Press Box
1 more bowl not
enough for WACEven with a new custom-made game for Hawaii, the Western Athletic Conference went into this football season wondering if it would have enough bowls for all its deserving teams.
It didn't last year, when Boise State, Hawaii and Rice were left home for the holidays despite a combined 25-11 record. The Broncos suffered the further indignity of their city and home stadium hosting Louisiana Tech in the Humanitarian Bowl. Fresno State got the WAC's only other tie-in, at the Silicon Valley Classic.
But now it's not about the lack of bowls ... there might be one too many.
Boise State is a lock for the Humanitarian Bowl, and UH became the first team in the nation to accept a bid when it agreed Saturday to play in the Hawaii Bowl.
That could be it for the WAC.
"It's a possibility, but I think it's a remote possibility," conference commissioner Karl Benson said. "Five teams are still capable of being bowl eligible. I certainly expect one, if not more, will be," Benson said.
Actually, it's far from a done deal.
Fresno State (4-5): Must win three of four -- Tulsa at home, Nevada at home, at San Jose State and at Louisiana Tech. This is possible, but don't count on the inconsistent and self-destructive Bulldogs.
Louisiana Tech (3-5): Must win three of four -- at San Jose State, at Boise State, Texas-El Paso at Shreveport and Fresno State at home. Not likely, and a nightmare in the making for the league. A 6-6 team from Ruston, La. in the Silicon Valley Classic?
Nevada (4-5): Must win two of three -- UTEP at home, at Fresno State and Boise State at home. Pack's tough in Reno, but the Broncos are hard to beat anywhere.
Rice (4-5): Must win both -- at Boise State and Hawaii at home. The Owls' bowl hopes will be over tomorrow.
San Jose State (4-6): Must win all three -- Louisiana Tech at home, at Tulsa, Fresno State at home. The Spartans have shown they can play with just about anyone, anywhere on the right day and SJSU athletic director Chuck Bell is on the Silicon Valley committee. But don't bet on this, either.
You've got to like Tulsa coach Keith Burns' bring-it attitude as the Golden Hurricane gets set to touch down in frenetic Fresno on Saturday.
"If they throw a screwdriver at me, I will probably bring it home because there are always odd jobs out at the lake (home) that I need to work on," Burns said in a Tulsa World article.
Speaking of the screwdriver story, it gets screwier all the time. Hawaii coach June Jones said three days after UH's game there that "a screwdriver stuck in the ground right over the top of our heads" -- something for which Fresno State AD Scott Johnson ended up apologizing.
But now, several sources who were there said the screwdriver fell out of the tool belt of a Hawaii manager.
This voter's picks for Lombardi Award finalists: Maryland linebacker E.J. Henderson, Miami defensive tackle William Joseph, Miami center Brett Romberg and Arizona State defensive end Terrell Suggs.
No players from the WAC made the list of 12 semifinalists.
Dave Reardon, who covered sports in Hawaii from 1977 to 1998,
moved to the the Gainesville Sun, then returned to
the Star-Bulletin in Jan. 2000.
E-mail Dave: dreardon@starbulletin.com