Air Force’s NCAA Hockey Tournament situation was up in the air Sunday. Literally.

When the pairings were revealed – the Falcons face Michigan at 1 p.m. Friday in Bridgeport, Conn. – the Falcons were in a plane, flying home after Saturday’s victory over Mercyhurst to win the Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament for the third straight year.

They finally got the word upon landing in Denver, the end of an otherwise taxing, roughly 10-hour ordeal from Rochester, N.Y., to Atlanta to Denver, to a bus home.

No matter. Air Force captain Mike Phillipich still was sky high.

“It’ll be great to finally get a shot at playing the team I grew up hating,” the Lansing, Mich., native said. “I grew up bleeding green (Michigan State). Now I bleed blue, Air Force blue.”

After losing 4-3 to Minnesota two years ago and 3-2 in overtime to Miami (Ohio) last season, Air Force believes it is ready to win its first NCAA game.

“I think with the last two NCAA Tournaments, we’ve eliminated that doubt, that we’re not capable of getting it done,” coach Frank Serratore said. “We’re going into the game really looking forward to playing it.”

After Saturday night’s 2-0 victory, it didn’t appear the Falcons would be facing the Wolverines (29-11), who have won 10 of their last 12 games but lost 5-2 to Notre Dame in Saturday’s Central Collegiate Hockey Association final.

Air Force thought it would be either the 15th or 16th overall seed for the event. That would have paired the Falcons with either Notre Dame or Boston University, the overall No. 1 seed.

But when the final PairWise rankings came out, the usual indication of seeding, Air Force was 14th. That would have meant a matchup with the overall No. 3 seed, in this case Denver.

But one of the selection committee’s objectives is to prevent first-round games between conference rivals. So Air Force and Miami (Ohio) – which plays with Michigan in the CCHA – switched spots, leaving the Falcons against Michigan and Miami against Denver in Minneapolis.

“When you get to this point, you’re just happy, relieved, that the conference tournament is over and you were able to win it,” Serratore said. “It really doesn’t matter who you play. You’re just happy to be in the field of 16.”

The attitude figures to change today, after a bit of sleep.

“We stayed up all night, talking and savoring the moment,” Serratore said. “We didn’t really talk a lot about the NCAA Tournament.”

The other two teams in Bridgeport are host ECAC champion Yale, which beat Air Force 3-2 in January in New Haven, Conn., and Hockey East’s Vermont.

The other first-round pairings:

At Manchester, N.H.: Boston University vs. Ohio State, North Dakota vs. New Hampshire

At Grand Rapids, Mich.: Notre Dame vs. Bemidji State, Cornell vs. Northeastern

At Minneapolis: Princeton vs. Minnesota-Duluth

Coach Frank Serratore, right, has led the Air Force hockey team to its third straight NCAA Tournament. Photo by KEVIN KRECK, THE GAZETTE