| Air Force Falcons | |
|---|---|
 | |
| University | United States Air Force Academy |
| Conference | Mountain West (primary) Other conferences: |
| NCAA | Division I (FBS) |
| Athletic director | Nathan Pine |
| Location | USAF Academy, Colorado |
| Varsity teams | 30 (including 3 non-NCAA) |
| Football stadium | Falcon Stadium |
| Arena | Clune Arena |
| Ice hockey arena | Cadet Ice Arena |
| Baseball stadium | Erdle Field |
| Other venues | Cadet Field House Cadet East Gym |
| Mascot | The Bird and Nova |
| Nickname | Falcons |
| Fight song | "Falcon Fight Song" (unofficial: "The U.S. Air Force") |
| Colors | Blue and silver[1] |
| Website | goairforcefalcons |
 | |
| Team NCAA championships | |
| 2 | |
| Individual and relay NCAA champions | |
| 48 | |
TheAir Force Falcons are theintercollegiate athletic teams that represent theUnited States Air Force Academy, located inEl Paso County, Colorado north ofColorado Springs. The athletic department has 17 men's and 10 women'sNCAA-sanctioned teams. The currentathletic director is Nathan Pine. The majority of Falcon teams compete as members of theMountain West Conference.
The falcon mascot was selected by popular vote of the Academy's Class of 1959, the first class to graduate from the Academy. The teammascot 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.[2]
| Men's sports | Women's sports |
|---|---|
| Baseball | Basketball |
| Basketball | Boxing |
| Boxing | Cross country |
| Cross country | Fencing |
| Fencing | Gymnastics |
| Football | Soccer |
| Golf | Swimming & diving |
| Gymnastics | Tennis |
| Ice hockey | Track & field† |
| Lacrosse | Volleyball |
| Soccer | |
| Swimming & diving | |
| Tennis | |
| Track & field† | |
| Water polo | |
| Wrestling | |
| Co-ed sports | |
| Rifle | |
| † – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor. | |
As a primary member of theMountain West Conference, the United States Air Force Academy sponsors teams in sixteen men's, ten women's, and one coedNCAA-sanctioned sports. As of the current 2024–25 school year, the fencing program competes as an independent, rifle program in thePatriot Rifle Conference, men's gymnastics in theMountain Pacific Sports Federation, ice hockey inAtlantic Hockey America, men's lacrosse program in theAtlantic Sun Conference, men's soccer and swimming & diving programs in theWestern Athletic Conference, water polo in theWest Coast Conference,[3] and wrestling in theBig 12 Conference. Boxing is a member of theNational Collegiate Boxing Association as the NCAA does not recognize boxing.
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Air Force enjoyed some success on thebaseball diamond in its early years and recently, earning seven berths to theNCAA 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 theMW tournament championship game (which would have earned an automatic berth).
The baseball program plays home games atErdle Field on campus.[4]
The men'sbasketball team has had strong showings in the last several years, qualifying for theNCAA tournament and, most recently, making the final four of the 2007National Invitational Tournament.
The best player in Air Force history according to ESPN isBob 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 two NCAA Tournament Appearances. The Academy's most famous basketball alumnus, however, isGregg Popovich, aHall of Fame coach who has led theSan 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 CoachEd Weichers, the team has won 18National 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.[5] The 2017 NCBA tournament featured the first individual national boxing title for the women's team.[6]
On November 5, 2021, the men's and women's boxing teams took part in the first-ever boxing matches held atGlobe 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.[7]
From 2007 to 2009, the men's hockey team won three straightAtlantic 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 the2009 NCAA tournament, Air Force upset top seedMichigan 2–0, and just missed going to theFrozen Four in a 3–2 double overtime loss toVermont.
Air Force has fielded an NCAA men's lacrosse team since 1967.[8] They appeared in theDivision I Championship tournament in 1971, 1977, 1988, 2014, 2016, and 2017. The team competed in theSouthern Conference as an associate member through the 2021 season and joined theAtlantic Sun Conference (then officially the ASUN Conference), also as an associate member, on July 1, 2021.[9]
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In June, 2013, Air Force became a charter member of thePatriot Rifle Conference.
