[terry]

My hypothesis is that Navy gets first pick among football players interested in the service academies.  It's first among equals right now because of the importance of force projection.  Also my guess is that the mortality rate (with the exception of SEALs and Marines) is lower than the Army.  Back during the Cold War, the Air Force was first among equals because of the importance of nukes and during that time, I believe Air Force had the better football team, which is consistent with my hypothesis.

There must be people here who know more about this than I do, so would be curious to hear thoughts about this hypothesis.

Your hypothesis makes some sense if we assume that 17 year olds are thinking strategically about their future military careers.

I'm not so sure that's the case. I suspect their decisions may have more to do with traditional recruiting factors -- do they like the coach, do they like the campus, how far from home do they want to go, do they think the team can win, what do their friends, family and high school coaches say, etc. Just a guess.

[terry]

My hypothesis is that Navy gets first pick among football players interested in the service academies.  It's first among equals right now because of the importance of force projection.  Also my guess is that the mortality rate (with the exception of SEALs and Marines) is lower than the Army.  Back during the Cold War, the Air Force was first among equals because of the importance of nukes and during that time, I believe Air Force had the better football team, which is consistent with my hypothesis.

There must be people here who know more about this than I do, so would be curious to hear thoughts about this hypothesis.

Your hypothesis makes some sense if we assume that 17 year olds are thinking strategically about their future military careers.

I'm not so sure that's the case. I suspect their decisions may have more to do with traditional recruiting factors -- do they like the coach, do they like the campus, how far from home do they want to go, do they think the team can win, what do their friends, family and high school coaches say, etc. Just a guess.