San Jose State Football 2009: Are the Spartans Bowl worthy?

Under Dick Tomey, San Jose State Football has improved tremendously over the last five years. The Spartans are 23-25 during Tomey's tenure and made a bowl appearance in 2006. But since 2006, things have gone down hill.

The last two seasons haven't gone as the Spartans hoped they would.

In 2007, the Spartans went 5-7 and had a record of 2-6 in the Western Athletic Conference. The next year wasn't much better. They went 6-6 and only needed one win in their final three games to become bowl eligible. But they couldn't secure a lone victory to perhaps make an appearance in the postseason.

This year may not be different for the Spartans. In most preseason polls, the Spartans are expected to finish sixth in the WAC.

This is the reason why the Spartans may have a chance to sneak in to a bowl this year.

Head Coach Dick Tomey has loved being in the underdog role since he came to SJSU. In 2006, the Spartans weren't expected to have a good season after finishing 3-8 in 2005. Nobody in the media expected them to have any success considering how poorly they played the year before.

But to everyone's surprise San Jose State had become a force to be reckoned with. The Spartans started the season 4-1 and didn't look back from there. They even gave the then nationally ranked Boise State Broncos a tough test.

SJSU was up 20-12 with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but could not hold on to the lead. The Broncos shocked the "Spartan Faithful" with 11 unanswered points to finish off the game, and defeat the Spartans 23-20 on a last second field goal.

Despite the tragic loss, the Spartans finished their season with a bang winning their last two games over Idaho and rival Fresno State. They finished 9-4 that year and won the New Mexico Bowl 20-12 over the University of New Mexico.

This upcoming season seems to be very reminiscent of that magical 2006 season. Very low expectations from the Spartans may translate into success.

Their first game may be a chance to shock the College Football world. They face the USC Trojans at the LA Coliseum and it will be a tremendous test for this young team. 

If they can compete late into the game, this team could be much better than what people expect them to be.

We will just have to wait till early September to find out.