Wyoming looks to wrap up berth in championship game

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, Nov. 10, 1998 | 10:19 a.m.

With just two weeks to go in the final year of the 16-team WAC Conference, six teams are still alive for berths in the Dec. 5 WAC championship game at Sam Boyd Stadium.

That list could get a whole lot shorter after this weekend, however.

Wyoming (8-1, 6-0) can clinch the Mountain Division title with a win over Air Force (8-1, 5-1) in Laramie. The Falcons are 4 1/2-point favorites, despite the fact Dana Dimel's squad has compiled a 10-1 record at home over the past two seasons.

"We're using that (the point spread) as a motivator," Dimel said Monday during the WAC's weekly conference call of head coaches. "This game can really take us up to the next level."

Should Air Force defeat the Cowboys, the Falcons would have the inside track to Las Vegas. Air Force would need either a win over Rice or a Wyoming loss at Tulsa the following week to win the title.

Rice will be rooting for Air Force this week. If the Falcons upend Wyoming and the Owls knock off visiting UNLV as expected Saturday in Houston, then Rice will be right back in the thick of things.

The Owls would have to upset Air Force in Colorado Springs next week and also hope Wyoming is upset at Tulsa. If that scenario were to take place, Rice, Air Force and Wyoming would finish with 6-2 WAC records, but Rice would be declared Mountain Division champion based on a better divisional record (6-1 vs. 5-2 for both Air Force and Wyoming).

Meanwhile, in the Pacific Division, BYU (7-3, 5-1), by virtue of its 13-0 blanking of San Diego State two weeks ago in rainy Provo, is the frontrunner to advance to Las Vegas.

The Cougars need to win their final two games --- at UTEP and at archrival Utah -- to win the Pacific title.

San Diego State (5-4, 5-1) needs to win both this week at San Jose State and next week at home against UTEP, while BYU loses at least once, to claim the Pacific Division. If BYU loses twice, Ted Tollner's Aztecs need a split of their final two games to win the title.

The only other Pacific Division team still in the running for the WAC Championship game is Utah (6-3, 4-2).

The Utes must end the season with wins at New Mexico and over BYU at home while San Diego State loses twice. Utah also would claim the championship if it wins out, BYU defeats UTEP and the Aztecs lose one of their final two games.

That would create a three-way tie at 6-2, but the Utes would have a 6-1 divisional record compared to just 5-2 for the Cougars and Aztecs.

Flying high

Although a win at Wyoming would give Air Force the inside track for the Mountain Division championship, head coach Fisher DeBerry said Monday that winning the WAC title is not his team's No. 1 goal.

Beating Navy and Army for the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy, the most prized possession of the service academies, still is the top priority for the Falcons. And by whipping Army, 35-7, last weekend -- just three weeks after hammering Navy, 49-7 -- Air Force claimed its 12th CIC Trophy and 10th in DeBerry's 15 years in Colorado Springs.

"Obviously that's the No. 1 goal for our program," DeBerry said.

"It's big for a number of reasons. We recruit a lot of the same kids and there are a lot of bragging rights involved. ... Certainly one of the highlights is to go back to the White House for a couple of days in the spring and have the President present the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy."

A writer asked DeBerry if he had voted for President Bill Clinton in the last election. Surprisingly, DeBerry didn't dodge the question.

"No," he replied.

Glover returns

Utah's darkhorse run at the Pacific Division title could be bolstered by the return of star linebacker Phil Glover from a severe ankle injury.

Glover, a Clark High graduate who earned all-WAC first-team honors as a junior, has been sidelined for five games after having surgery to place screws in a broken ankle suffered late in a 31-28 loss to Boise State on Sept. 26. Before the injury, Glover was considered a potential high NFL draft pick.

"I think Phil will play this week (at New Mexico)," Utah coach Ron McBride said.