When Air Force superintendent Lt. Gen. Mike Gould said Air Force was staying in the Mountain West, the reaction from Falcons fans was mostly positive. The Falcons’ head coach approved, as well.
Troy Calhoun, who was involved in a meeting with Big East officials when they came to Colorado Springs in October to try to sell the academy on switching conferences, said he was happy to be staying put. Although Calhoun has refused to talk about how much of a say he would have in the decision, it should be safely assumed that Calhoun’s opinion was solicited in the process.
For Calhoun, he thought the decision was correct.
“I think under the circumstances yes, certainly with the timing of it too,” Calhoun said. “You look at the landscape of college athletics, and maybe it’s different in 20 months or three or four years, but right now, yes sir.”
Gould has left the door open to reevaluating the Falcons’ conference affiliation down the road, depending if there are more major shifts in the college athletics landscape.
To Calhoun, the biggest part of staying in the Mountain West was keeping traditional, regional rivalries.
“I think the part that’s vital, I think of our followers and our student-athletes,” Calhoun said. “If you’re part of a league, and there are so many pluses to being part of a league, then I think you want a good number of your sports in the same league, and I think it’s huge anytime you can play Colorado State or UNLV in any sport – whether it’s basketball, women’s volleyball, and our sport in football. I think you develop some healthy, competitive, friendly but darn good rivalries that over time, makes it better. I think rivalries are huge, and I think you develop something that can carry somewhat from one sport to another.”
Mike and Troy got it right. Thanks!
I completely support Lt General Gould and Coach Calhoun. They are awesome leaders and role models for us.
This was the right decision for the Air Force Academy, for now. As the coach indicated, over time, we can re-evaluate the situation as the landscape of college football changes.
Go Air Force, Beat the Rockets !!
’75 Best Alive
Gen Gould left open the option to still leave the conference, but for now I agree completely the best choice for the athletes and Academy as a whole was to stay in the MWC. Very little due diligence was done in consideration of the non-football sports if football left for the Big East. If the newly formed athletic 501c-3 does not start producing results quickly, watch for AFA to bolt the MWC, especially if Navy joins a conference in 2013-14. SDSU, Boise St, and to a lesser extent Houston have helped establish a “western” division within the Big East.
History will show this to be a wise decision by Gen. Gould. Building relationships in the MWC is primarily why this is best for Cadet competition. Big 12 in 4 years mt be more attractive in 4 years than even the BE, and we won’t be jumping from ship to ship to ship….
The Cadets win big by staying in the MWC.
Thank you for considering the fans Gen. Gould. Now to fully appreciate this decision, it would be great if the community could fill Clune arena with Mens BBall this season. They need our support and its the best ticket in Town. Hope to see you all there.
Do you think some teams – maybe from the WAC will join the MWC at some point? Is there talk of that? Any more talk of the Academy’s other sports going to a different league?
I think AF got it right to by staying put – going to the Big East – especially at this point where that conference is set in jello – would have been silly.
@jimbo84; The biggest possibility is that Utah State and maybe San Jose could join a merged CUSA and MWC. The two conferences are heading towards an all-sports merger, though that isn’t getting much press here in the Springs.