<p>Predetermined slot preferred
By Irv Moss
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 12/28/2007 12:25:14 AM MST</p>
<p>With the Air Force Falcons preparing to meet California in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas, on Monday, first-year AFA coach Troy Calhoun is 1-for-1 in his quest to have his team in a bowl game every year.</p>
<p>“I think there are ways maybe I’m assuming too much that we could find a bowl that would be glad to have a bowl-eligible Air Force team,” said Calhoun, the Mountain West Conference coach of the year for guiding the Falcons to a 9-3 record. “We also have the four bowls that are tied to the Mountain West Conference, but I don’t know that we should depend just on those tie-ups.”</p>
<p>Calhoun was impressed with the work done by Navy’s administration to get an affiliation with the Poinsettia Bowl for the Midshipmen.</p>
<p>The San Diego bowl is one of four postseason games affiliated with the MWC, and Navy played Utah there this month. The Poinsettia Bowl’s selection committee chose the Utes over the MWC runner-up Falcons because it didn’t want an Air Force-Navy rematch. Navy defeated the Falcons 31-20 in Annapolis, Md., on Sept. 29.</p>
<p>Calhoun’s desire to gain a predetermined bowl slot for Air Force will have to wait as the Falcons focus on their 18th bowl appearance in 52 years of varsity football.</p>
<p>Air Force’s 8-8-1 bowl history started in the Cotton Bowl, where the 1958 Falcons played Texas Christian to a 0-0 tie that completed their 9-0-2 season. That was Ben Martin’s first of 20 seasons as Air Force’s coach.</p>
<p>The Falcons played in only three bowl games through the 1981 season.</p>
<p>There could have been a fourth bowl game in the early years of the program, but the 1968 Falcons (7-3) weren’t allowed to accept an invitation to the Liberty Bowl. The Air Force hierarchy in Washington derailed the appearance because of the Vietnam War.</p>
<p>“It was presented to us that we couldn’t accept the bowl bid because of the war,” said Dick Swanson, a team captain for the 1968 Falcons, whose victories included a 58-35 rout of Colorado in Boulder. “We felt Blane Morgan starred as a quarterback for Air Force and now is the Falcons’ quarterbacks coach. (File photo ) we earned a chance to play in a bowl. We were disappointed.”</p>