2009 Conferences in Review: #8 WAC

The Western Athletic Conference comes in #8 in my 2009 Conference Rankings.

2009 Conference Champion: Boise State Broncos 14-0 (8-0 WAC)

2009 Bowl Record: 2-2

Bold Prediction for 2010: Idaho almost... almost... beats Boise in what could be the last game between these two rivals in a long, long time. Idaho finishes second in the conference, and Vandals quarterback Nathan Enderle puts up 3500 yards passing.

Team Rankings. Boise State and the eight dwarfs. There is really no other way to characterize what the WAC has become over the last decade. The Broncos dominated the conference yet again in 2009, beating the other WAC schools by a combined 396 - 171 (an average score of 49 to 21). With Boise State leaving for the Mountain West in 2011, the WAC is in serious jeopardy of joining the Sun Belt at the bottom of the FBS.

1.	Boise State	0.7751	14 - 0	#3
2.	Nevada	0.5833	8 - 5	#46
3.	Idaho	0.5760	8 - 5	#49
4.	Fresno State	0.5671	8 - 5	#53
5.	Hawaii	0.4233	6 - 7	#73
6.	Utah State	0.3125	4 - 8	#95
7.	Louisiana Tech	0.3107	4 - 8	#96
8.	New Mexico State	0.1990	3 - 10	#108
9.	San Jose State	0.1602	2 - 10	#112

Awards!

Best Showing in an Out-of-Conference Game:

Boise State 19, Oregon 8. "The Punch" overshadowed what was a surprising defensive performance by Boise. In the first half Oregon had perhaps the worst offensive showing in recent history: 0 points, 0 first downs, 14 total yards, 5:50 of possession.

Worst Showing in an Out-of-Conference Game:

Hawaii 25, Central Arkansas 20. The fall of Hawaii from BCS contender to bowl-less was evident in this game. The Warriors needed a last-minute touchdown to escape the Bears of Central Arkansas (in only their 2nd season in FCS after moving up from Division II) in a game Hawaii should have dominated.

Best Conference Game:

Idaho 35, Louisiana Tech 34. The Vandals scored 14 points in the last 6 minutes to take the 1-point lead with less than a minute left. (La.Tech missed a vital extra point earlier in the quarter)

Best Showing in a Bowl Game:

Boise State 17, TCU 10. Though not against a "Big Six" opponent, BSU made a statement with its defensive performance in the Fiesta Bowl against a TCU team that was 1 second from playing in the BCS Title Game (had Texas not beaten Nebraska, there was a good chance TCU would have leap-frogged Cincinnati into the Title Game).

Worst Showing in a Bowl Game:

SMU 45, Nevada 10. In a game the Wolfpack should have dominated, SMU came out of the gates like a wild mustang (pun.) and scored the first 31 points en route to its first bowl victory in over 20 years. Nevada simply proved the whispers about the depth of the WAC (or lack thereof).

Best Scoring Offense: Boise State

Best Passing Offense: Idaho

Best Rushing Offense: Nevada

Best Scoring Defense: Boise State

Best Passing Defense: Boise State

Best Rushing Defense: Boise State

Least Penalized Team: Louisiana Tech

Best Turnover Ratio: Boise State

Week 1 Matchups / Prediction of the Week

Thursday, September 2

Eastern Washington at Nevada

North Dakota at Idaho

USC at Hawaii

Saturday, September 4

San Jose State at Alabama

Utah State at Oklahoma

Grambling State at Louisiana Tech

Cincinnati at Fresno State

Monday, September 6

Boise State vs Virginia Tech (at Landover, MD) - POTW!

I for one am going to stop short-changing the Broncos. Of course they were going to be creamed by Oklahoma in 2007, and TCU's defense was much too good in 2010... riiiiiiight. This time, I'm picking Boise. Boise State 27, Virginia Tech 21.