AIR FORCE ACADEMY - When the Air Force basketball team gathered on Selection Sunday to watch invitations to the NCAA Tournament going out, the celebration that had been considered a certainty not so long ago became a time for quiet contemplation of bursting bubbles and also for finding a bright side to a season once filled with great promise that had ended on a disappointing note.

While the Falcons missed out on the NCAAs, they received a berth in the National Invitation Tournament as the No. 1 seed in their West Region.

Air Force (23-8) will host No. 8 seed Austin Peay (21-11) at 9 p.m. Wednesday. As the top seed, the Falcons could play up to three games at Clune Arena before the NIT semifinals in Madison Square Garden in New York.

Such a prospect is exciting to forward Jacob Burtschi and the other seniors on the team.

"There was some (disappointment at not making the more-prestigious NCAAs) but you know, we did it to ourselves," Burtschi said. "We can't be mad at anybody; we have to look at one another. Ending the season on a four-game losing streak is not going to do you a lot of help. But the good news is, we have another game to play, and the even better news is, if we take care of business at Clune like we have in the past, we get three straight and a chance to go to the Garden.

"It's a great opportunity for us to right the ship, get a couple of more wins in and finish up on a good foot."

Air Force had raced to a 17-1 record to start the season and had been ranked as high as No. 13 nationally in The Associated Press poll, the best in school history. With a résumé that included impressive wins against Wake Forest, Stanford and Texas Tech, the high-flying Falcons appeared a cinch not just for a tournament bid but for favorable seeding at the Big Dance, which, in turn, might have produced their first NCAA Tournament win.

That bubble burst in a late-season swoon in which Air Force won only six of its final 13 games, losing four in a row at the finish. The losing streak included a 67-62 loss to Wyoming in the Mountain West Conference tournament quarterfinals Thursday, with a lackluster performance that left the Falcons at 23-8 and on a none-too-solid bubble that quickly was lanced by the selection committee.

An opportunity for redemption is especially important for starting center Nick Welch, a fifth-year senior who sat out last year because of an injury.

"I feel like I let the whole school down whenever we lose," Welch said. "Everybody kind of bands around us and cheers for us. I don't know if that has anything to do with us not performing in the postseason, but it sure is disappointing to lose and feel like you let the whole school down.

"A lot of universities, it's just a bunch of people who go there and don't care anything about the program, but it seems every student at our school really supports us, and it feels like we let them down whenever we lose."

Burtschi also believes playing at home will be the key for regaining the Falcons' early-season form.

"Right here at Clune Arena is how we get it back," he said. "This senior class is 54-2 here, and we haven't had that swagger the last four games. It's a good chance to get excited. We're going to have thousands of fans behind us that are just excited that we get to continue to play.

"We're back on our home court and we have to be excited for that. We just have to relax and go out there and play."

NCAA or NIT, Burtschi doesn't want to hear about moral victories or accomplishments by the senior class. At least not yet.

"Tell me that later, over a beer," he said. "I still want to accomplish something more."