Conference matters coming into play

air force academy» A week after leaving Colorado Springs, Navy will host No. 6 Houston in a game that could decide the American Athletic Conference.

Air Force must wait until the day after Thanksgiving for its potentially pivotal Mountain West battle with Boise State in the regular-season finale.

These conferences figure to be near the top of the Group of Five, so their champions just might be vying for the non-Power Five automatic bid.

If all goes to plan for Air Force and Navy, they could play in important games later on this season.

So, do these conference aspirations diminish the importance of the three-team service academy roundrobin that decides the Commander-in-Chief ’s trophy? No it does not. “Nothing’s changed for us,” said Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo, whose program joined the AAC last year. “We basically have two goals to start the season and in my mind they’re both the same — win the Commander-in-Chief ’s trophy and win the conference . ... Playing Air Force is a huge, huge game for our program. We have a ton of respect for them. They’re a good team, they always have been. Our games have always been hard-fought football games. So we don’t expect anything different this week.”

Air Force fell just short of a Mountain West title last year, falling 27-24 at San Diego State in the championship game. With most of its key players back along with a program-record 32 seniors, plus a road win at Utah State in the books, there are realistic expectations of winning that game this year.

Still, the Falcons have two goals. And while some players contend both are equal, fullback Shayne Davern picked his choice.

“You want to do well in your conference, I think that’s what your average football player thinks,” Davern said. “But when you’re here longer and you really start learning about the rivalry and the history and the importance of winning the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, that really ranks up on top.”