Air Force Academy – The rest of the nation might have been surprised. Air Force players simply were relieved Sunday when they found out they were going to the NCAA Tournament.
The Falcons got a reprieve from a 57-55 loss to Wyoming in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament in Denver last week as one of the NCAA field’s final two at-large teams.
Air Force (24-6), a No. 13 seed, plays Illinois (25-6), a No. 4 seed, at 5:25 p.m. Thursday in San Diego.
“It’s a sigh of relief,” AFA junior forward Jacob Burt- schi said. “It was a little shocking from hearing what everybody was saying. You always have hope. But after what all the critics were saying, it’s a slap to their face for not having respect for us. We know we belong. Let’s go do our thing.”
For Air Force coach Jeff Bzdelik, it was the culmination of a magical season in his first season at the academy after being fired by the Nuggets.
“We all know that there are going to be teams left out and there will be discussions, but that’s part of sports,” he said.
NCAA Tournament selection committee chairman Craig Littlepage was grilled by the national media about selecting Air Force over more prominent programs such as Cincinnati, Florida State and Maryland.
Littlepage pointed out that Air Force won two games against Atlantic Coast Conference teams this season, played Washington tough and took six consecutive victories into the MWC Tournament before losing to Wyoming.
“I think there are enough things that we can grab onto in terms of evidence that this is a solid selection for this year’s field,” Littlepage said of the Falcons.
MWC commissioner Craig Thompson, a former selection committee chairman, said that after all the standard criteria is measured, sometimes the committee simply will line up teams side by side, and say, “Who don’t you want to play?”
Air Force would seem to be that type of team with its Princeton-based offense and nation- leading defense (53.8 points allowed per game).
Littlepage seemed to second that notion when he said of Air Force, “We felt this is an outstanding team and a difficult team to beat.”
The Falcons didn’t gather as a team to watch their placement into the NCAA bracket on the Selection Sunday telecast. They had practiced and were scheduled to gather later to listen to selections to the NIT, which appeared to be their fate after losing to Wyoming. Word spread rapidly once their NCAA selection was announced.
“I had just walked in the room and turned on the TV when I got a call from (teammate) Dan Nwaelele,” AFA junior center John Frye said.
Antoine Hood, the Falcons’ all-MWC senior guard, heard the news on a car radio.
“It was a phenomenal feeling,” Hood said. “You can’t just judge a team on one game. It gives us faith in the committee because it’s more than just one game.”
Bzdelik heard the news in his office after practice.
“I had to finally stop and say, ‘Where are we going? Who are we playing?”‘ he said.
Air Force was helped by the lack of upsets in conference tournaments over the weekend. Wyoming’s loss in overtime to San Diego State on Saturday night in the MWC title game cleared room for the Falcons as the second choice from the conference. San Diego State also won the MWC regular-season title.
“There were a lot of other bubble teams to watch, not just us,” Burtschi said. “When San Diego State won, we figured they wouldn’t give just one bid to a major conference like the Mountain West.”
As for Illinois, Bzdelik noted that the perennial Big Ten power, the national runner-up a year ago, is tournament tough.
“They present a lot of problems,” Bzdelik said of the Illini. “We know that defensively they have great quickness and they are physical. They are big and strong inside. They are excellent in transition and can be streaky in 3-point shooting.”
Air Force will be shooting for its first postseason victory in 50 years of college basketball.
“All you can ask for in life is opportunity,” Hood said. “We’ve been that team sitting at home in March watching everybody else. We have a chance to change our destiny.”
Staff writer Natalie Meisler contributed to this report.
Staff writer Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
