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Conference Chatter: League play begins; how strong will MWC be?

By Iliana Limón
Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Four Mountain West Conference teams open league play this week, offering the first glimpse of how competitive games could be this season.

One of the best examples comes with Utah (2-1), the preseason pick to finish second in the conference, visiting San Diego State (0-2), the preseason sixth-place team.

"Just like every year when we play the Aztecs, we've got our hands full," Utes coach Kyle Whittingham said.

He called nonconference play a mixed bag, with the Utes improving as a team but failing to pull off an upset of a Bowl Championship Series team. Utah had a chance but ultimately lost to UCLA.

First-year Aztecs coach Chuck Long said he was looking forward to the game and seeing how his team stacks up against MWC foes.

San Diego State has lost close games to UTEP and Wisconsin. The Aztecs continue to be rich in talent, but Long was brought in to make San Diego State a consistent winner. A victory over Utah would give credibility to the buzz that San Diego State is a program on the rise.

Air Force (0-1) at Wyoming (1-2)

The Falcons are a bit of enigma, thanks to some odd scheduling.

Air Force opened the season with a bye, lost by one point at Tennessee, then had another bye.

Falcons coach Fisher DeBerry said his team has worked hard during the time off, but most teams make their greatest improvement between their first and second games.

He will get the litmus test he wants when the Falcons visit Wyoming.

The Cowboys had a Division I-AA win to open the season, then lost a pair of close games to Virginia and Boise State.

Senior Wyoming safety John Wendling has arguably had the most success against the Falcons' offense, earning player of the week honors the past two seasons the Cowboys have faced Air Force.

"They probably have figured out some way of getting John stopped, but he has been John Wayne for us in this game, so I'm hoping he finds a way to pick up where he left off," Cowboys coach Joe Glenn said.

Utah State (0-3) at BYU (1-2) The Cougars' John Beck is the fourth Mountain West quarterback to go down with an injury.

Beck has sprained both ankles and isn't expected to practice until Thursday. His status against Utah State will be decided at game time.

No 16. TCU (bye)

No respect?

TCU coach Gary Patterson turned heads with remarks he made during a news conference after the Horned Frogs' 12-3 win over then-No. 24 Texas Tech.

"People have been underselling our kids for years. All they ever want to do is talk about the Big 12," Patterson said. "The biggest thing is our kids deserve better."

Elaborating during the MWC's weekly conference call, Patterson said too much emphasis was put on his remarks.

He was quick to defend his players, who he said are gaining more respect nationally but haven't always gotten the attention they deserved.

TV deals still in limbo

MWC Commissioner Craig Thompson said CSTV and Comcast are still in negotiations with cable and satellite service providers to expand the Mountain's TV presence as league play begins.

He said the conference hopes to make an announcement about broadcast information on games now listed as "To Be Determined" on team's schedules.

Thompson said the conference has not been able to line up live video streaming for games on the Mountain because it makes the new network less attractive to satellite providers. He said satellite companies would prefer not to have any competition for audiences before agreeing to add the Mountain to their channel lineup.