RAMSEY: Air Force's Mueh says yes to football schedule mess

Hans Mueh faced a choice as he put the finishing touches on Air Force’s 2011 football schedule.

He could choose too much. Or he could choose too little.

He could take a perilous, though possibly thrilling, journey to Oregon. Or he could welcome Football Championship Subdivision weakling Tennessee State.

Mueh chose too little.

Yes, the first impulse is to criticize. Who wants to see the Falcons tangle with Tennessee State? Let me be the first to say: Not me.

This impossible-to-win situation started with the departures of Utah and BYU from the Mountain West Conference. These exits left the Falcons with a hole in their schedule, and after weeks of diligent searching Mueh and assistant athletic director Jim Trego found two wildly different solutions.

The Falcons could travel to Oregon to play the mighty Ducks. Air Force would have received, according to Mueh, a “seven-figure” payday.

Or Air Force could play FCS opponent Tennessee State at Falcon Stadium. This choice gives the Falcons relief from a rugged schedule, which includes trips to Boise State, Navy and Notre Dame.

This choice also blesses Air Force with seven 2011 home games, although “games” might be too strong a word for the meetings with Tennessee State and fellow FCS opponent South Dakota.

One FCS opponent is one too many. Two FCS opponents, who finished a combined 7-15 in 2010, will deliver two afternoons of dangerously mind-altering boredom. Air Force has trampled its past four FCS opponents by a combined score of 212-31.

Mueh has a clue. He did not want two FCS opponents. He wanted — really wanted — to take the big payment and the big challenge and play at Oregon. He was sorely tempted.

“For me personally, it would have been awesome,” Mueh said. “I’d love to go to Oregon to play football.”

But Mueh kept hearing another voice in his mind, and in the end this voice won.

“I can’t,” Mueh kept telling himself, “do this to my football team.”

Here’s what he means: Air Force already faced one of the more daunting schedules in its football history. Boise State and TCU could climb into the nation’s top 10, and Notre Dame and San Diego State should soar in the top 25.

Mueh, who served as a chemistry professor at Air Force, could not rationalize adding Oregon to his 2011 formula. Remember, the Ducks finished 12-1 last season while scoring 48 or more points seven times, including a 72-0 demolition of New Mexico. Mercy is not considered a virtue in Oregon.

Still, coach Troy Calhoun offered hints he would not have quarreled with a trip to Oregon.

“That wasn’t one I had a say in, and that’s OK,” Calhoun said. “We are going to play a challenging schedule.”

Later, Calhoun talked about the benefits of taking on formidable challenges.

“It doesn’t hurt to go to Norman,” Calhoun said, referring to the Falcons’ 27-24 loss at Oklahoma in 2010. “It doesn’t kill you. To go to Notre Dame. To go to Michigan. I don’t think those places kill you.”

He’s right. Those trips don’t kill, but they might have severely drained the Falcons.

That’s why Mueh took the easy road in 2011 while adding a massive challenge to 2012 with a trip to Michigan’s Big House.

Mueh wants it clear there was no middle ground in the 2011 schedule. He knows it would have made sense to find a team that hovered somewhere between Oregon’s might and Tennessee State’s weakness.

“We couldn’t find one,” Mueh said, “and that’s an absolute fact.”

So, Air Force said yes to too little. Mueh’s decision is defensible. It makes sense, although this delivers little comfort to Air Force supporters.

Here’s my advice for fans planning to attend the South Dakota and Tennessee State “games”:

Bring a pillow.