Falcons set time, TV for C.I.C. rivalry.

Air Force will play two football games this fall, hosting Navy and traveling to Army.

By Mitchell Northam
NCAA Football: Cheez-It Bowl-Air Force vs Washington State Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

It’ll only happen twice, but we will see Air Force play college football this fall.

The Falcons announced times and broadcast info for their C.I.C. rivalry games against Navy and Army on Monday.

Air Force will host the Midshipmen on Oct. 3 at 6 p.m. EST. The game will air on CBS Sports Network.

“The safety and well-being of our cadet-athletes, coaches, staff and the Falcon community have been at the forefront of our decision making throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” AFA Athletics said in a statement. “The Academy has been working closely with local and state public health officials and has determined that the only fans allowed at the game with be Air Force Academy cadets. The base remains closed to the public.”

Additionally, Air Force’s Nov. 7 road game at Army is set for 11:30 a.m. EST. Although, while speaking to 740 KVRO on Monday, Falcons’ athletic director Nathan Pine said that Air Force and Army could play sooner. For now, the game is set to be broadcast by CBS.

“We are going to have an opportunity to play our Service Academy rivals, which is very important,” Pine told KVOR on Monday.

Amid an 11-2 campaign, Air Force split its C.I.C. match-ups last season, falling on the road to Navy and beating Army at home. The Falcons went on to beat Washington State in the Cheez-It Bowl and were ranked No. 22 in the final AP Top 25 poll.

Air Force has captured the C.I.C. Trophy 20 times, doing so most recently in 2016.

The Mountain West suspended all fall sports on Aug. 10, but left the door open for Air Force to explore the possibility of playing its games against its fellow Service Academies.

In a statement released Monday, Air Force said that the Mountain West “will release the full spring football schedule in the coming weeks.”

So, Air Force will play Army and Navy this fall. The question now is, what will the Falcons’ football team look like? The Gazette in Colorado Springs reported over the weekend that “as many as 40” Falcons players have explored a provision to leave the academy for the semester.