The men's program was established in the 1950s, shortly after the Academy's founding in 1954, and has since competed at the NCAA Division I level, primarily as a member of the Mountain West Conference. The women's program was introduced in 1977.[10]
The Falconwrestling team began competition in 1957 and currently competes in theBig 12 Conference (the Mountain West doesn't sponsor wrestling). In 1991 AF wrestling won the WAC championship, the first ever by any USAFA sports team. From 2006 to 2015, the Falcons had been a member of theWestern 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's currenthead coach is Sam Barber, who first took on the position for the 2014–15 season having spent five years as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. He is assisted by Joe Johnston, Chris Heilman, and Elroy Perkin; the latter of whom joined the Falcons staff ahead of the 2024–25 season fromBig 12 Conference rival theCalifornia Baptist Lancers.[11]
| Year | Championship | Conference | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Team Championship | WAC | [12] |
| 1999 | All-Academy Wrestling Championship | — | [13] |
| 2000 | — | ||
| 2001 | — | ||
| 2002 | — | ||
| 2015 | — |
| Year | Athlete | Championship | Conference | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Matt Benza | West Regional Championship | WWC | [14] |
| Brandon Strong | ||||
| 2022 | Wyatt Hendrickson | Mountaineer Invitational Title | — | [15] |
| Cody Phippen | — | |||
| Sam Wolf | — | |||
| 2025 | Owen Heiser | Rocky Mountain Open Title | — | [16] |
| Soren Herzog | — |
| Year | Athlete | Honor | Body | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Scott Frohardt | All-American | NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling Championships | [17] |
| Kevin Hoy | ||||
| Terry Parham | ||||
| 2019 | Kayne Hutchison | UWW U.S. Open | [18] | |
| Garrett O'Shea | Scholar All-American | National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) | [19] | |
| 2021 | Cody Phippen | [20] | ||
| Jared Van Vleet | ||||
| 2023 | Wyatt Hendrickson | All-American | NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling Championships | [21] |
| 2025 | Jack Ganos | Scholar All-American | National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) | [22] |
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The Air Force's soccer team has competed inNCAA Division I men's college soccer competitions since 1956, competing as members in theWestern Athletic Conference. They are coached by Doug Hill and Assistant CoachChris Foster, and their home matches are played atCadet Soccer Stadium.[23][24] Their best performances in the 14 NCAA Tournaments the team has qualified for have been reaching the quarterfinals in 1968 and 1993.[25]
The Air Force rugby program was created in 1968 and began competing incollege rugby in 1980. Air Force competes in the west division of theCollege Premier Division against rivals such as Colorado State and Wyoming.[26] 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 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.[27] Several Air Force players have gone on to play for theUS men's national rugby team.Air Force won the 2012 Rocky Mountain 7s tournament to qualify for the 2012USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate National Championships.[28] Air Force also played in the 2013 USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate National Championships, reaching the quarterfinals.[29]
The Air Force team handball program was created in 1976. It's one of the must successful men's team handballcollege 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 anadults national title this was in the year 1978.[30] Their fiercest and longest college team handball rivalry is withArmy.[31]
Here's a list of previousAthletic directors:[32]
| Name | Tenure |
|---|---|
| ColRobert V. Whitlow | 1954–1957 |
| ColGeorge B. Simler | 1957–1960 |
| Col Maurice L. Martin | 1960–1963 |
| Col Edmund A. Rafalko | 1963–1967 |
| Col Francis E. Merritt | 1967–1975 |
| Col John Clune | 1975–1991 |
| Col Ken Schweitzer | 1991–1996 |
| Col RandallRandy Spetman | 1996–2004 |
| Dr.Hans Mueh | 2004–2015 |
| Jim Knowlton | 2015–2018 |
| Col Jennifer Block | 2018–2019 |
| Nathan Pine | 2019–present |
Air Force has won 10 NCAA Division I individual championships, 2 NCAA Division II team championships, and 38 NCAA Division II individual championships.[33]
| Sport | Association | Division | Year | Opponent/Runner-up | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women's swimming and diving (2) | NCAA | Division II | 1995 | Oakland | 690–563 (+127) |
| 1996 | Oakland | 697.5–625 (+72.5) |
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