The transfer portal? Redshirts? NIL? What are they? It might as well still be 1985 at Air Force, where such things are foreign. The service academies are never going to be factors in the portal, as players like Caleb Williams and others cannot make a move to Colorado Springs, Annapolis, or West Point just to throw or catch a football. 

It hasn't hurt Air Force. A time-tested system and continuity among the staff, throwbacks in the mobile culture of modern college football, have the Falcons thriving. They've won 10-plus games in each of their last three full seasons, with head coach Troy Calhoun the unquestioned dean of the Mountain West as he moves into his 17th campaign in the fall. Continuity has been a theme for a long while at Air Force, which has had just five coaches across the past 65 years, including a brief one-year stint under Bill Parcells (yep, that Bill Parcells) in 1978. Ben Martin, Ken Hatfield, Fisher DeBerry, and Calhoun have shepherded the other 64 campaigns since, the latter three using a similar formula as introduced by Hatfield more than 40 years ago...

Bruce Marshall's full breakdown of Air Force's 2023 outlook, which includes how he's playing their win total, can be found below as part of SportsLine's preview of the Mountain West season.

Mountain West preview: Conference winner | Air Force | Boise State | Colorado State | Fresno State | Hawaii | Nevada | New Mexico | San Diego State | San Jose State | UNLV | Utah State | Wyoming

2023 Air Force Falcons at a glance

• Last Year: 10-3 SU, 7-6 ATS, 6-7 O/U
• Returning starters: Offense 6; Defense 7
• Win total: 8.5 (Over -125, Under +105)

What do you need to know about Air Force before locking in your Mountain West futures bets? And which side of their win total makes for the best play? ... Join SportsLine right now to see Mountain West futures betting strategy from a veteran college football expert!