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BOISE, Idaho - Entering its second year in the Western Athletic Conference, the Utah State football team has been tabbed to finish seventh in the nine-team league according to a vote by the league's media released on Tuesday. Last year USU was picked to finish eighth, but exceeded expectations with a tie for sixth place.
Boise State, which shared the league championship with Nevada last season, was an overwhelming choice for first place with 36 of the 50 first-place votes. Fresno State was picked second while Nevada was third and Hawai'i fourth.
USU followed Louisiana Tech and San Jose State and finished ahead of Idaho and New Mexico State in the listing.
"We have been picked about where I expected to be, so this is really no surprise," said USU head coach Brent Guy. "We won two conference games last year and you can,t get into the top third in the league unless you win some games. Our goal is to finish in the upper third of the conference and that is something we are going to strive for. We need to win some more WAC games and prove ourselves."
Last year the Aggies were 3-8 overall, including a 2-6 mark in the WAC. USU defeated San Jose State at home and New Mexico State on the road a year ago for its two league wins. The Aggies also almost knocked off co-champion Nevada before falling 30-24 in the 10th game of the year.
Sophomore running back Ryan Bohm, who led the team in rushing a year ago, was not disappointed with the pick.
"Personally I love it because it gives us an underdog feeling," Bohm said. "It has been my experience that the teams that think they are superior can come out flat. When no one expects you to do well and then you do well, it is a great feeling. I have no problem with us being picked where we are. I am excited to come out and prove them wrong."
Sophomore linebacker Devon Hall feels the team has something to prove this year.
"You have to show people that we should be at the top of the WAC and we need to win games and just execute our offense and our defense," Hall said. "I think we should be ranked higher and being in our offense and our defense another year, we should be better."
USU will open its season with four straight non-conference games including at Wyoming, at Arkansas, home against Utah and at Brigham Young before opening league play with two straight home games against Idaho and Fresno State.
The coaches poll will be released on Wednesday.
WAC FOOTBALL MEDIA POLL
Team (1st place votes) Points
- Boise State (36) 432
- Fresno State (9) 380
- Nevada (4) 349
- Hawai,i (1) 306
- Louisiana Tech 256
- San Jose State 153
- UTAH STATE 147
- Idaho 134
- New Mexico State 93
