Air Force Falcons

The Air Force Falcons are the collegiate athletic teams that represent the United States Air Force Academy, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. The intercollegiate program has 17 men's and 10 women's NCAA-sanctioned teams. Men’s teams are football, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, cross-country, fencing, golf, gymnastics, indoor and outdoor track, lacrosse, rifle, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, water polo and wrestling. The Academy fields women's teams in basketball, cross-country, fencing, gymnastics, indoor and outdoor track, swimming and diving, soccer, tennis and volleyball. In addition, the Academy sponsors two non-NCAA programs: boxing and cheerleading.

The three major service academies (Air Force, Army, and Navy) compete for the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy, which is awarded to the academy that defeats the others in football that year (or retained by the previous winner in the event of a three-way tie).

The current athletic director is Hans J. Mueh. The majority of the Falcons teams compete as members of the Mountain West Conference.

Team name origin
The falcon mascot was selected by popular vote of the Academy's Class of 1959, the first class to graduate from the Academy. The team mascot is "The Bird".

Teams
The United States Air Force Adademy sponsors teams in fifteen men's, nine women's, and two coed NCAA sanctioned sports:

Men's Intercollegiate Sports
 * Baseball
 * Basketball
 * Boxing ¶
 * Cross Country
 * Football
 * Golf
 * Gymnastics †
 * Ice Hockey
 * Lacrosse ∞
 * Soccer #
 * Swimming & Diving #
 * Tennis
 * Track & Field (Indoor & Outdoor)
 * Water Polo
 * Wrestling ‡

Women's Intercollegiate Sports
 * Basketball
 * Cross Country
 * Gymnastics †
 * Soccer
 * Swimming & Diving
 * Tennis
 * Track & Field (Indoor & Outdoor)
 * Volleyball

Coed Intercollegiate Sports
 * Fencing ↓
 * Rifle*


 * ¶ = Boxing is sanctioned by the National Collegiate Boxing Association, not by the NCAA.
 * ↓ = Fencing in the NCAA is a coed sport with men's and women's squads.
 * * = Rifle is technically a men's sport, but men's, women's, and coed teams all compete against each other; Air Force has a coed team that will compete in the new Patriot Rifle Conference.
 * † = The men's and women's gymnastics teams compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
 * ∞ = The lacrosse team has competed in the ECAC Lacrosse League, which will become defunct in 2014-15.
 * # = The men's soccer and men's swimming and diving teams compete in the Western Athletic Conference.
 * ‡ = The wrestling team competes in the Western Wrestling Conference.

Baseball
Air Force enjoyed some success on the baseball diamond in its early years, earning six berths to the NCAA Division I playoffs (1961, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1969). The Falcons, however, never advanced beyond the district/regional rounds. The closest they have come to earning a NCAA berth since 1969 was in 2000, when the Falcons lost to San Diego State in the MWC tournament championship game (which would have earned an automatic berth).

The baseball program plays home games at Falcon Baseball Field on campus.



Men's basketball
The men's basketball team has had strong showings in the last several years, qualifying for the NCAA tournament and, most recently, making the final four of the 2007 National Invitational Tournament. The best player in Air Force history (According to ESPN) is Bob Beckel, who scored 50 points in a game against Arizona in 1959 and scored over 45 points on 3 other occasions. The best Coach in Air Force history is Bob Spear, who coached for 15 years (1956–1971), had a Career record of 177-175, and led the Falcons to 2 NCAA Tournament Appearances.
 * NCAA Tournament appearances: 1960, 1962, 2004, 2006
 * NIT Tournament appearances: 2007 (semifinals)
 * Mountain West Conference champions: 2004 Regular Season

Women's basketball
The women's basketball team competed at the Division II level in both the AIAW and NCAA from 1976-1996. Since then, the team has competed at the Division I level.
 * NCAA Tournament appearances: 1985, 1990
 * AIAW National Tournament appearances: 1979, 1980

Boxing
The Air Force boxing team has had astonishing success. Led for 31 years by Coach Ed Weichers, the team has won 18 National Collegiate Boxing Association championships, and until 2009, had never finished lower than second in the nation. In 2009, the team finished third in the Nation.

Fencing

 * See: List of NCAA fencing schools

Ice hockey
From 2007-2009, the men's hockey team won three straight Atlantic Hockey conference tournaments, and made three straight appearances in the NCAA Division I hockey tournament. Their 2007 appearance in the NCAA tournament was the first ever by a service academy. In the East Regional of the 2009 NCAA Tournament, Air Force upset top seed Michigan 2-0, and just missed going to the Frozen Four in a 3-2 double overtime loss to Vermont.

Rifle
In June, 2013, Air Force became a charter member of the Patriot Rifle Conference.

Wrestling
The Falcon wrestling team began competition in 1957 and currently competes in the Western Wrestling Conference (the Mountain West doesn't sponsor wrestling). Home wrestling events are held at either the Cadet East Gym or at Clune Arena. The team is currently coached by Joel Sharratt, a former national champion for the University of Iowa and legendary coach Dan Gable.
 * WAC Team Championships: 1 (1991)
 * All-Academy Wrestling Championships: 4 (1998, 2000, 2001, 2002)
 * NCAA National Champions: 1
 * NCAA All-Americans: 11
 * WWC/West Regional Champions: 9
 * WAC Champions: 18
 * MIWA Champions: 18

Rugby
The Air Force rugby program was created in 1968 and began competing in college rugby in 1980. Air Force competes in the west division of the College Premier Division against rivals such as Colorado State and Wyoming. Air Force has been one of the most successful programs in college rugby. Air Force finished as one of the top 3 teams in the country 11 times from 1980-1995, including back-to-back national championships in 1989 and 1990. More recently, Air Force were national champions again in 2003 and third place in 2004. Several Air Force players have gone on to play for the US men's national rugby team. Air Force won the 2012 Rocky Mountain 7s tournament to qualify for the 2012 USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate National Championships. Air Force also played in the 2013 USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate National Championships, reaching the quarterfinals.

Facilities

 * Cadet Fieldhouse
 * Cadet Ice Arena (cap. 2,502) – part of the Cadet Fieldhouse
 * Clune Arena (cap. 5,939) – part of the Cadet Fieldhouse
 * Eisenhower Golf course
 * Falcon Baseball Field (cap. 1,000)
 * Falcon Stadium (cap. 52,480)
 * Jacks Valley
 * Soccer stadium
 * Cadet Lacrosse Stadium