WAC'ed out : Preview and Prediction of WAC football Week 1

Western Athletic Conference Week 1 Preview and Predictions

The WAC is usually is a dormant, quiet, lonely conference that only WAC followers pay attention to. This year will be quite a bit different. 

It's BSUs' last year in the WAC, and Nevada and Fresno St. are on their way out. The rivalries will be searing to the brim between the top 3 teams that are competing for the WAC championship.

The WAC may fizzle out into nothing once these teams are gone. It lives in uncertainty, the remaining teams are still in the process of building decent football programs.

Apart from the top 3 teams in the WAC, there are some up and comers that may provide a bit of competition that teams shouldn't overlook.

Utah St., Idaho and Louisana Tech are moving there way up the ladder in the WAC. They brought tough competition to not only WAC teams last year.

Hawaii can always be a surprise, having be in the AP Top 25 not too long ago.

And teams jsut not wanting to finish in last are New Mexico St. and San Jose St.

San Jose St.

Rough Going

No one said it would be easy. The Spartans finished last place in some coaches poll's for last year. They finished 2-10 for the 2009 season.

The their credit,they have been picking ranked teams to play their games against.

Both offense and defense struggled greatly, having given up 414 total points, and scoring only 165 points.

The start of the 2010 season doesn't offer promise to getting a win to start off the season, having to play the #1 ranked team and BCS championship defenders, Alabama.

Ouch.

Alabama - 70

San Jose St. - 3

2009 Record - 2-10

2010 Projected Record - 3-10

New Mexico St.

Buck Up

The Aggies of New Mexico St. had one more win than San Jose St., but not as grueling of a schedule.

Their only wins came from Prairie View  A&M, New Mexico, and Utah St.

Just because they had one more win than the worst team in the WAC, doesn't mean they looked any better than San Jose St.

The 2010 schedule looks equal to the 2009, in terms of playing in their own 'league', having to only play Boise St. as a ranked team.

It doesn't appear that they have made much of a difference from last years team, other than recruiting a 3 star safety and ex-felon running back.

Their first game is against San Diego St. A game that they can win...

San Diego St. - 27

New Mexico St. -17

2009 Record - 3-10

2010 Projected Record - 1 - 11

Louisiana Tech

Gettin' off the Porch

The Bulldogs have been on the brink of being an above average team, but just can't seem to get over that hurdle.

The played very decent football last year, and hung around with some excellent teams. Their running game was there, and the passing wasn't half bad either.

The lost three games they were very winnable but couldn't hang on for the full ride. They beat up on Hawaii, New Mexico St and San Jose St., and only lost by 8 points to (9)LSU and 10 points to (15)BSU.

They are capable of playing great football, and are close to being up in the top tier of the WAC, and most likely will when Nevada, Fresno St. and BSU are gone.

The first game of their season brings Grambling St. to their doorstep. It will be a great game to get the players back into the swing of it, and get some 2nd string players gametime, as LT stated that 4 of their players have been suspended indefinitely for violation a team code. 

Louisiana Tech - 35

Grambling State - 14

2009 Record - 4 - 8

2010 Projected Record - 7 - 5

Hawaii

Warriors, Rainbow Warriors

Hawaii has shown its ability to play some football, and great football. The 2007 season, they went undefeated, though playing subpar teams, they did beat (17) Boise St.

Though they lost some players to the NFL, the talent still stuck around for the years after.

The Warriors had a bit of a rough patch mid-way through the season last year, losing 6 games in a row. Even then, they played some very below average teams to get a few of their wins, and even lost a few of those games.

Injuries plagued the Warriors badly, and made the season one to forget. They hope to stay healthy this season and turn the tide back to their side.

They didn't make it easy on themselves for a 2010 start. They go up against (14)USC, but at least on homefield.

USC has been hit with all sorts of penalties and sanctions for previous years' violations, even having Reggie Bushs' Heisman award ripped from them. USC will struggle bad this year, and it will give the Hawaii Warriors a chance to kick them when they are down, but I don't believe it will be good enough

USC - 42

Hawaii -17

2009 Record - 6 - 7

Projected 2010 Record - 4 - 9

Idaho

Breakin' the Law

The Vandals of Moscow, Idaho surprised everyone last year, starting the season 6-1. Though most of the teams in that stretch were below average competition, they were playing in there level at that time.

