Columnist Dean Juipe: Utes, Falcons simplify UNLV’s task

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2001 | 9:52 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

As at least a couple of e-mail respondents noted following my column last Friday on the UNLV football team's bowl chances, "It's only going to take one day of upsets to throw off your scenario."

And that day was last Saturday.

As quick as you can say "Utah loses to Colorado State and Air Force is beaten by New Mexico," everything related to the Rebels going to a bowl suddenly was reduced to a single factor. Simply put, it's up to them.

Nothing that any of the other Mountain West Conference contenders does from here on out this season matters, as it pertains to UNLV. All the could-bes and would-bes that were out of UNLV's control as recently as a week ago have been reduced to the extraneous, thanks to the Utes and Falcons losing games that each expected to win.

If the Rebels win their three remaining games, they will, without any question, go to a bowl game. As such, their mission is now clearly defined.

The league has three bowl berths to fill and only 4-0 Brigham Young -- the likely MWC champion -- would seem to have a lock on one. That leaves 3-1 CSU, 2-1 Utah, 2-2 Air Force, 2-2 New Mexico and 2-2 UNLV in a round-robin tussle for the other two spots. (It's fairly safe to assume the Mountain West will be limited to three bowl teams, as the two bowls with at-large berths available will almost certainly look elsewhere to fill their needs.)

Also, and to clarify, the Las Vegas Bowl is not obliged to take the Mountain West's second-place team, nor is the bowl game in New Orleans obliged to take Mountain West No. 3. Those bowls can choose from among the league's bowl-eligible teams, leaving a situation in which the actual runner-up in the conference could, in theory, be shunned and not go to a bowl game.

There is also a good deal of speculation that the Las Vegas Bowl will take UNLV, as it did last year, if the Rebels finish with a winning record and are bowl eligible. But, while likely, that's hardly automatic, given that the ABC television network supposedly has a 50-50 say in the decision and it may opt for a team that it feels has a broader appeal (although the only team in the league with a national following is BYU).

Of course what can't be minimized amid these speculative pieces is the difficult challenge that confronts the Rebels, with Utah, New Mexico and Air Force yet to play. Any loss eliminates UNLV from consideration.

But the test doesn't seem as daunting as it did only a week ago, when Utah, in particular, was playing well and figured to be a handful for the Rebels. In addition, there is increasing evidence that Air Force may have packed it in -- understandably, if its players are distracted by the war in Afghanistan -- and that upcoming game doesn't appear as demanding as it once did.

Conversely, a New Mexico team that only a week ago appeared superfluous in the MWC title picture has now entered the fray and has the easiest remaining schedule of the contenders.

Yet from UNLV's perspective, everything has been streamlined. In fact, as they say in grade school, it's as easy as 1, 2, 3.

The drawback is that even with the league having lost some of its luster, no team -- including, or especially, the Rebels -- dares to assume it can win out.