Fit to be tied

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, Nov. 17, 1999 | 11:15 a.m.

Back at the inaugural Mountain West Conference football media day in Colorado Springs last July, more than one head coach said he wouldn't be surprised to see a conference champion with two losses.

Depending on what happens on Saturday afternoon in Provo, Utah, they may end up being right.

BYU (8-2, 5-1), which was cruising to the MWC title until getting upset 31-17 at Wyoming on Saturday night, still can clinch the title outright with a win over in-state rival Utah (7-3, 4-2) on Saturday. The Cougars have lost three straight to the Utes in Provo.

Utah last year lost 26-24 to BYU when Ryan Kaneshiro's 32-yard game-winning field goal try clanked off the right upright with nine seconds left. But if the Utes can avenge that bitter defeat, the very real possibility exists that there could be a four-way tie for the initial MWC football championship.

And the conference title could be decided right here at Sam Boyd Stadium on Nov. 27 when UNLV hosts Colorado State (6-3, 3-2).

Here's the scenario for a four-way tie:

Utah beats BYU, Colorado State defeats Air Force on Thursday night and UNLV next week and Wyoming (6-3, 3-2) wins its final two games against New Mexico and San Diego State.

The standard for breaking four-way ties is the head-to-head record among the schools involved. In that scenario, Colorado State and Wyoming would be 2-1 while BYU and Utah would be 1-2. Colorado State would then be the MWC champion based on its earlier win over Wyoming.

There are also possibilities for a three-way tie at the top.

If Utah, BYU and Colorado State tie with 5-2 conference marks, each would be 1-1 in round-robin play and tri-champs would be declared. If Wyoming ties with Utah and BYU, the Cowboys will have defeated both the Utes and Cougars and would win that tiebreaker.

So how does all this tiebreaker mambo-jambo effect the MWC's bowl ties?

Surprisingly, not at all.

The Liberty Bowl, which is supposed to get the Mountain West champion for its New Year's Eve matchup against the Conference-USA winner; and the Las Vegas Bowl, which gets the conference runnerup; both have the option of picking the school of their choice in case of a tie at the top.

"It doesn't matter who wins the tiebreaker," MWC commissioner Craig Thompson said.

The Liberty Bowl is expected to choose BYU regardless of Saturday's outcome with Utah. Then it's the Las Vegas Bowl's turn to pick among Colorado State, Utah, Wyoming and Air Force, which has the national name and Nellis Air Base as its trump cards.

No matter what schools get picked, there's bound to be a lot of hurt feelings.

"All we can do is play," Colorado State coach Sonny Lubick said. "I guess you cross that threshold when it comes up."

Thompson is holding out slim hopes that the conference might be able to place a third team in a bowl if conferences such as the Big Ten and SEC get two teams in the Bowl Championship Series and can't fulfill their required lower bowl allotments. The ACC also could come up a team short.

"We're right in there," Thompson said. "I spoke to three bowls (Monday) morning. There's interest."

* TROPHY TIME? It seemed so likely that BYU would clinch the MWC title last Saturday night in Laramie that conference officials had the league championship trophy on hand to present to the Cougars in the locker room afterward. And a representative of the Liberty Bowl was also on hand to officially invite the Cougs back to Memphis.

Instead of a trophy celebration, they got to see Wyoming fans tear down the goal posts.

"We were kind of lackadaisical, we couldn't get ourselves pumped," Cougar cornerback Brian Gray said. "If we were playing Virginia or something like that, or a Pac-10 school, it's different. But Wyoming ...

"We knew this was our chance to win a ring and everything. But emotionally we just couldn't get ourselves to another level."

* INJURY UPDATE: Cougar coach LaVell Edwards said that it was "touch-and-go" whether star freshman running back Luke Staley would play Saturday.

Staley missed the Wyoming loss after having surgery to remove a torn meniscus in his knee. Without him, the Cougars gained just 29 yards rushing on 29 attempts and lost four fumbles, including three by freshman backup Naufahu Tahi.

Meanwhile, Utah coach Ron McBride said starting quarterback Darnell Arceneaux, who suffered what was termed "a massive concussion" two weeks ago in a loss to Wyoming, won't play in Saturday's contest.

* QUARTEBACK SWITCH: Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry said junior Mike Thiessen, who rushed for 94 yards and passed for 84 more in the Falcons' 35-16 win over UNLV last Saturday, would start Thursday night's key game against Colorado State on ESPN.

Thiessen, who is 1-2 this year as a starter, replaces senior Cale Bonds, who is 5-1 as a starter but is still slowed by a high ankle sprain suffered last month.

"We thought that Mike Thiessen came into that UNLV game and had an outstanding performance," DeBerry said. "Mike deserves the opportunity to start (Thursday). Mike right now is probably a little more physical than Cale, because Cale still isn't quite 100 percent."

* TWENTY-TWO SKIDOO: New Mexico safety Brian Urlacher had 22 tackles in the Lobos' 52-7 loss to Utah last weekend.

All of which didn't bother McBride that much.

"I don't mind him getting all those tackles, just as long as they are eight yards down the field every time," McBride said.

Utes running back Mike Anderson rushed for 204 yards on 32 carries in the victory.