The Air Force Falcons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the United States Air Force Academy , located in El Paso County, Colorado north of Colorado Springs . The athletic department has 17 men's and 10 women's NCAA -sanctioned teams. The current athletic director is Nathan Pine. The majority of Falcon teams compete as members of the Mountain West Conference .
27-465: 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 "Mach 1" name of the first falcon presented to the academy on October 5, 1955, however each performing falcon is given an individual name by its cadet falconer. The current mascot, a female white phase gyrfalcon named Nova, has been the official mascot since 2020. As
54-783: A career record of 177–175, and led the Falcons to two NCAA Tournament Appearances. The Academy's most famous basketball alumnus, however, is Gregg Popovich , a Hall of Fame coach who has led the San Antonio Spurs to five NBA titles to date. The women's basketball team competed at the Division II level in both the AIAW and NCAA between 1976 and 1996. Since then, the team has competed at the Division I level. The Air Force men's boxing team has had astonishing success. Led for 31 years by Coach Ed Weichers ,
81-415: A member of the winning team. † Natural hat-trick . ‡ Tournament participation later vacated. Minimum 2 tournaments The following is a list of teams that have not made an NCAA tournament anytime in the last 10 seasons. † Alaska's only appearance in 2010 was later vacated due to NCAA rules violations. ‡ St. Lawrence received an automatic bid in 2021, however, the team had to decline
108-784: A primary member of the Mountain West Conference , the United States Air Force Academy sponsors teams in sixteen men's, ten women's, and one coed NCAA -sanctioned sports. As of the current 2024–25 school year, the fencing program competes as an independent, rifle program in the Patriot Rifle Conference , men's gymnastics in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation , ice hockey in Atlantic Hockey America , men's lacrosse program in
135-450: Is the highest level of NCAA men's hockey competition. This tournament is somewhat unique among NCAA sports as many schools which otherwise compete in Division II or Division III compete in Division I for hockey. Since 1999, the semi-finals and championship game of the tournament have been branded as the " Frozen Four "—a reference to the NCAA's long-time branding of its basketball semi-finals as
162-745: The Atlantic Sun Conference , men's soccer and swimming & diving programs in the Western Athletic Conference , water polo in the West Coast Conference , and wrestling in the Big 12 Conference . Boxing is a member of the National Collegiate Boxing Association as the NCAA does not recognize boxing. Air Force enjoyed some success on the baseball diamond in its early years and recently, earning seven berths to
189-922: The Auburn Tigers Mascot of the Kutztown Golden Bears Mascot of the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles Mascot of the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles Frozen Four The annual NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament is a college ice hockey tournament held in the United States by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to determine the top men's team in Division I . Like other Division I championships, it
216-979: The Florida Gators Wolf siblings, co-mascots of the Nevada Wolf Pack Mascot of the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles Cougar mascot of the Misericordia University Cougars English Bulldog mascot of the University of Redlands Bulldogs Mascot of the Tennessee State Tigers and Lady Tigers Three mules that act as the mascots for the Army Black Knights Mascot of the West Florida Argonauts Mascot of
243-532: The NCAA Division I playoffs (1961, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1969 and 2022). The Falcons, however, never advanced beyond the district/regional rounds. They finished as runner-up in 2000, when they lost to San Diego State in the MW tournament championship game (which would have earned an automatic berth). The baseball program plays home games at Erdle Field on campus. The men's basketball team has had strong showings in
270-908: The Pikes Peak State College Aardvarks Mascot of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Corsairs Mascot of the Scottsdale Community College Fighting Artichokes Mascot of the Aims Community College Aardvarks Mascot of the Rock Valley College Golden Eagles Goddess and Stag, co-mascots of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags and Athenas Duck mascot of the Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks Tiger mascot of
297-637: The Southern Conference as an associate member through the 2021 season and joined the Atlantic Sun Conference (then officially the ASUN Conference), also as an associate member, on July 1, 2021. In June, 2013, Air Force became a charter member of the Patriot Rifle Conference . The Falcon wrestling team began competition in 1957 and currently competes in the Big 12 Conference (the Mountain West doesn't sponsor wrestling). In 1991 AF wrestling won
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#1732852333103324-438: The " Final Four ". The NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Championship is a single elimination competition that has determined the collegiate national champion since the inaugural 1948 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament . The tournament features 16 teams representing all six Division I conferences in the nation. The Championship Committee seeds the entire field from 1 to 16 within four regionals of 4 teams. The winners of
