Strike 2: There was much celebrating in NoCo when the Colorado State Rams finally returned from a trip to Colorado Springs with the Ram-Falcon Trophy in tow. As everyone knows by now, the Rams 21-13 win on Saturday marked the first time CSU had won a game at the Air Force Academy since 2002, and it broke a seven-game Air Force winning streak in the series in the process.
Air Force still leads the all-time series, which dates back to 1957, by a 39-22 margin (there was a tie in 1967.) Since they became conference foes and brought the traveling trophy into play, AFA leads 28-16. The loss on Saturday was just AFA head coach Troy Calhoun’s third in 17 meetings with CSU.
The Rams and Falcons have played each other more often than “rivals” like Nebraska and Iowa, or Michigan and Notre Dame. They’ve played just five fewer times than Florida and Florida State.
Next year will be the 63rd meeting between CSU and Air Force. But will it be the last?
Will college football’s never ending conference realignment saga claim still another victim?
A significant number of “rivalry” games have gone by the wayside since teams began to jump conferences. Fans around here know that CU and Nebraska aren’t scheduled to play again. There’s been no more Kansas vs. Missouri, Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State or Pitt vs. Penn State on an annual basis.
With CSU moving to the revamped Pac-12 conference in 2026, and Air Force staying in a new look Mountain West, there are no guarantees they will play annually anymore, or even that they’ll ever meet again.
When it comes to scheduling non-conference rivalry games, CSU isn’t at the top of AFA’s list of must-play rivals. Army and Navy are. After that, who knows who the Falcons will or want to – or be able to – keep on their non-conference slate?
The new Pac-12 currently has seven football-playing members, and will begin in 2026 with eight or perhaps 10 conference members. The revamped Mountain West is likely to be the same. (Right now the MW has eight football playing members for 2026.) With teams needing to fill out a 12-game schedule, the number of conference games they want to play becomes the biggest decider. If the leagues schedule nine conference games, that severely limits the opportunities to schedule out of conference tilts.
If each conference ultimately stays at 10 members, the plan probably shrinks to eight or maybe even seven conference games, and there may not be any room for an annual CSU vs. AFA game. Money will factor in of course. But if the MW decides to lock it in at nine conference games annually, that would leave the Academy just one non-conference slot to fill. It’s doubtful they’d want to be locked in to playing the exact same three non-conference games every season.
It’s all pretty complicated, yes, but it comes down to want to. Do these two programs want to continue to play each other every season?
Perhaps not.
It’s been reported that CSU and Wyoming (also staying in the MW) are planning to continue the Border War rivalry on an annual basis, which is good news for fans on both sides. But with CSU departing the MW, and AFA, the most successful college football program in our state for the last two decades (inexplicably) not following them, it’s very possible that the Ram-Falcon Trophy will forever reside in whichever team wins the game in Fort Collins next season.
