July 8, 2013

The Navy football team was ranked 67th out of 125 teams by Athlon Sports in its 2013 preseason magazine.

Four teams on Navy's schedule were ranked ahead of the Midshipmen by Athlon. Notre Dame was ranked eighth, Pitt 52nd, Indiana 59th and San Jose State was ranked 63rd.

Teams on Navy's schedule that were ranked behind the Mids include Duke (73rd), Toledo (79th), Air Force (82nd), Western Kentucky (91st), Army (113th), South Alabama (117th) and Hawai'i (119th). Delaware, who is in the FCS, was not ranked.

Notre Dame's defensive line was ranked as the second best defensive line in the country behind South Carolina, while Notre Dame's linebackers were ranked as the sixth best linebacker unit in the country (Stanford was #1) and Notre Dame's secondary was ranked 10th best in the country (Florida was #1).

Notre Dame defensive linemen Stephon Tuitt and Louis Nix III were both named preseason First Team All-Americans, while Notre Dame offensive tackle Zack Martin was named to the third team.

Western Kentucky's Bobby Petrino was ranked as the best new hire in all of college football, while San Jose State's Ron Caragher was 22nd (out of 31).

The magazine projects Navy to go 7-5 and play Utah State in the Armed Forces Bowl. Utah State is coached by former Navy assistant Matt Wells.

The magazine also projects Air Force (New Mexico Bowl), Pittsburgh (Beef O'Brady's), San Jose State (Hawai'i), Indiana (Meineke Car Care of Texas) and Notre Dame (Orange) to make bowl games.

Season and single-game tickets are still available at: http://bit.ly/LNw2FX or by calling 1-800-US4-NAVY. For more information on how to support Navy Athletics go to: http://bit.ly/ZsTU8M