CFN Daily Roundtables
 July
15
5 Thoughts on the WAC.
Over the next several weeks, as part of the CFN 2009 Preview, we'll
examine some of the key questions going into the year with a
daily discussion of the big topics.
Pete
Fiutak,
CFN
Yes, I'm part of
the problem. You can check me out at
twitter.com/CFN_Fiu and find
out future roundtable topics and other random musings.
Q: 5 Thoughts on the WAC.
A: Well, now we all know where the
WAC falls in the college football pecking order.
Boise State has
earned several dozen benefits of the doubt with a Fiesta Bowl win,
double-digit win campaign after double-digit win campaign, and last
year, and 37-32 win at Oregon as the crown jewel of a 12-0 regular
season. The strength of schedule wasn't that bad, finishing 59th in the
nation after the bowls, and most importantly, the Broncos were ninth in
the final BCS rankings ahead of Ohio State (10th), Cincinnati (12th),
and Virginia Tech (19th). But did they get the final at-large BCS bid?
Yeah, right.
Texas Tech, ranked eighth, deserved the final BCS
spot, but couldn't get in because of the silly rule that only two teams
from a conference can get in, but Boise State was next on the list, with
everyone else ranked higher in the BCS. But the Fiesta Bowl blew off the
unbeaten Broncos for a two-loss Buckeye team. As a fan, yeah, I wanted
to see Ohio State vs. Texas, but on the deserve scale, Boise State
should've gotten the call and by not getting in showed what a joke and a
sham the entire BCS selection process is.
It's not like Boise
State was trying to get into the BCS Championship; it was trying to get
into the high end end of the year exhibition, and it should've gotten
in. That it didn't showed just how far the WAC still has to go when it
comes to getting national respect. That Boise State lost to TCU in the
Poinsettia Bowl doesn't help the argument.
The league still has
problems with the teams on the bottom. New Mexico State, Idaho, and Utah
State have to get better, and they're trying, Fresno State has to start
winning more of those non-conference statement games, and everyone else
has to keep picking up the slack. Nevada has to beat Notre Dame in the
season opener when everyone is watching. Louisiana Tech has to come up
with another SEC win, after beating Mississippi State last year, and be
strong against Auburn. And most of all, Boise State has to beat Oregon
... again.
As long as the league keeps showing up strong in
non-conference play, there will be more and more difference makers
who'll sit up and take notice. The league doesn't deserve the high-end
status that the Mountain West is pushing for, but it deserves to at
least get more love in the BCS at-large process.
Richard
Cirminiello,
CFN
Q: 5 Thoughts on the WAC.
A:
Try not to allot all
of your WAC attention to Boise State this fall. You could wind up
overlooking a really entertaining and downright scary team from Nevada.
Yeah, yeah, it’s the Broncos and everyone else in the Western
Athletic Conference. The champs have earned that designation and could
be this year’s top BCS buster, but the Wolf Pack will also carry the
league banner proudly in 2009.
It’s taken Chris Ault a couple of
years, but he certainly has the pistol offense firing bullets again.
After September, nobody stopped this offense, which scored at least 35
points in 10 straight games and averaged at least 230 yards on the
ground and through the air. Colin Kaepernick has become one of the
nation’s best dual-threat quarterbacks this side of Gainesville, and the
backfield has an embarrassment of riches by non-BCS standards. Vai Taua
rushed for 1,521 yards and 15 scores last year and wasn’t even on the
two-deep when the season began. Like a mainland version of Hawaii, the
Pack will score and score and score until the other team just runs out
gas. Sure, it’s pliable on defense, but the pass-rushing bookend of
Dontay Moch and Kevin Basped is as feisty as any among the mid-majors,
and will force opposing quarterbacks into mistakes.
Boise State’s
grip on the league remains safe. However, Nevada is a very dangerous
team, and the Broncos know it. Be careful Notre Dame and Missouri. The
Pack is liable to drag you into shootouts in September that could have
you sweating profusely in the final 15 minutes.
