In 1956 the Falcons started their inaugural season promisingly enough with a 72-64 win over Westminster. Five decades and 35 losing seasons later the school that helped launch the careers of Dean Smith and Gregg Popovich is finally living up to that initial promise: The Falcons earned at-large bids to the Big Dance in 2004 and 2006 despite having lost in the first round of the Mountain West Conference tournament both years.
Best Team:2006-07
With an efficient motion offense and tricky match up zone defense coach Jeff Bzdelik's crew beat Stanford by 34 in mid-November . Blow out over Colorado, Texas Tech, and Wake Forest followed, and though a late-season swoon cost them an NCAA bid the Falcons the nation's second-best defense (56 ppg allowed) all the to Madison Square Gardens where they lost to Clemson 68-67 in the NIT semifinals.
Best Player: G Bob Beckel
When he was inducted into the Falcons HOF in 2007, Beckel joked, "As my teammates will tell you, I just shot a lot." Maybe so, but he made his fair share of them. He scored 50 against Arizona in 1959, and went for 45+ on 3 other occasions.
Best coach: Bob spear (1956-71)
He didn't just launch the program and take it to two Tourneys. He helped get life to the careers of Smith an Air Force assistant from 1956-58 and Popovich a Falcon swing man from 1968-'70.
Game for the ages:
On March 21,2007,pandemonium broke out at Clune Arena when Jacob Burtschi took a nifty Tim Anderson pass hit a layup with :07 left to help Air Force to defeat Depaul 52-51 and send the team to the NIT semifinals.
fiercest rival:
In-state MWC foe Colorado State used to Air Force winning 17 of 18 between 1995 and 2003 but the Falcons have won 12 of 15 from 2003-'09 though one loss eas a crushing first-round upset in 2004 conference tourney. The Rams led the series 63-30.