Coach Jeff Bzdelik and his Air Force men’s team are taking college basketball to the public.
The Falcons are doing it in a way that is fitting of a political campaign by stepping out from home and taking on anybody who wants to debate.
“We think this is great for not only our basketball team, but to increase the interest in college basketball for everyone in the state of Colorado,” said Bzdelik, a former Nuggets coach whose ambitious AFA team improved to 4-0 with an 84-46 rout of Colorado in Boulder on Saturday night.
The Falcons also are coming off victories over Long Beach State (69-68) and Stanford (79-45) last week in the CBE Classic tournament at Stanford. Tonight in Kansas City, Mo., the Falcons play Duke (3-0) in the semifinals of the CBE Classic. The winner meets the Texas Tech-Marquette winner Tuesday.
“We’re not afraid to play anybody,” Bzdelik said. “Even if we fall short in some games, this kind of schedule is a résumé builder that could come into consideration in March.”
Bzdelik said his team’s schedule already is drawing national interest from basketball pundits.
“Long Beach State is going to be very strong this season,” Bzdelik said. “Stanford is going to win a lot of games, especially at home. An ultimate test for us is to play a Big 12 team that won 20 games last year.
“Then comes Duke, Texas Tech and Marquette, and we haven’t played any of those games in Clune Arena.”
The Falcons, who finished 24-7 last season after playing in the NCAA Tournament, have to hustle back from Kansas City to play Radford at the academy Wednesday.
Bzdelik and the Falcons meet even more nationally prominent teams before opening their Mountain West Conference schedule Jan. 3 at Colorado State.
The Falcons play Wake Forest at the World Arena in Colorado Springs on Nov. 29 and George Washington in the Cable Car Classic on Dec. 28 at Santa Clara.
“There’s no way anyone can question our competitiveness with our schedule,” Bzdelik said. “We’ve thrown a huge challenge at our players even before we begin conference play. The Mountain West Conference is going to be so strong this year it’s scary.”
Air Force senior forward Jacob Burtschi looks at the path ahead as small steps toward a big goal. Air Force has advanced to the NCAA Tournament twice in the past three seasons.
“Playing these caliber of teams on neutral sites or at their arenas can only help us,” said Burtschi, who is averaging 15.3 points. “Some people wondered if our team would stick around for another year. We’re playing a schedule that could put us in the NCAA Tournament again.”
On the air
The remaining Air Force men’s basketball games are being carried on Denver radio station KYOL 1510 AM.
Staff writer Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
