Navy softens stance

The EagleBank Bowl might be closer to knowing which team will come to RFK Stadium to play Navy on Dec. 20.

Maryland, though, won’t be that team - and likely will have to wait until Sunday to determine its holiday-season destination. The Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho, remains its most probable destination.

As postseason machinations continued Wednesday, Wake Forest re-emerged as a possible candidate for the EagleBank Bowl.

The Demon Deacons (7-5) weren’t considered an option for the first-year game because of the bowl’s no-rematch agreement with Navy (7-4). The Midshipmen defeated Wake Forest earlier this season.

However, Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk said Wednesday there were multiple dynamics in play and indicated a possible softening in his position. A matchup with N.C. State (6-6) isn’t possible because the Wolfpack can’t be taken while a team with a winning record is excluded in a conference’s tie-ins, and Maryland (7-5) can’t play in the EagleBank Bowl because of a conflict with exams.

“The no-rematch clause basically was something we carried forward from the past year when we didn’t want a rematch with Air Force in the Poinsettia Bowl,” Gladchuk said. “We’d prefer to play a new opponent, but we won’t know until Sunday.”

That would seem to open the door for Wake Forest, and it is believed bowl officials would be agreeable for that matchup.

The Terrapins, meanwhile, seem most likely to play in the Humanitarian Bowl on Dec. 30. Maryland still could land in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., though it would require a Boston College victory in Saturday’s ACC title game. Even then, the Terps still could end up in Boise.

The Humanitarian Bowl, played on Bronco Stadium’s famous blue field, initially attempted to pair No. 9 Boise State (12-0) and No. 12 Ball State (12-0), contingent on Ball State defeating Buffalo in Friday’s Mid-American Conference title game.

But the MAC informed the Humanitarian Bowl on Wednesday that Ball State would remain with one of the conference’s pre-existing bowl agreements.

That means the ACC will remain with its nine contracted bowls, all but eliminating any possibility Maryland will seek an at-large berth. It also leaves the possibility Wake Forest is the remaining team for the EagleBank Bowl to select this weekend.