Air Force unveils women’s, men’s basketball schedules for Mountain West play

The Mountain West trailed behind a few other conferences when it came to beginning play in football, but they’re ahead of the game in women’s and men’s basketball.

Conference schedules for both sports were revealed Friday afternoon, and the Air Force Falcons will begin Mountain West play in late December. The women will open their season on the road on New Year’s Eve at San Diego State, while the men will host Utah State on Dec. 29.

Each team will play nine home and nine road games this season. The Mountain West tournament will take place March 7-13 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Like everything else in 2020, college basketball scheduling has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. It’s unclear who the Falcons will face in non-conference play and when those games will be announced. Army, Navy and the Patriot League have not released schedules yet for the upcoming season.

For the women, this will be the sixth season on the job for head coach Chris Gobrecht. She led the Falcons to a program-high seven wins in MWC play last season. Air Force had a 10-21 overall record last season and won their opening game in the MWC tournament over Colorado State.

On the men’s side, it’s the first season back on the bench for Joe Scott, who previously coached the Falcons from 2001 through 2004. In the 2003-04 season, Scott led the Falcons to a 22-7 record, a Mountain West Championship, a berth in the NCAA tournament and a No. 25 ranking in the AP Poll. Scott went on to coach at Princeton and Denver, where he led the Pioneers to a regular season WAC title and NIT appearance in 2013. Air Force has appeared in the AP Poll just once since Scott left. He replaces Dave Pilipovich, who guided the team to a 12-20 mark last season.

Here’s the full Mountain West schedules for both squads...

Air Force Women

• Dec. 31 at San Diego State
• Jan. 2 at UNLV
• Jan. 9 at Colorado State
• Jan. 13 vs. Boise State
• Jan. 16 vs. UNLV
• Jan. 18 vs. San Diego State
• Jan. 21 at San Jose State
• Jan. 23 at Fresno State
• Jan. 27 at Boise State
• Jan. 30 vs. Utah State
• Feb. 3 at New Mexico
• Feb. 6 vs. Wyoming
• Feb. 11 vs. Fresno State
• Feb. 13 vs. San Jose State
• Feb. 20 at Wyoming
• Feb. 24 vs. Colorado State
• Feb. 27 at Utah State
• March 2 vs. Nevada

Air Force Men

• Dec. 29 vs. Utah State
• Jan. 2 at Boise State
• Jan. 5 at New Mexico
• Jan. 9 vs. UNLV
• Jan. 16 vs. San Jose State
• Jan. 19 at Colorado State
• Jan. 23 at Wyoming
• Jan. 26 vs. San Diego State
• Jan. 30 vs. New Mexico
• Feb. 2 at Fresno State
• Feb. 6 at San Jose State
• Feb. 9 vs. Nevada
• Feb. 13 vs. Wyoming
• Feb. 16 ay San Digeo State
• Feb. 20 vs. Colorado State
• Feb. 23 at UNLV
• Feb. 27 at Utah State
• March 2 vs. Fresno State