351-496: The 14 NCAA Tournaments the team has qualified for have been reaching the quarterfinals in 1968 and 1993. 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
378-433: The 2013 USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate National Championships, reaching the quarterfinals. The Air Force team handball program was created in 1976. It's one of the must successful men's team handball college program in the country with 3 national titles. At the beginning they had also a women's team. They won a national title in 1988. The Air Force men's team is one of few colleges which has won an adults national title this
405-535: 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 . Air Force has fielded an NCAA men's lacrosse team since 1967. They appeared in the Division I Championship tournament in 1971, 1977, 1988, 2014, 2016, and 2017. The team competed in
432-1107: The United States Secondary mascot of the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals Human mascot of the Erskine College Flying Fleet Humanoid mascot of the Evansville Purple Aces Mascot of the USC Aiken Pacers Mascot of the Stonehill Skyhawks Mascot of the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks The letter C, mascot of the Central Michigan Chippewas Inflatable mascot of the Murray State Racers , cousin of Dunker Male and female alligator mascots of
459-487: The University of Iowa, under the tutelage of legendary coach Dan Gable . Falcons Wrestling Accomplishments: The Air Force's soccer team has competed in NCAA Division I men's college soccer competitions since 1956, competing as members in the Western Athletic Conference . They are coached by Doug Hill and Assistant Coach Chris Foster , and their home matches are played at Cadet Soccer Stadium . Their best performances in
486-726: The WAC championship, the first ever by any USAFA sports team. From 2006 to 2015, the Falcons had been a member of the Western Wrestling Conference (WWC), but the conference chose to disband after the 2014–15 school year when all of its members accepted an offer of single-sport membership in the Big 12. Home wrestling events are held at either the Cadet East Gym or at Clune Arena. The team is currently coached by former Olympian Joel Sharratt in his eighth season, and former national champion for
513-480: The first round; should five or more teams from one conference make the tournament, this guideline may be disregarded in favor of preserving the bracket's integrity. Broadmoor Ice Palace in Colorado Springs, Colorado hosted the tournament for the first ten years and has hosted eleven times overall, the most of any venue. The Denver Pioneers have won the most tournaments with ten, while Vic Heyliger has coached
540-519: The host of a regional is placed within that regional. The top four teams are assigned overall seeds and placed within the bracket such that the national semifinals will feature the No. 1 seed versus the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed versus the No. 3 seed should the top four teams win their respective regional finals. Number 1 seeds are also placed as close to their home site as possible, with the No. 1 seed receiving first preference. Conference matchups are avoided in
567-515: 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
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#1732852333103594-547: The men's and women's boxing teams took part in the first-ever boxing matches held at Globe Life Field , as a pre-gameday event before the Army-Air Force football game the following day; Air Force won the matchup 6 bouts to 4. From 2007 to 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
621-569: The most championship teams, winning six times with Michigan between 1948 and 1956. The 2020 championship was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . ^1 Participation in the tournament vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions. The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in the respective tournament: Starting in 2003, the 4 teams seeded No. 1 in the regions are shown with single underline . * Was not
648-571: The six Division I conference championships receive automatic bids to participate in the NCAA Championship. The tournament begins with initial games played at four regional sites culminating with the semi-finals and finals played at a single site. In setting up the tournament, the Championship Committee seeks to ensure "competitive equity, financial success and likelihood of playoff-type atmosphere at each regional site." A team serving as
675-406: 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. The women's team debuted in national-level competition during the 2015 NCBA championships. The 2017 NCBA tournament featured the first individual national boxing title for the women's team. On November 5, 2021,
702-496: The top 3 teams in the country 11 times from 1980 to 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
729-487: Was in the year 1978. Their fiercest and longest college team handball rivalry is with Army . Here's a list of previous Athletic directors : College mascot This is an incomplete list of U.S. college mascots ' names , consisting of named incarnations of live, costumed, or inflatable mascots. For school nicknames, see List of college team nicknames in the United States . For school abbreviation, see List of colloquial names for universities and colleges in
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