They have been off to a tough start in the WAC, having never beat some WAC teams since they joined in 2005.

To Idaho, 2009 was a winning season in more than one way. It was their best season since joining the WAC and showed a lot of poise in the running and passing department.

They hope to continue were the left off from last year have a very fair out of conference schedule, going up against two ranked teams in the preseason poll with (8) Nebraska and of course (3) Boise St.

On deck, they play a very winnable game at home against North Dakota.

North Dakota - 13

Idaho - 35

2009 Record - 7 - 5

2010 Projected Record - 8 - 5

Utah St.

The other, other Utah

As with Idaho and New Mexico St,  Utah State joined the WAC in 2005 and have had the same tough going as the others.

Though only having 4 wins for the 2009 season, all but two games they lost been close.

Their double threat QB kept them close in quite a few games, but with the luck of the lowly WAC teams, they lost in the long run.

Last years Utah St. team was the best so far in terms of talent. and best since they joined the WAC.

Seeing as their record has gotten a bout 1 win better every year, I expect them to continue this trend, as they begin to find themselves as a learning football team.

With that said, the first game is a pretty brutal start, as they take on Oklahoma in Oklahoma. It's hardly a winnable game, but at least it will be a learning experience..

Utah State - 10

Oklahoma - 52

2009 Record - 4 - 8

2010 Projected Record - 5 - 7

Fresno St.

Barking Up the Right Tree

As of late, Boise St. has taken all the spotlight for the WAC, for the obvious reasons; Success.

But the Bulldogs have never once whimpered away. They have stuck around time and time again, and haven't had a boring, lackluster team in recent memory.

Their 2009 season was impressive, finished the last 9 games 8-1.

The lost a heart-breaker to Cincinnati, finishing a 3 game losing streak early on, but made up for it on the back end of the season, with an amazing win against Illinois to cap off the year.

Having Ryan Mathews drafted in the 1st round of the NFL draft, they lose one of the best running backs they have had. But I don't think that will slow them down much this year.

They start this year off with a chance for revenge, hosting Cincinnati in Fresno. Having only (3)Boise St, as a ranked opponent, they still face 3 tough out of conference games. And things are looking good for Fresno St.

Cincinnati - 24

Fresno St. - 27

2009 Record - 8 - 4

2010 Projected Record - 9 - 3

Nevada

Blood Hungry Wolves

The Wolfpack have displayed some absurd moments of aggression,  as well as forgettable performances. They are on the verge of following in Boise St.s' footsteps on the national stage, but just have one barrier to overcome.

Winning the big games.

Hopes were high for Nevada entering the 2009 season, then it all went horribly wrong, being shutout by Notre Dame the first game, and losing 3 straight games to 2 mediocre teams.

Revenge was imminent and their inner state rivalry against UNLV was the punctuation. They amassed over 600 yards on the ground and could not be stopped. And they weren't for the next 8 games, until they lost by 11 to Boise St.

The force behind this attack is mainly the Quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who is starting for Nevada in his senior year.

This is the chance for Nevada to show the country what they are made of and be a potential competitor for the battle of the WAC.

They start off the year with a game against Eastern Washington to get back into the rhythm before taking on California in week 3. 

Eastern Washington - 13

Nevada - 63

2009 Season - 8 - 4

Projected 2010 Season - 11 - 2

Boise St.

BCS Bustin' Out

Boise St. is the star of WAC football. They have finished undefeated in regular season play the last 2 years, and are in control of their destiny; The BCS Championship Game.

Some say they should have been in last years, other say they have too weak of a division schedule to be up there with the big dogs.

They proved to the country last year that they aren't just pretenders, beating down Oregon the first game of the season. Though their schedule after that was mediocre, they finished undefeated.

It's rather unfair to rip on Boise St.s' weak schedule when even teams such as Florida last year played bottom dwelling teams.

Boise St. is still pissed off and hopes to bring the BCS system to its knees...as do I.

They put it all on the line in their first game of the season, against Virginia Tech. It's is all or nothing, and to change the minds of those against BSU, this is the time to prove them wrong, that a team of the shadow conference called the WAC. a team without an B.S. auto-bid can claim a national title.

Boise St. - 24

Virginia Tech - 23

2009 Record - 13-0

Projected 2010 Record - 12-0