WAC Preview: Can Boise State grab BCS glory now?

By Chris Maza Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

(Note: As the college football season approaches, I will be breaking down the following conferences: The Big XII, the PAC-10, the WAC and the Big East. This week I tackle the WAC. If you haven't already, don't forget to check out past previews of independent Notre Dame, the Big XII and the PAC-10)

It has been an interesting off season for the WAC as it and the Mountain West signed a BCS television contract in July. Along with the signed contract, the WAC sent along a letter with it's "concerns" about the BCS process. But in reality, they are still on the receiving end of one of the biggest screw jobs in sports in the fact that even after signing the contract, WAC teams are still not given automatic BCS bowl consideration. The conference vowed to continue its fight for equality, but how many waves can you make while being part of a $500 million machine?

So Boise State remains the WAC's best chance at busting things open for the WAC. Not that that means very much. The WAC champion Broncos were ninth in BCS polling at the end of the regular season, ahead of Ohio State (who lost to Texas in the Fiesta Bowl) and Cincinnati (who were thumped by Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl). If you weren't paying attention, even with a decent strength of schedule ranking of 56th, undefeated Boise State was relegated to the Poinsettia Bowl, which did turn out to be one of the best games of the bowl schedule against TCU. Still, the fact that it was a great game against another underappreciated team does not take away the sting of such an obvious snub. Especially when you lose that game.

So the Broncos once again will look for legitimacy in the college football ranks. And while their conference schedule gives them little help in that regard, but if they are able to beat a tough Oregon team in their season opener, it will be a pretty good indication that this team can beat teams with top talent.

Defense remains the main strength of the Broncos - they were 10th in the country in points allowed last season - and that is not likely to change, even with turnover in the front seven. Ryan Winterswyk is a young, but active d-lineman who will help solidify the front line and an experienced secondary will jam up receivers, giving the youngsters up front enough time to get at opposing quarterbacks.

Offensively, sophomore Kellen Moore figures to be even better than his first year and a good line and capable running backs will look to take some of the load off Moore's shoulders. That's a good thing, because if the Broncos have a major weakness, it's in the receiving corps. Beyond Austin Pettis, there isn't much there in terms of truly reliable options for the passing game.

Nevada will be an interesting team to watch coming out of the conference with an absolutely explosive offense. Even though they and Hawaii were tied with 5-3 conference records, many make the argument that Nevada was the better team, citing specifically the Wolf Pack's 38-31 victory over the Warriors. This year there will be no doubt who the number two team in the conference is. Colin Kaepernick is an absolute stud, having compiled nearly 4,000 of total offense (2,849 passing, 1,130 rushing) and 39 touchdowns. Also returning is Vai Taua, the man who actually led the team in rushing, believe it or not, with 1,521 yards, good for eighth in the nation. Nevada's problem last year remains its problem this year - defense. Nevada was ranked 150th in points allowed, giving up an average of 31.5 points per contest. The Wolf Pack had the worst defense in football against the pass, which makes life difficult for them when they face good throwing teams on their schedule like Notre Dame, Missouri and Boise State. The good thing is they are a year older, but adding a year to a bad secondary doesn't mean it's necessarily going to be better.

Two teams that could make a major leap in the conference on Fresno State and Louisiana Tech. The killer for Fresno State could be the fact they play a heavier out-of-conference schedule than others, which includes traveling to Wisconsin and Cincinnati. Its strength lies in its defense, which may sound stupid, considering it ranked seventh in the conference last year. However, let's not forget that a multitude of injuries and the fact defensive coordinator Dan Brown was battling cancer had a lot to do with that. Brown died in March of this year. If they can stay healthy and the players buy into the new coordinator's game plan, 2009 could be a much different story. The big question is who will lead the offense for the Bulldogs? If Ryan Colburn turns out to be even a decent quarterback, with the backfield the Bulldogs have, they could be very successful, especially in conference play.

Louisiana Tech might be ready to step into the big time in the WAC. Last year's defense was the best in the conference in scoring defense, allowing just 10 points per game. That was good for sixth in the nation, too, by the way. Their 8-5 record earned them a spot in the Independence Bowl, where they beat Northern Illinois by a score of 17 - (you guessed it) 10. While the defense probably won't be quite that good this year with several key pieces missing, the offense should be able to pick up a bit more of the slack this season. With a strong line in front of him, Daniel Porter should find similar success in the running game as he did in 2008, but for this team to get over the hump, Ross Jenkins will have to become a true leader at the quarterback position.

Hawaii has made news recently because head coach Greg McMackin is still stewing about getting trounced on his home field by a disappointing Notre Dame team, so he felt the need to call them a derogatory term. That's pretty much the only reason this team will make headlines this year. The suspension is a joke, as McMackin will still be able to coach on a "volunteer basis," so don't expect the Rainbow Warriors (ironic, isn't it?) to skip a beat in that regard. Where they will be hurting is on defense, where the team returns just three starters. Offensively, they should be fine, having found a competent quarterback in Greg Alexander, who threw 14 touchdowns and five interceptions in the final six games of the year with a 63 percent completion rate. But is that offense good enough to make up for all the shortcomings they will have on defense? Don't count on it.

Prediction: Boise State again takes the conference, but not without a bump in the road at Louisiana Tech, causing them to fall short in their quest for a BCS bid.

Projected WAC standings:
1. Boise State
2. Nevada
3. Louisiana Tech
4. Fresno State
5. Hawaii
6. San Diego State
7. Utah State
8. New Mexico State
9. Idaho

Mountain West, WAC had to do it

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Don't blame the Mountain West and the WAC for joining the BCS.

They fought a valiant battle, but in the end, it was all about survival. Several times over the years, there has been a Boise State or a Utah that has threatened to blow up the BCS once and for all. But it never happened. They couldn't beat it, so they had to join it.

The worst part about the whole thing is everytime a non-BCS team ended up faltering in its quest to screw up the system, the powers that be would say, "See? The system works."

Well, it still doesn't work. Just because it's better than the old corrupt system does not mean that it is a good system.

It is still unbelievable that so many conferences and Notre Dame would be so against the only truly proper way of determining a champion - a playoff. It's something that should happen in college football for two reasons. First, the fans want it.

But secondly, and seemingly more important to conference officials, it would make them more money. Think of the ratings and advertising dollars a playoff would bring in. Think of the borderline fans that would tune it. They do it for college basketball. Why wouldn't they do it for football? Face it, as Americans, we love drama and there's no better place to get great sports stories than in a tournament. Underdogs and upsets are what make sports great. Remember what George Mason's run in the NCAA basketball tournament in 2006 did for college basketball? Even to a lesser degree, having Bemidji State (ranked 16 out of 16 teams in the NCAA hockey tournament) in the frozen four peaked more interest in the event than normal.

But the BCS is the system we have and, well, it's what we're going to have to accept as being around for a long time with it's two biggest opponents joining its ranks.

But what were the MWC and WAC supposed to do? Let their conferences wither and die while the larger conferences bathe in their riches? No. They needed to survive and this was the only way they could. It doesn't make them hypocrites.

Let's just hope that now they're in, they can influence some changes from the inside.