---

New WAC, no new
top dogs in football

WHY do they do this? Why do they continue to send me the Western Athletic Conference preseason media football poll? They know I'm terrible at picking these things. They know the only thing possibly accomplished by this is that I make an idiot out of myself in the newspaper. Again.

Oh, well, at least that's always fun for the whole family. Here we go:

1. Boise State. You would have to be a fool to pick against these guys. I know. I have been that fool. I don't know what Dan "Gandhi" Hawkins is doing up there, but it's working. All the Broncos do is win. Period. They're always ready to play. They say Hawkins is doing it with a lower level of talent, too, but I don't know about that -- when they're putting up 50, they look pretty good to me.

A tough early nonconference schedule could hurt them, that's true. But last season the Broncos won 11 games and were one of the youngest teams in the country. How could anyone not pick them to repeat as WAC champs? Oh, yes, there is the "fool" factor ...

2. Fresno State. These guys are loaded. How loaded? Well, the Bulldogs have three possible All-WAC candidates on the offensive line. But wait, that's nothing. They also have three possible All-WAC candidates at running back. Now that's loaded.

In fact, there is so much talent that a few people out there are actually picking the Bulldogs to win the WAC championship this year. Again, I have to trust Boise and Gandhi until proven otherwise. Pat Hill ... well, they say he's a poker player. I'm just not convinced he's a good poker player.

He's won his share of big pots, but the Bulldogs always seem to lose a game or two they have no business losing.

Hill did seem to have a coaching epiphany against Hawaii last year, and he does have big-time talent. Maybe this is the season Fresno State gives Boise a real run.

3. Nevada. OK, here's where it gets tough, trying to guess who will emerge from the pack that is the rest of the conference. My guess is Nevada. Chris Ault did have a couple of moves that might have backfired last year, but he had a great record with Nevada in Division I-AA years ago, and now it looks like he's got his system set up the way he wants it. The offense looks good and the defense is improving. I give the Wolf Pack the benefit of the doubt in a couple of games, and here we are.

4. San Jose State. Believe it or not. The WAC has a recent history of new "overqualified" coaches (Jones, Kragthorpe, Price) coming in and being good enough against bad competition to make startling turnarounds in their first years. Dick Tomey certainly fits that bill. The thing that could sink this pick is that Tomey does not have the talent that last year's San Jose State team had. But SJSU does have a top receiver in Rufus Skillern. If Tomey can find a running back, you know he'll have a defense. Again, to make an "upset" pick like this, you're giving them the edge in a couple of games. I think Tomey is enough to give them that edge.

5. (tie) Hawaii. I have UH at 4-4 in conference play. Which is not bad when you consider that's what Hawaii's WAC record was last year -- with Chad Owens, Tim Chang and Abraham Elimimian in the lineup. Having most of the O-line back helps and the new offensive lineup will click -- eventually. Having crazy man Jerry Glanville around to bring some positive frenetic energy will help. Remember, UH always gets better as the season goes on, and always wins a game or two it shouldn't win (although, much like Fresno State, it tends to drop one or two winnable WAC games, too). The first WAC game -- on the road at Idaho -- could be the key to the whole season.

5. (tie) Louisiana Tech. If Ryan Moats had stayed healthy last season, I would probably have a higher opinion of Jack Bicknell's program. (Then again, if Moats had stayed healthy it might have been Tech in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.) There might be some good talent on offense again, even without Moats, but the question, as always in this conference, is using it effectively. Tech went 6-6 last season, and the Bulldogs might be fighting to break the .500 mark again -- including in league play.

7. New Mexico State. This might be the pick that gives me the opportunity to be the most wrong. Hal Mumme fits that "overqualified first-year coach" profile and he's got a proven pass-first scheme that the rest of the league hasn't seen yet. He's got a couple of big-time defensive assistants. But I look at the schedule, and I just can't see the luck falling their way. Mumme isn't quite Mike Price and I don't think he has the talent Price had when he took over at UTEP. But beware. This program will be on the rise, and probably fast.

8. Idaho. I love the way these guys came into Aloha Stadium last season and went for broke. I like this coach, I like his plan. I think this program is going to get better. But until then ... this is a team that finished 2-5 in the Sun Belt last year.

9. Utah State. Good basketball team.