The name association between Air Force and the Dec. 23 Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas, may be an ace in the hole for the Falcons in what remains a wide-open scenario for postseason hopefuls in the Mountain West Conference.
Tom Starr, director of the Fort Worth game, said Wednesday the desire for a service academy team would be an influence if his selection committee had to pick from several bowl-eligible candidates.
“Air Force offers a lot of things for us,” Starr said. “The fact that it’s a service academy and our bowl is the Armed Forces Bowl, there would be an influence. Having any of the service academies in our game would be great.”
However, Starr pointed out that overall record would play an important role in the decision. The MWC mandates all of its teams with at least seven victories get locked into bowls over teams with six wins.
“There ain’t no question about that,” Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry said when asked if seven victories would be better than six in determining postseason play. His Falcons (4-5, 3-2 MWC) play Utah (6-4, 4-2) on Saturday at Falcon Stadium and need to win out against the Utes, Nevada-Las Vegas and Texas Christian to boost their chances.
Starr said TCU (7-2, 3-2) would be his committee’s No. 1 choice because of the local fan base and appeal. However, the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego has the second pick of MWC teams, and there’s good indication TCU could go there, Starr said. He added that his bowl’s four-year contract with TCU states the school can play in the local game only once in a four-year cycle.
Entering the weekend, Brig- ham Young (8-2, 6-0) and TCU are the only MWC teams with seven or more wins. BYU likely will go to the Las Vegas Bowl, unless the Cougars advance high enough in the Bowl Championship Series standings to play in a BCS game.
Utah and New Mexico (5-5, 3-3) also have a chance to reach at least seven victories. Wyoming (5-6, 4-3) could be a bowl candidate with six victories if the Cowboys beat UNLV this weekend in their season finale.
Helping hand
DeBerry announced Wednesday that the Fisher DeBerry Foundation is providing a $25,000 grant to 50 single-parent families in the Colorado Springs area.
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
