AFA Sports   Air Force Academy sports

Stewart Mandel of SI.com lists Air Force coach Troy Calhoun as one of four potential candidates for the vacant University of Virginia job.

And Chris Graham of the Augusta Free Press writes that he’d rank Calhoun “a strong top choice” for Virginia, assuming Boise State’s Chris Petersen isn’t available. In the comments section of the article, Graham posted that, according to a source close to the UVA program, Calhoun will interview this week in Charlottesville.

Calhoun, in an e-mail to The Gazette, called that report “inaccurate,” and wrote, “All vision and energy on Academy coaching and recruiting.” Of the Virginia job he wrote he has “not given it a thought.”

Air Force returns to action this weekend after taking a week off for Thanksgiving. Here are some notes provided by the league about this weekend’s home Atlantic Hockey Association series against last-place American International.

Air Force: Air Force is in second place in the AHA with a 6-1-3 record…AFA is 6-5-3 overall, the first time the Falcons have been above .500 all season after the 0-4 start…AFA takes a seven-game unbeaten streak (4-0-3) into the Thanksgiving break … AFA’s unbeaten streak is the fourth longest in the nation…AFA is off until Dec. 4-5 against AIC at home…AFA plays the next four games at home before the holiday break…Derrick Burnett had one goal and one assist in each game. He leads the team with 11 assists and is second with 13 points…Burnett is 29th in the nation in assists … Jacques Lamoureux scored a power-play goal in each game and leads the team with seven goals and 15 points … Lamoureux is tied for second in the nation with five power-play goals…Blake Page scored his first goal of the season

with a breakaway on Saturday in the second period. It was the eventual game-winner, the third of his career…AFA is now 3-3-2 on the road this season after an 0-3 start … AFA’s penalty kill is No. 1 in the nation at 92.4 percent, killing 61 of 66 opponent power plays … The AFA power play is 10th in the nation at 23.2 percent.

American International: The American International Collegemen’s ice hockey team played host to the Mercyhurst Lakers over the Thanksgiving weekend. Mercyhurstclaimed victories in bothgames, winning 8-2 in the series opener and 2-0 in Saturday’s finale. In Friday’s 8-2 loss, senior forwards Chris Campanale and Josh Froese tallied a goal and an assist each for the Yellow Jackets, while freshman goaltender Ben Meisner made 23 saves in the loss. The Yellow Jackets outshot the Lakers 35-31 on the night. In Saturday’s 2-0 loss, junior netminder Dan Ramirez stopped 32 shots for AIC. The Yellow Jackets outshot the Lakers, for the second straight night, 36-34. With the losses AIC falls to 2-10-1 this season and to 2-8-1 in the AHA. Next up, the Yellow Jackets head to Colorado for two games with Air Force.

This is the third segment of the premier edition of “Jake’s and David’s Arguments,” in which Air Force beat writer Jake Schaller and columnist David Ramsey discuss an issue on their blogs. The issue in this installment – football coach Troy Calhoun’s viability as a candidate for a head coaching slot at a BCS school. Check Ramsey’s blog and earlier posts in this blog for previous parts of the argument.

You’re right, Ramsey, that this season’s offensive performance takes some of the shine off Calhoun.

But that can be spun easily by an AD (they’re pretty good at spinning, as you know), who could say that Air Force’s inexperience at the skill positions and injuries at quarterback necessitated a conservative approach.

Besides, there are plenty of other reasons for a BCS conference school to push for Calhoun.

Chief among them is one name: Paul Johnson.

The former Navy coach has led Georgia Tech to the ACC title game and into the Top 20 with the triple-option.

UVA’s athletic director also can point to another Navy coach: George Welsh. Virginia plucked him from Navy and all Welsh did was become the winningest coach in school and ACC history, with a record of 134-86-3. He won two conference titles and took the Cavaliers to 12 bowls.

Those two names should assuage any booster fears about a conservative offense or taking a coach from a service academy.

