Today's Tidbit... When Air Force Football Reached New Heights
Now and then, a college team that has been an afterthought or moved up a level emerges and has success beyond expectations. James Madison is the latest example, as they went 11-2 and won the Sun Belt East Division this year after moving up from FCS the previous year. Another team that hit great heights was the 1959 Air Force Academy team, which made the Cotton Bowl during the school's fourth year of operation.
The Air Force was part of the Army from the early days of flight until 1947, when it separated into a distinct Armed Services branch.
Following the separation, former Army Air Fields became Air Force Bases, and Air Force personnel transitioned to wearing blue uniforms. While those changes occurred, they made plans for an Air Force Academy modeled after West Point and Annapolis.
The Air Force Academy enrolled its first class in 1955. Housed in temporary facilities at Lowry AFB outside of Denver, they remained there through the 1957-58 academic year as others built the campus in Colorado Springs. The situation meant the football team did not have a home stadium, so their home game locations came down to the location that made the most financial sense given the opponent.
Air Force had a freshman football team in their first year of operation and went 4-4, playing major college freshmen teams in the Rockies and Plains states.
Buck Shaw took over as coach in 1956, when they played the equivalent of a DII/FCS varsity schedule and went 6-2-1. Denver University's stadium was their home field.
They played a tougher schedule in 1957 but did not fare as well, beating or tying their lesser opponents and getting crushed by the better teams on their schedule.
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