Schedule Thoughts

So Air Force’s 2008 schedule was finalized on Tuesday (scroll down two posts to see the full slate).

First impression upon looking at it?

It sets up pretty well for the Falcons.

First of all, and most importantly, Air Force has a bye week at an opportune time for the first time since the 2004 season when it had a break between its sixth and seventh games.

In 2005, Air Force’s bye came before the last game of the season when a losing season already was assured. In 2006, the Falcons had two bye weeks, but they were sandwiched around their first game. And last season, of course, Air Force had no bye weeks, playing 12 games in 12 weeks.

In the upcoming season, the Falcons will get a break between their fourth game (a tough one against Utah, which should be one of the favorites in the Mountain West Conference) and their fifth (against archrival Navy).

Other impressions on the schedule:

-It’s not as difficult early as it was last season when the Falcons played the teams predicted to be the top three in the conference (Utah, TCU and BYU) and then Navy in consecutive weeks in September. That’s important, as the 2008 team will be young

-Not a terribly difficult start, but how about the finish? Back-to-back games against defending league champ BYU and then at TCU for the regular season finale. Think the Horned Frogs will be hungry for some revenge?

-A couple not-so-fortunate notes for the Falcons: UNLV has a bye week prior to playing host to Air Force on Oct. 18. The Falcons, meanwhile, play at San Diego State the week before facing the Rebels. Plus, TCU has a bye week before playing host to Air Force on Nov. 22. Air Force plays at home against BYU the week before. And finally, Air Force plays at UNLV (at night) on Saturday, Oct. 18. It then has to travel home and prepare to play New Mexico on Thursday, Oct. 23 after a short week.