Air Force

The Falcons measure their falls differently than the rest of college football. National rankings are not the obsession; the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy is — the three-way competition against Army and Navy that decides something more specific than a bowl bid. Air Force has won more Trophies than either of the other academies, and the program's identity is organized around defending that. Falcon Stadium at 7,258 feet, future officers running the triple option by assignment, and a cadet wing that shows up in uniform — none of it is backdrop; it is the argument.

The 2025 season cracked the argument. After 19 straight season-opening wins — one of the longest such streaks in the country — the Falcons cratered to 4-8, their worst record in the Calhoun era. The defense tightened late, holding five of their last six opponents under 21 points, but the damage was done: a 34-31 loss to Navy in El Paso handed the Trophy to Annapolis and closed a year the program will not cite with pride. Entering 2026, Calhoun — an academy graduate, the dean of service-academy coaches — faces the sharper version of the question that trails every triple-option program: is the model still bending bigger, faster teams, or is the gap from the portal era finally showing?

The 2026 season will test both factions of the Falcon internal argument. The traditionalists want the option run pure and the Trophy reclaimed — they believe conditioning and altitude and assignment football still bend any roster on a given Saturday in Colorado Springs. The modernizers point to the 4-8 and ask whether the academy must adapt its scheme and embrace the transfer window to stop the slides. Both will be watching the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy race in December. That is still the only scoreboard that settles it.