Rematch? Say Whaa?

By now you've undoubtedly heard that the Air Force Falcons are bowl eligible. If this is an excruciatingly painful concept to grasp, I apologize, but just keep saying to yourself "31-20" and I'm sure you'll get over it. Nevertheless, the Falcons are more than likely going bowling for the first time since 2002, and are in prime position to finish second or third in the Mountain West conference. All of this of course begs the question of which bowl game the Falcons would be playing in. Remember, the Poinsettia Bowl- which Navy is slated to play in if the Midshipmen can win six games- has the second choice of a Mountain West eligible team after the Las Vegas Bowl, and traditionally picks the second best team in the conference. So what if the Falcons finish second, would they be playing in the Poinsettia Bowl in a service academy rematch?

It's actually not a new question, but one which gained steam after both the Colorado Springs Gazette and the Denver Post had stories regarding a potential rematch this morning after Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun sounded off on the issue on Sunday. Coach Calhoun said he would welcome a 'rematch,' which of course isn't very surprising when you consider his team was on the losing end of the original matchup. But the Gazette claims more than just coaching speculation in its assessment, and actually claims that the bowl people are mulling this over.

Weldon Donaldson, a representative of the San Diego bowl, brought up the interest in the service academy game. He noted there had not been discussions with Navy officials or coach Paul Johnson to determine interest. Navy defeated the Falcons 31-20 on Sept. 29 in Annapolis, Md.

After I first read this earlier this morning, my first thought was a rather poignant "are you kidding me?" College football is a game predicated on the regular season, and outside of conference championship games rematches are usually not a good idea unless yours is the team with something to prove. Fortunately, Capital columnist and Navy beat writer Bill Wagner got a jump on the response, and clarified that any potential rematch was out of the question.

Bruce Binkowski, executive director of the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, told The Capital this afternoon that if Navy qualifies for the game as expected the opponent would not be Air Force."We will not schedule a bowl matchup with teams that played during the regular season. No bowl likes rematches," Binkowski said. "We are not interested in a Navy-Air Force rematch so you can close the book on that idea."

So there you have it. It's not going to happen. By my estimation, this will likely mean Air Force will end up in the New Mexico bowl, which, believe it or not, may be more inclined to pick the Falcons over the Lobos, who also figure to be bowl eligible. This means, barring an Navy collapse or BYU meltdown, that the Midshipmen will likely face off with either the Wyoming Cowboys or the New Mexico Lobos. I am, by some accounts, a Wyoming fan, and personally would like to see the matchup of Wyoming's defense verses the Navy offense. But just as long as we're not playing Air Force again, I would be happy with any of the bowl eligible teams in the Mountain West conference.