Columnist Steve Guiremand: Mountain West teams deserve a lump of coal

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Dec. 6, 2002 | 10:01 a.m.

Steve Guiremand covers college football for the Sun. He can be reached at steveg@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-2324.

The Las Vegas Bowl has two more years remaining on its deal to take the No. 2 team from the Mountain West Conference. And if I were executive director Tina Kunzer-Murphy, I would begin sending out feelers to the Big 12 Conference and Big Ten Conference to see if they'd be interested in perhaps taking that spot.

You would think the Mountain West would be grateful to be able to play a Pac-10 Conference team each year in a nationally televised game from a tourist hotspot like Las Vegas. But once again there were strong grumblings, this time from Air Force, that they preferred to play elsewhere so that they wouldn't have to play on Christmas Day.

The Falcons got their way and will play in the new San Francisco Bowl on New Year's Eve. Meanwhile, the Las Vegas Bowl decided to invite an appreciative and enthusiastic New Mexico squad, which will probably bring 10 times as many people to Las Vegas for the game anyway.

A few years ago there were indications that BYU didn't want to play on Christmas Day, either. However, the Cougars, still the bell cow for the young MWC, apparently have changed their tune and likely would have been Las Vegas bound if not for the fact they had their first losing season since 1973.

The point here is that teams from what was a mediocre Mountain West should be overjoyed -- just like bowl-starved New Mexico -- to get an $800,000 invitation to play a Washington or a UCLA or an Oregon State on Christmas Day here.

Believe me, it could be worse. A lot worse.

How would you like to spend a week in El Paso like Purdue and probably Arizona State will this year for the Sun Bowl? The highlight of that bowl experience? How about bloodless bowl fights and a tour of the Tony Lama boot factory. Whoopee!

Or how about playing in the Humanitarian Bowl in chilly Boise? The Motor City Bowl in that December hot spot of Detroit? Or, sorry MWC officials, the Liberty Bowl in Memphis?

The Las Vegas Bowl needs to do everything in its power to keep its tie-in with the Pac-10. And think if it could enter into an agreement with, say, the Big 12, to get one of its mid-level bowl teams.

Think Iowa State and Seneca Wallace would prefer spending Christmas in Las Vegas as opposed to New Year's Eve in Boise? Or Nebraska, the Big 12's No. 6 team, which is headed to Shreveport, La., to play in the Independence Bowl against Ole Miss? Or even Texas A&M, which could be playing in the Motor City Bowl against Toledo.

These are big-time programs that would fill up Sam Boyd Stadium, not to mention local hotel rooms.

You could also keep good relations with UNLV by putting in a special clause, like the Hawaii Bowl is doing with Hawaii, that the Rebels get an automatic berth if they win seven or eight games.

Maybe it will take a tie-in with the Humanitarian Bowl or the Motor City Bowl for some of the coaches in the Mountain West to appreciate what a good thing they have here.

After all, beggars can't be choosers.

Carson Show a hit

I wonder how many folks who attended last year's Las Vegas Bowl went home thinking they saw the potential 2002 Heisman Trophy winner?

USC's Carson Palmer completed just 15 of 26 passes for 150 yards and zero touchdowns in a 10-6 loss to Utah last Christmas Day.

The Trojans had a young, struggling offensive line and no real threat at running back, so the Utes decided to just tee off on Palmer, who was hounded all day by Sheldon Deckert and company. USC finished with just one yard rushing.

Here's how my Heisman ballot will read: 1. Palmer; 2. Iowa QB Brad Banks; 3. Miami RB Willis McGahee.

Memo to Penn State fans: Yes, I know Larry Johnson is only the eighth back to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. But the Nittany Lions didn't beat a Top 25 team and Banks beat him out for Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year honors.

Banks threw 25 touchdowns and just four interceptions while leading the Hawkeyes to a 11-1 record and probable Rose Bowl date. Great stats to be sure. But Palmer delivered 23 touchdowns and four interceptions -- in just his last six games of the season -- and rewrote the Pac-10 record book in the process.

McGahee gets the nod over teammate Ken Dorsey because he, not Johnson, is the best running back in the nation this year.

Once around the Mountain West

AIR FORCE: Falcons, who have finished in the Top 10 in rushing every year since 1987, lead the nation in rushing with a 314.5 yards per game average. Air Force has never claimed a national rushing title.

BYU: Practice doesn't always make perfect. The Cougars attempted a MWC-leading 42 fourth-down conversion tries, converting 17. That ranks BYU just sixth in the conference with a 40.5 percentage.

COLORADO STATE: What might have been: The Liberty Bowl-bound Rams (10-3) lost two games by a combined five points. CSU lost to Fresno State, 32-30, and was beaten by UNLV, 36-33, last week. The other loss was a 30-19 decision at UCLA. In each of its three losses, the Rams either had the lead or were attempting a game-tying, two-point conversion in the final two minutes.

NEW MEXICO: The Lobos (7-6, 5-2) worked overtime in earning their Las Vegas Bowl berth. New Mexico played three overtime games this season and compiled a 1-2 mark. Eight of the Lobos' games this season were decided by eight points or less.

SAN DIEGO STATE: Bola Tito Anjorin Gbaja-Biamila, 53, the mother of defensive end Akbar Gbaja-Biamila and his brother, former Aztec DE and current Green Bay Packer defensive lineman Kabeer, was killed in a car accident on Sunday night in Los Angeles when her car went out of control, struck a palm tree and caught fire. Akbar Gbaja-Biamila is still expected to start San Diego State's season finale at Hawaii on Saturday night.

UNLV: Sophomore linebacker Adam Seward from Bonanza High School has clinched the Mountain West tackling crown. Seward had 133 tackles and an average of 11.1 tackles per game.

UTAH: Offensive tackle Jordan Gross has been named one of the three finalists for the Outland Trophy, awarded annually to the nation's top interior lineman.

WYOMING: According to the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, the frontrunner to replace Vic Koenning as head coach appears to be Bowling Green coach Urban Meyer. Meyer was an assistant coach at Border War rival Colorado State from 1990-95. Meyer has also been mentioned as a possible candidate at both Michigan State and Baylor.