In 2019, Troy Calhoun has one of the better Air Force football squads he’s been able to field in awhile. Despite that, he’s apparently not focused on winning the Mountain West Conference. Instead, he’s thinking about leaving it.
“We are in a league where, to be blunt, I don’t know if it’s the route maybe should go,” Calhoun told the media after the Falcons beat defending league champion Fresno State to move to 2-1 in conference play, and 4-2 overall. “I just don’t know if it’s really a match. I don’t know if it’s best.”
Air Force has already beaten Pac-12 member Colorado this season – the first game the two neighboring schools have played in 45 years – and now the Bulldogs. But also lumped in are losses to Navy and Boise State. The former will keep AFA from taking back the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy (even if they beat Army, and then Army beat Navy at the end of the season, the Black Knights would keep the C&C Trophy, Navy could grab the hardware with a win over Army.)
The second loss will probably keep the Falcons out of the conference title game.
Still, they’re on pace to have an eight, nine or even 10-win season and will play in a very nice bowl game over the holidays.
It should end up being a terrific season.
Why Calhoun is dissatisfied with his school’s conference affiliation, right now, is a bit of a mystery to those who aren’t intimately attached to the program. The timing seems odd.
Air Force views itself as a national brand, for obvious reasons. And they haven’t had a ton of success in the trophy-department playing in the Mountain West.
Calhoun’s 2015 team did win the Mountain Division, but the program is still without an overall league title. Since joining the MWC, Air Force has won six of the 11 bowl games they’ve played in, while capturing eight C&C trophies. Overall, Air Force has captured 20 of a possible 43 C&C trophies, the most of the three schools.
While they haven’t dominated the MW, it sure doesn’t appear on the surface that the MW has hurt – or been a bad fit – for Air Force. So what gives?
Perhaps Calhoun sees greener pastures out there. AFA has been mentioned as a possible replacement for UConn in the American Athletic Conference, where rival Navy is already a member. But as things stand right now, the AAC is a step down from the MW, based on results on the field. Or…and this is a BIG or…does Calhoun maybe want to go “independent” like Army and former conference foe BYU?
Sure, you can make a case for a “national brand” like Air Force playing a “national” schedule like Notre Dame and Army do every year. The difference is those schools have never done it any other way. They’ve never been in a conference, so leaving one hasn’t been an issue.
BYU, on the other hand, provides Air Force with a better glimpse into what their football world might look like after leaving the Mountain West.
Back when conference re-alignment was going crazy (2009-11) BYU was left behind when arch-rival Utah bolted the MW for the Pac-12. Very few observers disagreed with the Utes decision – it was a big step up for the entire university. But BYU – a private, religious school that never fit the Pac 12 profile – had their feelings hurt, so they decided to leave the MW then, too.
For a brief time, then-Western Athletic Conference Commissioner Karl Benson thought he had a deal in place to bring BYU back to the WAC (for all sports except football, which would go independent.) But then the MWC swiped WAC members Utah State, Fresno State and Boise State and all bets were off. BYU, envisioning themselves (very incorrectly) as the “Notre Dame of the West” set off on the path to football independence. (Shortly after that, they joined the West Coast Conference in basketball and the non-revenue sports.)
It was a titanic mistake.
Cougar football, once a big player on the national scene, has been largely irrelevant since.
Yes, BYU got a nice payday from ESPN for their TV rights so they could play a lot of weeknight games and get paid for it.
But at what cost?
BYU hasn’t been a factor on the national scene once since they bolted the MW in 2011. Overall, they’ve captured 23 conference championships in their illustrious history, but obviously none since 2011. In fact, BYU’s last conference trophy is dated 2007. They’ve won two Poinsettia Bowls, an Armed Forces Bowl and a Famous Idaho Potato Bowl as an independent. As the late Bert Reynolds told Warden Eddie Albert in the movie, The Longest Yard, “Stick that in your trophy case.”
Otherwise that case is pretty dusty.
This season, BYU has overtime wins over USC andTennessee. Imagine the impact of those wins if they were playing in a Group of Five conference. They are the types of wins that would give them a chance at a New Year’s Six Bowl game.
Then again, those two wins are their only two wins in six games, so maybe not this year.
Last week the Cougars lost to South Florida.
But you get the drift, right?
Boise State has shown what can be accomplished by being the best team in the best Group of Five conference. That used to be BYU’s turf. This season, the Broncos have a great shot at playing on New Year’s Day. BYU – if they reach six wins – will end up back in a minor bowl somewhere. Cougar fans must look at Boise and think, “that could have been us.”
The two schools play each other this Saturday. A Boise State wins keeps them on the path to the NY6 bid.
A BYU upset means…not much, actually. One step closer to another Poinsettia Bowl maybe.
Perhaps Calhoun is just blowing off steam (as he’s been known to do) and his bosses aren’t feeling the same way about their current conference affiliation. But if they are, they’d do themselves a big favor by looking closely at BYU’s tragic decision, and avoid the path to independent irrelevance.
Listen to Mark Knudson on Monday’s at 12:30 with Brady Hull on AM 1310 KFKA and on Saturday mornings on “Klahr and Kompany” on AM 1600 ESPN Denver.
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