With finals complete, Air Force men’s basketball opens conference play on the road Wednesday at San Diego State.

In the last matchup between the schools Jan. 22, the Falcons fell to the Aztecs (5-3) in a 77-76 overtime heartbreaker at home. 

The Falcons’ Mountain West home opener is Dec. 30 against Wyoming. Air Force ended nonconference play with a 3-8 record after starting 0-4. That included wins over IU Indy and SUI Edwardsville to win the Air Force Classic. Air Force is on a four-game losing streak, with its last win being over the IU Indy Jaguars on Nov. 23. 

Last season, the Falcons were 1-19 in conference play, with their only win being a 72-69 overtime thriller over Fresno State at Clune Arena. 

After one year with a balanced conference schedule, the Mountain West returned to an unbalanced schedule this season, meaning teams are home-and-home with nine teams and have single games against two. Air Force will face Boise State and Utah State once this season, away and at home, respectively. 

Storylines to track: 

• This year’s Air Force team is heavily impacted by its freshmen, who make up 47.5% of the team’s scoring. Freshman forward Lucas Hobin is tied with Caleb Walker for top scorer with 12.7 points per game, and freshman Kam Sanders is close behind at 12.3. Walker is ranked fourth in the nation in field-goal percentage at 71.8. Sanders and freshman Ethan Greenberg have started every game, along with junior Wes Celichowski and sophomore Eli Robinson. Hobin made his debut as starter Nov. 15 against Miami-Ohio. The freshmen will face a different challenge as they enter conference play.The Falcons’ toughest opponent so far was Northern Colorado (9-1), which is No. 105 in NET rankings.  

• The Falcons have no seniors this season, but their veterans are earning more minutes, including junior captains Kolby Gilles and Walker. Gilles was injured all last season, but has come off the bench to make clutch plays. Walker is averaging 12.7 points in 23.5 minutes after averaging 6.5 and 16.4 last season. Colorado Springs native Robinson started at forward, and leads the team in steals (1.4) and rebounds (6.3) while averaging 31.5 minutes.  

• Around the conference, San Diego State boasts the top two NBA Draft prospects in the Mountain West in guard Miles Byrd and forward Magoon Gwath. ESPN projects both to go early in the second round in 2026, with Byrd at No. 33 and Gwath at No. 44. Byrd is averaging 10.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.8 assists, and Gwath is averaging 9.5 points and 4.7 rebounds while shooting 51.3%. 

• Mountain West champion Colorado State is without star and Colorado Springs native Nique Clifford of the NBA, but sits 8-2 as it starts conference play Saturday against Utah State. The Rams are No. 54 in the NET rankings and are on a five-game win streak, including a 91-86 victory in Fort Collins over Colorado. The Falcons will meet Colorado State at Moby Arena on Jan. 20. This is the last season with the Rams in the league before Colorado State joins the Pac-12 along with Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State. 

• After winning its third straight Western Athletic Conference tournament title in March, Grand Canyon joined the Mountain West at the start of the academic year. The Antelopes had a 26-8 record last season and sit 6-4. Grand Canyon has appeared in four of the last five NCAA tournaments and advanced to the second round in 2024 with a win over St. Mary’s. The Falcons will play the Antelopes in Arizona on Feb. 3. 

How they stack up: 

Mountain West men’s basketball team’s NCAA Net Rankings through Monday. 

29. Utah St. (8-1)

39. Boise St. (7-2)

52. Wyoming (8-2)

54. Colorado St. (8-2)

63. New Mexico (8-2)

82. San Diego St. (5-3)

89. Nevada (8-3) 

121. Grand Canyon (6-4)

172. Fresno St. (5-5) 

205. UNLV (4-6)

250. San Jose St. (4-6) 

303. Air Force  (3-8) 

Mountain West leaders: 

Scoring 

MJ Collins, sr., Utah St. (20.6)

Colby Garland, jr., San Jose St. (18.9)  

Jake Heidbreder, sr., Fresno St. (18.5) 

Rebounds

Nana Owusu-Anane, graduate, Grand Canyon (9.6) 

Tomislav Buljan, fr., New Mexico (9.1) 

Yaphet Moundi, sr., San Jose St. (8.2)

Assists 

Drake Allen, graduate, Utah St. ( 5.7) 

Jevin Muniz, sr., Colorado St. (5.1) 

Zaon Collins, jr., Fresno St. (5.1)