Mountain West Conference rules bowl season

There are two sides to the argument of whether college bowl games determine the superiority of conferences.

Some say the bowl games have little meaning in determining which conferences are truly the best. Others say they carry great weight.

We tend to agree with the latter since teams should be at their peak during the postseason while meeting squads they (normally) did not play during the regular season.

That being said, it appears as if the Mountain West Conference is No. 1 this postseason. (And to think the MWC does not even receive an automatic BCS berth!)

The irony is that all four MWC teams listed as underdogs in the bowl season were winners: Wyoming (New Mexico Bowl), Brigham Young (Las Vegas Bowl), Utah (San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl), and the Air Force Academy (Armed Forces Bowl.)

Just as ironically, the only MWC team to lose in the postseason was favored to win. But Texas Christian just didn’t have the know-how to stop Boise State’s fake punt when it mattered most in the Fiesta Bowl.

Speaking of, what if Boise State joined the MWC? How could the BCS possibly exclude a conference that would then include traditional powerhouses Boise State, TCU, BYU and Utah?

The MWC certainly made its mark with two wins over the supposedly superior Pac 10 this postseason: BYU over Oregon State and Utah over Cal. And on the topic of the Pac 10, have you noticed how that conference is only 2-5 this postseason?

With two bowl games (out of 34) remaining, here are the conference standings:

Mountain West, 4-1
Big East, 4-2
Big 12, 4-3
Big Ten, 4-3
Southeastern, 5-4
Western Athletic, 2-2
Atlantic Coast, 3-4
Conference USA, 2-4
Pac 10, 2-5
Sun Belt, 1-0
Independents, 1-0
Mid-American, 0-4

Mountain West Conference more than BCS worthy

With six bowl games down and 28 to go post-Christmas, one thing is for certain:

The Mountain West Conference is more than BCS worthy.

The conference is already 3-0 in the postseason, with Air Force vs. Houston and Texas Christian University vs. Boise State still to come.

Most impressively, have you seen how the Mountain West has handled the supposedly superior Pac 10 of the BCS?

How about QB Max Hall and the Brigham Young Cougars running all over Oregon State in the Las Vegas Bowl?

Or what about true freshman QB Jordan Wynn and the Utah Utes whipping Jeff Tedford’s California Bears in the Poinsettia Bowl?

On top of that, Wyoming beat heavily-favored Fresno State to start the postseason in the New Mexico Bowl.

The BCS does not automatically include the Mountain West, so there’s only one way to make a statement.

The BYUs and Utahs will just have to keep beating the Oregon States and Cals.
　

Cincinnati-Virginia Tech don't belong in Orange Bowl

Why are Cincinnati and Virginia Tech playing in the Orange Bowl, one of five BCS games?

Let’s forget about the controversy over whether there should be a national championship playoff.

How about what happens on the other end of the BCS spectrum?

Cincinnati (Big East) and Virginia Tech (Atlantic Coast Conference) are only in a BCS game because their respective conferences are guaranteed a spot.

What does this say for conferences such as the Mountain West and Western Athletic, which clearly have more deserving teams this year?

The Poinsettia Bowl features Boise State (12-0) of the WAC against Texas Christian (10-2) of the Mountain West.

Boise State is ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press poll; TCU is No. 11. Each is ranked ahead of Orange Bowl competitors Cincinnati (No. 12) and Virginia Tech (No. 21).

Yet Boise State and TCU are playing pre-Christmas, while Cincinnati-Virginia Tech is featured on New Year’s Night. Ridiculous!

When you include Utah (No. 7) and Brigham Young (No. 17) along with TCU, the Mountain West has three teams rated ahead of Virginia Tech. Yet only Utah is in a BCS game via its perfect 12-0 season.

So while most people (rightfully) argue that the BCS should have an eight-team playoff to determine a national championship, the entire BCS needs to be revised.

There’s no way Cincinnati and Virginia Tech should be in a BCS game while the likes of Boise State, TCU and BYU are on the outside looking in.

Aztecs can't draw flies (or fans)

A local radio station recently went out to a restaurant/bar in Little Italy with 200 tickets to give away to a San Diego State football game.

It came back with 200 tickets.

Another radio station has a program where it gives listeners “points” in an Internet contest for such things as typing in the Word of the Day.

A $25 gift certificate to Jack in the Box or McDonald’s normally goes for 40,000-50,000 points. Four SDSU football tickets can usually be had for less than 1,000 points.

Does anybody care about SDSU football?

Apparently not, according to the radio station promotions and the number of empty seats at an Aztec home football game.

Athletic director Jeff Schemmel would have you believe that his department – and especially the football program – is able to carry its own financial weight.

If that’s so, then why does President Stephen Weber keep borrowing from a “one-time fund” to give millions to the athletic department?

The Aztecs conclude their season Saturday at home against No. 19 Brigham Young. Unless there are thousands of Mormons in the stands supporting BYU, expect another virtually empty stadium.

This week’s predictions:

BYU 38, Aztecs 20

Chargers 20, Kansas City 17

Two-faced San Diego media

Tomorrow morning, the San Diego Union-Tribune’s sports TV-radio columnist will certainly criticize another local media member by pointing out a picky mistake. Before he does so, perhaps he should look at his paper’s TV listings today.
The Brigham Young-San Diego State softball double-header is listed with a 5 p.m. start and is not included on the local TV list. Actually, the action starts at 3 p.m. and is being shown locally on CSTV.
I wonder if the Union-Tribune guy will point out his paper’s errors tomorrow.
Then there are the tough guys over at mighty1090/double x or whatever they are calling themselves these days. As soon as SDSU left their station for a five-year contract with KOGO, themighty 1090 guys started ripping SDSU on the air. It started with station owner John Lynch and even trickled down to his boys such as Scott Kaplan and Billy Ray Smith. They actually said some true things about how hardly anybody cares for SDSU, and Aztec fans rarely called their show.
But why weren’t these guys criticizing SDSU when the Aztecs were paying them about $150,000 annually to air the games on 1090/double x? It sure smells like checkbook journalism when you praise a team whose games are on your station, then start blasting them the moment they leave for someone else.
The good news for SDSU? About 20% of the county can’t hear 1090/double x anyway, and at least all the football games will be on one station this year. Last year, it took a compass every week to find out which 1090/double x/1700, etc. station was broadcasting Aztec football.