Air Force accepts Armed Forces Bowl invitation

Air Force is going to a bowl game for the first time since 2002.

On Monday afternoon, the Falcons accepted a bid to play in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 31 in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Falcons’ opponent, a team from either the Pac-10 or Big Ten, will not be selected until after this weekend’s games.

The invitation gives the Falcons more practice time and more exposure both nationally (the game will be televised on ESPN) and especially in Texas, the state from which Air Force draws the most players.

It also adds to a turnaround season in which the Falcons are 9-3 under first-year coach Troy Calhoun after three straight losing seasons.

“It’s special,” Air Force senior quarterback Shaun Carney said. “It’s something that we planned on doing. It was part of our goals at the beginning of the season. Every Christmas we’d keep telling ourselves, we’re not going to do this again” and not go to the postseason.

“Finally we have the opportunity.”

The Falcons have a chance to become the sixth academy team to win 10 or more games. Since the Falcons’ victory over Notre Dame on Nov. 10, Tom Starr, executive director of the Armed Forces Bowl, said Air Force was at the top of his list of possible Mountain West Conference representatives.

Because the bowl has third choice of Mountain West teams, Starr had to wait for permission from the conference to extend the invitation.

That word came Monday after the Las Vegas Bowl, which has first choice of teams from the conference, released Air Force from consideration. The Poinsettia Bowl, which has second choice, could not have picked Air Force because it has a policy against re-matches and it already has invited Navy.

As for the Falcons’ opponent, the Armed Forces Bowl has sixth choice of bowl eligible Pac-10 teams. Starr said if Arizona upsets Arizona State this weekend, there would be seven bowl-eligible teams from the conference for six games and the bowl likely will choose from UCLA, California and Arizona.

If Arizona State wins, however, Arizona would not be bowl eligible and Arizona State could sneak into the BCS. That would leave only five Pac-10 teams to fill six slots, and the Armed Forces Bowl would select a Big 10 team — most likely Purdue or Indiana, Starr said.

Before the season Calhoun told the cadet wing that if Air Force went 6-0 at home and got to a bowl, he’d buy the first 200 tickets. He said Monday he’d gladly follow through on his promise.