By [September 1961], the site selection team had identified MacDill Air Force Base at Tampa, Florida, as the preferred site [for the MSFC], largely because the Air Force planned to close down its Strategic Air Command operations at that base. A Houston site offered by Rice University was second, and the Benicia Ordnance Depot in the San Francisco Bay Area was third. Before a decision could be made, however, the Air Force decided not to close MacDill, omitting it from consideration.