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1998 Air Force

12–⁠1 (7–⁠1 Western Athletic Conference), coached by Fisher DeBerry, finished No. 13 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Air Force in 1998, game by game: won vs. Wake Forest 42–0; won at UNLV 52–10; won vs. Colorado State 30–27; lost at TCU 34–35; won vs. New Mexico 56–14; won vs. Navy 49–7; won at Tulsa 42–21; won vs. SMU 31–7; won at Army 35–7; won at No. 25 Wyoming 10–3; won vs. Rice 22–16; won vs. BYU 20–13; won vs. Washington 45–25+42−1Won 42–0 vs. Wake Forest+42Wake ForestWon 52–10 at UNLV+42UNLVWon 30–27 vs. Colorado State+3Colorado StateLost 34–35 at TCU-1TCUWon 56–14 vs. New Mexico+42New MexicoWon 49–7 vs. Navy+42NavyWon 42–21 at Tulsa+21TulsaWon 31–7 vs. SMU+24SMUWon 35–7 at Army+28ArmyWon 10–3 at No. 25 Wyoming+7No. 25 WyomingWon 22–16 vs. Rice+6RiceWon 20–13 vs. BYU+7BYUWon 45–25 vs. Washington+20Washington
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsWake ForestW 42–⁠073%
Sep 12atUNLVW 52–⁠1074%
Sep 17vsColorado StateW 30–⁠2754%
Sep 26atTCUL 34–⁠3572%
Oct 3vsNew MexicoW 56–⁠1472%
Oct 10vsNavyW 49–⁠777%
Oct 24atTulsaW 42–⁠2176%
Oct 31vsSMUW 31–⁠782%
Nov 7atArmyW 35–⁠775%
Nov 14at25WyomingW 10–⁠350%
Nov 21vsRiceW 22–⁠1680%
Dec 5Bowls & playoffvsBYUWestern Athletic Championship GameW 20–⁠1364%
Dec 25Bowls & playoffvsWashingtonOahu BowlW 45–⁠2566%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Washington 45–⁠25 in the Oahu Bowl; No. 13 in the final AP poll; Western Athletic Conference champions.

In program history: The 2nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 71 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 4: 23
  2. Wk 10: 25
  3. Wk 11: 23
  4. Wk 12: 20
  5. Wk 13: 18
  6. Wk 14: 17
  7. Wk 15: 16
  8. Final: 13

Western Athletic Conference champions7–⁠1 in the conference, won the Western Athletic Championship Game

Record
12–⁠1
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Western Athletic Conference
AP final
No. 13 peak No. 13
Points
468–⁠185
Coach
Fisher DeBerry
Elo
1738 +175 this season
SP+ rating
18.6 No. 18 of 112; offense No. 22, defense No. 17
SRS
15.6 No. 15 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinators
Richard Bell and Cal McCombs
Captains
Blane Morgan, Jemal Singleton, Tim Curry and Jason Sanderson
Offense
Wishbone triple option
Defense
3–⁠4

Drafted in 1999

The 1999 draft
Rd 7Bryce Fisher DEBuffalo Bills

1998 Western Athletic Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Air Force7–⁠112–⁠113
BYU7–⁠19–⁠5
San Diego State7–⁠17–⁠5
Wyoming6–⁠28–⁠3
Colorado State5–⁠38–⁠4
Utah5–⁠37–⁠4
Rice5–⁠35–⁠6
Fresno State5–⁠35–⁠6
TCU4–⁠47–⁠5
SMU4–⁠45–⁠7
San José State3–⁠54–⁠8
UTEP3–⁠53–⁠8
Tulsa2–⁠64–⁠7
New Mexico1–⁠73–⁠9
Hawai’i0–⁠80–⁠12
UNLV0–⁠80–⁠11

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.