Mountain West Conference

Football roundup: Garland switches sides, Steelman update, Mooney recruits, schedule news

By Kevin Lilley on May 2, 2013 Air Force, Army, Football, Navy

Four academy football hits, including an Air Force standout, two Army standouts and Navy’s bipolar 2014 schedule: 1. Garland’s new gig. Star Air Force defensive lineman Ben Garland joined the Broncos in 2010, left for active-duty Air Force service in 2011 and came back in 2012. The first lieutenant returns to Denver in 2013, but on the other side of the football — The Denver Post reported he’ll play offense this time around. He has not reached the active regular-season roster during his short NFL tenure. And he’ll also need to update his Twitter background picture. 2. Black Knight to…

Bargain-basement Big East: Navy's future home could have TV deal as low as $20 million

By Kevin Lilley on February 11, 2013 Football, Navy, Uncategorized

Navy football fans line up on both sides of the should-we-have-joined-a-conference debate. One side just got a bunch more ammunition. The Big East, which will be the home of the Mids come 2015, reportedly has been offered a deal by the NBC Sports Network that would be worth between $20 and $23 million a season. That works out to less than $2 million per school, and likely would be even less for the football-only Naval Academy. But it will be much, much less than previous estimates. In December, before seven of the league’s nonfootball members took their legacy basketball programs…

Bowl update: Who might Mids, Falcons face in postseason?

By Kevin Lilley on October 30, 2012 Air Force, Football, Navy, Uncategorized

With wins last weekend, both the Navy Midshipmen and the Air Force Falcons improved to 5-3 on the season, one win away from bowl eligibility. Navy has no teams above .500 remaining on its schedule and hosts 2-6 Florida Atlantic this Saturday; Air Force visits 1-6 Army on Saturday and has a date with Hawaii (1-6) in Colorado Springs on Nov. 16. Coaches and players can’t take wins for granted, but bowl projections have to. And if some of the most well-known postseason guessers — CBSSports.com’s Jerry Palm, college football wizard Phil Steele and ESPN projectors Mark Schlabach and Brad…

Monday football roundup: More Notre Dame suspensions, Navy notes, Steelman video, Mountain West update

By Kevin Lilley on August 27, 2012 Air Force, Army, Football, Navy, Uncategorized

Four quick hits to start the week before kickoff: 1. Irish saving on airline tickets. Notre Dame senior running back Cierre Wood, the projected starter for the Irish after topping 1,000 yards on the ground last season, was suspended Sunday for the first two games of 2012, including Saturday’s contest against Navy in Dublin, according to multiple reports. Wood will sit because of unspecified rules violations and will be joined on the sideline by reserve defensive end Justin Utupo, also out for unspecified reasons. But that’s nowhere near the full list. Also suspended for Dublin are quarterback Tommy Rees and…

Wednesday roundup: Olympic preview, Stann and Bisping meet the press, Air Force football updates, more

By Kevin Lilley on July 25, 2012 Air Force, Army, Football, Mixed martial arts, Navy, Soccer, UFC, Uncategorized

A handful of quick military-sports hits for the middle of the week: Olympic fever. Want the basics on the military men and women who’ll compete in London beginning later this week? Click here for our OFFduty preview, including capsule profiles on all 16 of them, plus the dates they’ll compete. For a more complete view of the games, head to USA Today’s site here (and a full Olympic schedule here). The 2012 Summer Olympics kicked off today with women’s soccer contests — a perfect reason to catch this video Q-and-A with Navy women’s soccer coach Carin Gabarra, a member of…

Big East update: Temple could go west, Navy's future rivals remain unclear

By Kevin Lilley on April 10, 2012 Air Force, Football, Navy

What’s clear: Navy football will join the Big East come 2015. What’s unclear: Everything else. From the size of the conference (13 teams in 2015, as planned, or an even number to avoid a scheduling nightmare?) to the fate of future TV deals to the structure of college football’s postseason, nothing is certain. But there’s at least a hint at one of the big mysteries — how the league will set up its two divisions. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports today that in 2013, with 12 teams likely participating, the conference will divide into East and West divisions, with geography the…

Altitude adjustment: Where does Air Force football go without The Mtn.?

By Kevin Lilley on April 9, 2012 Air Force, Football

If you’re not a fan of the Mountain West Conference, this item is a bit like the old riddle about the tree falling in an empty forest. Except instead of a tree, it’s a cable network. The Colorado Springs Gazette reports The Mtn., the regional all-sports network that was home to six of Air Force’s 13 football games last year as well as scores of contests in other sports, will go off the air for good May 31. When it came to the forest of pay TV, the network barely made a sound outside its home region, leaving the naturally…

Thursday football roundup: Sullivan Award video, more honors for Dowd, Air Force's future conference

By Kevin Lilley on March 22, 2012 Air Force, Army, Football, Navy, Uncategorized

Three quick service academy football hits, before everybody gets their hoops fix this evening: 1. Sullivan Award video. As After Action tweeted earlier this week (Hey, let’s all follow that account, could we?), Army linebacker Andrew Rodriguez was presented with the James E. Sullivan Award on Tuesday, given to the top amateur athlete in the country. It’s an elite club, with names both historical (Army’s Doc Blanchard) and contemporary (Michael Phelps, Peyton Manning and, yes, this guy). Head here for a West Point-produced behind-the-scenes video of Rodriguez at the awards ceremony. 2. Dowd gets his due. A 3.9 GPA. In…

For Falcons, a week of wait-and-see

By Kevin Lilley on November 29, 2011 Air Force, Football

Air Force ended its regular season with a 45-21 win at Colorado State, giving the Falcons a 7-5 record and a fifth-straight season of bowl eligibility. Which bowl? There’s at least three possibilities, and fans shouldn’t plan on booking any plane tickets until this weekend’s action wraps up. Frank Schwab of the Colorado Springs Gazette lays out a few of the scenarios here, with some words from the key players. Here are three key points for the Air Force faithful and armchair bowl projectors to consider. 1. Finish vs. value. The Mountain West Conference has agreements with four bowls –…

Wild weekend: Navy beats Army, Air Force wins another MWC game the UFC comes to Fort Hood

By on January 23, 2011 Air Force, Army, Mixed martial arts, Navy

We haven’t talked much about college hoops this year on After Action because, frankly, we just don’t get to see any games. I’d love to follow Air Force, Navy and Army closer, but it’s hard to write about teams you never actually watch. One of these days I’ll shell out the extra money for CBS College Sports, which actually broadcast this weekend’s Army-Navy game. But in the meantime, we follow the hoops squads from afar and do what we can. Nevertheless, this was a pretty special weekend for service academy basketball, and Navy’s and Air Force’s victories deserve some attention. Also happening…

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