Air Force senior forward Grant Parker was named the Mountain West Conference player of the week today. Read more here.

This is the first segment of the premier edition of “Dave and Jake’s Arguments,” in which Air Force beat writer Jake Schaller and columnist David Ramsey discuss an Air Force sports issue on their blogs. The issue in this installment – football coach Troy Calhoun’s viability as a candidate for a head coaching slot at a school in a BCS conference.

Virginia’s 2009 season ended on Saturday. And Sunday, the nine-year tenure of head coach Al Groh came to a close.

One of the possible candidates to replace Groh, according to various news outlets, is Air Force coach Troy Calhoun.

Let’s shelve, for a moment, whether Calhoun would accept an offer from UVA and concentrate on whether he’s ready.

I say he is, Ramsey.

Calhoun might not yet have the name recognition for a perennial Top 25 program, but he clearly would be a good pick for a school like Virginia. He’s led the Falcons to three straight bowl games and has a 24-14 record at the academy.

Plus, he has the cache of the NFL, having worked for the Broncos for three years and served as the Texans’ offensive coordinator for one.

Check Ramsey’s blog for his response.

Air Force still is waiting for an official bowl invitation. I discuss why that is and the likely bowl scenario for the Mountain West Conference in my article in today’s edition of The Gazette.

As I said in the article, the feeling around the academy is Air Force is headed back to the Armed Forces Bowl for the third straight season (though the New Mexico Bowl technically still is in the cards). Both writers projecting bowls for ESPN.com have Air Force facing East Carolina in the Armed Forces Bowl and Wyoming playing Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl. CBSSports.com sees the Falcons heading back to the Armed Forces Bowl for a re-match with Houston and Wyoming going to the New Mexico Bowl to face Nevada.

SI.com writer Stewart Mandel’s College Football Overtime column is here. And you’ll never believe this, but BYU quarterback Max Hall had some disparaging things to say about the University of Utah, its football program and its fans.

Finally, I’ll be posting the first segment of a new series in a bit. It’s basically the first of many arguments I’ll have with Gazette columnist David Ramsey on our blogs.

The new Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls can be found here. My ballot for the AP poll, and Air Force coach Troy Calhoun’s ballot for the coaches poll are below.

Calhoun’s Ballot
1. Florida
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. TCU
5. Cincinnati
6. Boise State
7. Oregon
8. Ohio State
9. Penn State
10. Georgia Tech
11. Virginia Tech
12. Iowa
13. Oregon State
14. LSU
15. BYU
16. Miami
17. Pittsburgh
18. Houston
19. California
20. Stanford
21. Oklahoma State
22. USC
23. Nebraska
24. Clemson
25. Utah

Jake’s Ballot
1. Florida
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. TCU
5. Cincinnati
6. Boise State
7. Ohio State
8. Oregon
9. Georgia Tech
10. Virginia Tech
11. Iowa
12. Penn State
13. Oregon State
14. LSU
15. Miami
16. BYU
17. Pitt
18. California
19. Stanford
20. USC
21. Nebraska
22. Houston
23. Oklahoma State
24. West Virginia
25. Clemson

Virginia fired coach Al Groh today. Air Force’s Troy Calhoun is considered a potential candidate to replace him.

While it seems very likely the Falcons will be heading to Fort Worth for the Armed Forces Bowl, there won’t be an official announcement until Dec. 6.

Javan Hedlund, Mountain West Conference associate commissioner, communications, wrote the following in an e-mail:

“Even though it looks like TCU will make it to a BCS bowl, nothing is guaranteed as of today and therefore it cannot be released by the other bowls. Plus, BYU most likely will be held by the BCS as an at-large option this week.”

A couple quick links from last night’s men’s basketball victory over Charleston Southern. Here’s my game story, which deals in large part with senior Grant Parker’s bounce-back game. And here’s my notebook, which discusses Air Force’s injuries at the center spot.