Chasing the big dogs

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2002 | 10:01 a.m.

Off to a fast start ...

The Mountain West Conference's eight schools are 6-4 against nonconference competition. But they have some significant victories against Bowl Championship Series teams:

Aug. 22

Colorado State 35, *Virginia (ACC) 29

Aug. 24

* N.C. State (ACC) 34, New Mexico 14

Aug. 29

BYU 42, * Syracuse (Big East) 21 Fresno State (WAC) 16, San Diego State 14

Aug. 31

Air Force 52, * Northwestern (Big Ten) 3 Colorado State 19, *Colorado (Big 12) 14 Utah 23, Utah State (Independent) 3 *Tennessee (SEC) 47, Wyoming 7 New Mexico 38, Weber State (I-AA Big Sky) 24 * Wisconsin (Big Ten) 27, UNLV 7

* BCS conference member

One look at the scoreboard would seem to indicate that the gap between the Mountain West Conference and the six conferences that make up the Bowl Championship Series is narrowing.

And don't forget last year's Las Vegas Bowl final: Utah 10, USC 6.

After two weeks of action in 2002, the Mountain West has compiled a 4-3 record against conferences that form the Beverly Hills elite of Division I college football: the SEC, Pac-10, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East and ACC. Those conferences are guaranteed a huge slice of the BCS pie and a slot in one of the four premier postseason bowl games (Rose, Orange, Sugar and Fiesta) that pay teams $11-$13 million to participate.

The Mountain West? It's champ gets about a tenth of that -- $1.3 million to be exact -- to play in the Liberty Bowl.

Oh, there is a provision that mandates a Mountain West team be included in the BCS party if it finishes in the top six of the final BCS standings, which takes into consideration things like polls, strength of schedule, margin of victory and those dreaded computer rankings that sometimes seem like they're from the Twilight Zone.

But unlike college sports' most exciting event, the NCAA Basketball Tournament, there's little chance of a Gonzaga or a Kent State cracking into this members' only party.

Example: BYU was 12-0 and owner of one of the nation's most exciting offenses last year. But the Cougars, who were ambushed in their regular-season finale by an underrated Hawaii team, 72-45, never got higher than 12th in the BCS standings.

"Strength of schedule figured greatly into that," Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson said.

But Thompson believes it is possible for the MWC to get into the BCS.

"We're playing schedules now that if a team were to run the table I think they could get in even this year," he said. "But the difference is one of our teams would probably have to go undefeated to get in while teams in the BCS conferences can still get in with one or two losses."

With so much money riding on getting into a BCS bowl game, the Mountain West is hoping to position itself to one day gain an automatic bid into the BCS. But nothing will happen until after 2006 at the earliest, because of TV contracts with the major bowls.

"That's a big story," UNLV coach and athletic director John Robinson said. "There's a lot of research and financial considerations involved in it. I think you're talking about $1 million or so per team each year regardless of how your team does.

"Getting into (the BCS) is important for us as we go down the road. I kind of believe it will happen."

But how?

"I don't think there will be a fifth BCS bowl game added to the mix," Thompson said. "I think you could maybe one day see the postseason restructured among the bowls or perhaps a playoff including the Mountain West."

For now, though, it's up to a Colorado State or a BYU or a Utah to go undefeated and end up in the top six of the BCS standings in December.

"This is another big week for us," Thompson said. "Colorado State is at UCLA and we have two BCS conference schools playing our teams at home (Kansas at UNLV and Indiana at Utah). And San Diego State goes to Colorado."

The better the Mountain West performs against the BCS schools, the better its chances of being asked to join the party one day.

Thompson, who had attended Saturday's Air Force-Northwestern game near MWC headquarters in Colorado Springs, said he was on the phone with game officials Saturday night when the decision to halt the game was made.