Estimated read time: 6-7 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Max Hall has been making the national rounds (TV and radio), and Bronco Mendenhall is about to take his turn in the national spotlight. Bronco is scheduled to be on ESPN Radio tonight, tape with Sporting News Radio for airing tomorrow and... "attention, clones": Bronco will be on the Jim Rome Show this week--likely Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.
*******
ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach likes BYU right now. He has the Cougars in the Sugar Bowl, and listed Max Hall as his top offensive performer from Week 3.
He also ranks the MWC 5th among national conferences, and writes:
--
"5. Mountain West
What we believed:
BYU was capable of spoiling the BCS party by finishing the season with a 12-0 record. The Cougars would have to win two games against Pac-10 opponents and beat rival Utah in their regular-season finale to do it. The Utes would be BYU's biggest challenge in the Mountain West if quarterback Brian Johnson stayed healthy. TCU would rebound from last season's disappointing 8-5 record.
What we know:
The Mountain West has three teams capable of earning a BCS at-large spot: BYU, TCU and Utah. The Cougars are the best bet to do it after winning at Washington 28-27 and routing UCLA 59-0. But BYU plays road games at TCU on Oct. 16 and at Utah on Nov. 22. Utah beat Michigan 25-23 in its opener and gets TCU and BYU at home. The Horned Frogs rank second in the country in defense, allowing only 174 yards per game. Mountain West teams are 5-0 against Pac-10 opponents."
*******
ESPN.com's Graham Watson likes BYU, but not as much as she likes ECU:
--
Non-BCS/Independent power rankings
1. East Carolina: The Pirates struggled a bit with Tulane, but it overcame turnovers to remain undefeated and get its first C-USA win under its belt. No other non-BCS has defeated two ranked BCS teams this year.
2. BYU: The historic and convincing win over UCLA shows the Cougars are no slouch, and they won't face another test for the next couple weeks with Wyoming and Utah State next on the schedule.
3. Utah: The Utes handled Utah State, as expected, but the schedule takes a unexpected turn when they travel to 3-0 Air Force, which is becoming quite the sleeper in the Mountain West.
4. Ball State: Move over Central Michigan because the top floor of the MAC just got a little crowded. Most people knew the Cardinals would be good, but they are clicking on all cylinders right now.
5. Tulsa: The Golden Hurricane were off this week, but turn around and host a New Mexico squad that notched its first win of the season against Arizona on Saturday.
6. TCU: The Horned Frogs were one of four Mountain West teams that took down a Pac-10 opponent. They have a cross-town battle with SMU this weekend and should handle the game easily if they're not looking ahead to No. 2 Oklahoma.
7. Boise State: With Fresno State out as a BCS buster, the WAC torch is passed to the Broncos, who have a tough test against No. 17 Oregon this weekend in Eugene. Since becoming a I-A school, Boise State has not beaten a nonconference BCS team on the road.
8. Fresno State: While a loss is still a loss, Fresno State lost to No. 10 Wisconsin, not some random team with no credentials. The Bulldogs may be out of the BCS busting business, but they still have a chance to notch their first outright WAC title.
9. Air Force: Until Saturday's 31-28 win over Houston, Air Force hadn't beaten a formidable opponent, but now the Falcons are starting to raise some eyebrows. It hosts a tough Utah team this weekend, which will be the real test of whether AFA is a team to watch.
10. Southern Miss: The Golden Eagles took out undefeated Arkansas State and now have their eyes set on their first Conference USA game against Marshall. Don't sleep on Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles have played well even in defeat.
--
Then, she writes:
Mountain West throws down the hammer against the Pac-10
I've talked a lot about parity during the first couple weeks of the season, but at no time has it been more evident than the Mountain West's shellacking of the Pac-10 this past weekend.
The Mountain West was 4-0 against the Pac-10 and did it in impressive fashion. The average margin of victory was 22.4 points per game. Now, obviously, a lot of that margin came from BYU's historical manhandling of UCLA, but TCU, New Mexico and UNLV won their games by an average of 9.3 points, including the Rebels' 23-20 overtime win against No. 15 Arizona State off a blocked field goal attempt.
In fact, of the eight Mountain West games played this weekend, only San Diego State lost.
Does this speak to parity? Maybe, but what it really speaks to is the overall strength of the Mountain West Conference. No other non-BCS conference has four unbeaten teams remaining.
If you're looking for a BCS buster, the Mountain West might have your winner. The schedules for the remaining unbeatens -- BYU, Utah, TCU and Air Force -- are not difficult, but it's going to get a little dicey this weekend.
Utah visits Air Force and one of those teams will lose. Conventional wisdom says Utah is the better team, but Air Force has been surprising with its 3-0 start, including a win over Houston.
Utah struggled against conference foe UNLV two weeks ago and the offense has been inconsistent. Air Force defeated Utah, 20-12, last season, but that was the first time in five seasons the Falcons had triumphed. And Utah played without several key members who suffered injuries the game before.
Over the next two weeks, BYU has the easiest schedule with games against Wyoming and Utah State before running into New Mexico, which defeated Arizona this weekend. TCU plays Southern Methodist, but then squares off with No. 2 Oklahoma.
With Fresno State, a preseason BCS busting darling, out of the way, the Mountain West has as clear a shot as any non-BCS team to earn a BCS berth. Of course, the conference will have to be mindful of the top teams in Conference USA -- East Carolina and Tulsa -- who also have relatively easy schedules for the rest of the season. East Carolina goes for its third BCS win this weekend against NC State.
With East Carolina's strength of schedule, it's hard to imagine that should the Pirates go undefeated, it wouldn't be the non-BCS representative for a BCS bowl. But that's not to say that a Mountain West team couldn't be considered. As I wrote last week, the selection pool will be pretty shallow with the Big East, ACC and Pac-10 all playing poorly to begin the season, and the Mountain West already has proven that even its lowest teams can defeat a ranked team.
This weekend will be key, though. Many think Utah has a great shot at challenging BYU for the BCS berth, but if the Utes lose this weekend, it makes the Nov. 22 game against BYU a little less intriguing.
*******
I clearly disagree with Watson about the notion that ECU's strength of schedule will trump BYU's at the end of the season. with TCU and Utah remaining on the schedule, and having already played and beaten two Pac-10 teams, BYU should have no worries about matching ECU's SOS.
*******
