Jonathan Lee    AccuScore Analyst
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Contenders:  Boise State, Fresno State
Before Hawaii’s dream run last season, Boise State was the team that ruled this conference winning the league title five straight times.  This year they look poised to win back the crown.  The Broncos return players who scored 491 of the team’s 551 points from a year ago including a stable of running backs led by Ian Johnson and wide receivers Jeremy Childs and Titus Young.  The big questions are who will play quarterback after the graduation of Taylor Tharp and the status of a rebuilt offensive line.

Fresno State harbors championship dreams of its own, and is being rated and is a trendy pick to crash the BCS party.  The Bulldogs finished 2007 in impressive fashion beating Georgia Tech 40-28 in the Humanitarian Bowl to reach nine wins.  This year they are looking for more.  Quarterback Tom Brandstater and running back Ryan Mathews return to lead yet another of the explosive offenses that litter the conference.  The September schedule is brutal, and a slow start would doom any chances of a BCS bid.  Hawaii is the reigning champ, but it has some rebuilding to do after losing record-setting quarterback Colt Brennan and his top four receiving targets.  Head architect June Jones also left in the off-season to SMU.  Expect more of a .500 record for the team out on the islands.

Team on the Rise:  Nevada
The Wolfpack finished .500 in the regular season last year and reached the New Mexico Bowl losing to the host 23-0.  Despite the loss, it was the third straight bowl game for Nevada and this could be the year the team vaults into the conference elite along with Boise, Fresno, and Hawaii.  The team finished second in the WAC in total offense last season (to the explosive Hawaii squad) and will be led by quarterback and conference freshman of the year Colin Kaepernick.  He won’t have the job handed back to him however as former starter Nick Graziano is back from injury.  Nevada hired a new defensive coordinator and will be switching to a 4-3 alignment to try and shore up a weak defense.  If the moves work, this team could be ready to take another step forward.

Bottom Feeders:  Utah State, Idaho
Coach Brent Guy has gone just 6-29 over his first three seasons at the helm for Utah State, and he brings back a woefully inexperienced offense that wasn’t any good to begin with.  Idaho won just one game last year to finish with the worst record in school history (1-11).  The good news for the Vandals is that there is only one way to go from there.  The upshot for them is that they did lose three games by eight points or fewer and played a ton of freshmen which could lead to an escape from the cellar this year.

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MADHAWAIIANWARRIOR said:

WASSUP WIT DAT WHAT ABOUT HAWAII DONT U GUYS REMEMBER LAST STELLAR YEAR YALL JUST A BUNCH OF HATERS JUST BECAUSE WE STARTED THE SEASON LOSING .WE ARENT GOING DOWN YET. THERES APOT OF GOLD AT THE END OF THE RAINBOW

October 03, 2008

Guy A Johnson said:

Why was there no mention of Louisian Tech Football, a team that is a member of the WAC? http://latechsports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/latc-m-footbl-body.html

September 20, 2008

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