In 2011, the Air Force Falcons made their fourth appearance in the NCAA Hockey Tournament after capturing the Atlantic Hockey Association's automatic bid by winning the conference tournament. They then had a tough draw as a No. 4 seed going up against the tournament's No. 1 overall seed, the Yale Bulldogs. The Falcons took the Bulldogs to overtime, but lost, 2-1.
They'll attempt to make it farther in 2012, and they are in a good position to do it. The Falcons were voted by the AHA coaches to finish second in the conference. The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Tigers took first place, but both schools each received five first-place votes. Holy Cross, which came in third, had the other two first-place votes.
The Falcons are right outside the Top 15-20 in the major polls. Head coach Frank Serratore will have goalie Jason Torf back in net after the netminder had a 2.87 GAA and a 16-9-4 record in 33 games.
Here is the projected order of finish:
| 1. RIT (5 first-place votes) |
| 2. Air Force (5) |
| 3. Holy Cross (2) |
| 4. Niagra |
| 5. Connecticut |
| 6. Robert Morris |
| 7. Mercyhurst |
| 8. Army |
| 9. Canisius |
| 10. Bentley |
| 11. Sacred Heart |
| 12. American International |