Matthew
Zemek, CFN
Q: 5 Thoughts on the WAC.
A:
God bless Pat Hill and Fresno State for annually scheduling tough teams out of conference. Fresno State aims to build its program and profile the right way, never flinching from an old-fashioned intersectional fight. After falling just short in a 50-42 thriller at USC a few years ago, it seemed that the Bulldogs were set to remain a factor in the college football world, with influence and stature far beyond the San Joaquin Valley.
There was just one problem: The Bulldogs—in language once used by a John Facenda-narrated NFL Films script—“had a Roman appetite for victory but lacked the spartan will needed to achieve it.”
Fresno State still schedules well and takes on all comers, but when FSU settles into conference play, coach Hill runs into a mountain of problems. Fresno football teams have squandered the credibility gained by the program in that eight-point loss at USC, on an electric November night in the City of Angels. Home losses to the likes of Louisiana Tech and Nevada and Hawaii have soured recent WAC seasons, and when FSU had a chance to lock horns with big, bad Boise State last season, the Broncos kicked around the vexed Valley boys, 61-10.
Hawaii—given the impoverishment and geographic isolation that define America’s 50th state—is routinely the most heartwarming story the WAC can produce in a typical sports season (football or hoops), but if WAC football really wants to improve its national profile, Fresno State is the program that needs to join Boise at the big boy table. We’ll see if 2009 produces any positive developments; conference commish Karl Benson is praying for them.
Hunter Ansley,
Publisher,
DraftZoo.com
Q: 5 Thoughts on the WAC.
A: Holy non-conference contests, Blue Turfman. The WAC can’t be called chicken with an interleague slate like this.
Only Idaho and Utah State fail to play a BCS team with a likely winning record. Although the Aggies do play two of the top MWC clubs, and the Vandals’ September 12th game at Washington could end up looking better if Steve Sarkisian and Jake Locker can get the Huskies going. But outside of the those two, there’s a killer matchup for every WAC squad.
Boise State opens the season by hosting a likely top ten Oregon team. Nevada starts things off in South Bend, in their first ever meeting with Notre Dame. Watch out for an upset there. Colin Kaepernick is the real deal. Louisiana Tech goes on the road to face Auburn in the season opener. Fresno State’s second game is at Wisconsin, and they finish the year at Illinois. Hawaii also has a tough last game hosting the aforementioned Badgers, which could end up being a nice consolation prize for the Badgers. San Jose State’s first game is in the Coliseum at USC. Three of Utah States first four games are at Utah, at Texas A&M, and at BYU. And lowly New Mexico State has a frightening Halloween matchup at Ohio State. Maybe they should come dressed as Florida…
All in all, on opening weekend, the WAC plays five of nine games on the road against likely preseason top 25 teams. Boise State looks like a real threat to bust up the BCS, but it won’t be easy to get past a potentially great Oregon team. And I’d like to give Nevada a prayer of surprising on the national stage, but it’s going to be tough to win at Notre Dame, at Colorado State, and at Boise. The WAC takes a lot of heat for being a weak league, but I’m just impressed at the vigor with which the conference has gone after marquee games. Or at the very least, they haven’t turned down the big boys’ monetary offers.
Jon Miller,
Publisher, HawkeyeNation.com
Q: 5 Thoughts on the WAC.
A:
While this league is definitely a cut above the Sun Belt, Boise
State has flat dominated the competition to the point where you
are only focusing on one team. Don't sleep on Nevada this year,
however. They are going to win some games that people didn't
see coming. Fresno State has been, in the past, sort of a
Boystown, a home for lost souls that didn't get into Cal or
USC. Not surprisingly, chemistry has been an issue and they
have not been able to sustain much success, but they still have
talent. Hawaii has the travel advantage with teams coming to the
island and they get to travel east which isn't has bad in my
opinion. There are some entertaining games, this league seemed
to be the birthplace of the wide open era of football we are
seeing now, so don't forget to tune in during the regular
season...just as long as Boise State is one of the teams on the
tube.
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