patch affixed. Teams that beat Army in a year are awarded a gold star to affix near the "N" for each such victory.
The U.S. Naval Academy's varsity sports teams have no official name but usually are referred to in media as "the Midshipmen" (since all athletes are, in fact, midshipmen), or more informally as "the Mids". The term "middies" is generally considered derogatory. The sports teams' mascot is a goat named "Bill".
The Midshipmen participate in the NCAA's Division I FBS as a member of the American Athletic Conference in football and in the NCAA Division I-level Patriot League in many other sports. The academy fields 33 varsity sports teams and 15 club sports teams (along with 19 intramural sports teams).
The most important sporting event at the academy is the annual Army–Navy Game, in football. The three major service academies (Navy, Air Force, and Army) compete for the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy, which is awarded to the academy that defeats the others in football that year (or retained by the previous …
