Rocket City Report: 2010 WAC Preview

The Favorite: Of course it's Boise State again. But this time, Chris Petersen's bunch has loftier goals than just a WAC title. Last year they beat every conference opponent by double digits. Only four scholarship seniors graduated off that team. The only possible landmine in conference is a trip to Nevada, who have played the Broncos closer than most the last three years.

The Challengers: Nevada and Fresno State should be vying for second place again this year. Last year Nevada finished with the same regular season record that I predicted. The pistol offense should still be one of the best with QB Kaepernick finally in his senior season. The biggest question is if the Wolfpack can gain some national recognition by either beating Boise State, beating an AQ team, or winning a bowl game. The last time any one of those occurred was in 2006 when they beat Northwestern. Fresno State was better than I expected last year, mostly due to the great season by RB Ryan Mathews. Fresno State has beaten several AQ teams under Pat Hill despite never winning a WAC title. They have three great chances to do it again, two of them at home.

The Sleeper: I called Utah State my sleeper last season and correctly predicted their record to be 4-8 (3-5). They played Nevada and Fresno State very close and definitely seemed to be on the upswing. I'll call them my sleeper again this season and predict them to get to the postseason.

The Letdown: I think Hawaii is going to be down and might stay that way now three years removed from the June Jones era. The Warriors do have a great home field advantage and the bottom of the WAC is really weak, so perhaps they won't fall too hard. I see them missing the postseason for the second straight year.

Conference Player of the Year: It has to be Boise State's Kellen Moore again, the conference's only legitimate Heisman candidate.

I Wrote What?: In 2008, Idaho went 2-10. In last year's preview I called for them to do the same. Instead they went 8-5 with a Humanitarian Bowl win and were one of the biggest surprises in the country. I also missed Louisiana Tech's record by three games, although they did lose three games by a total of five points. If they had kicked another field goal in each game, I would have nailed their final record.

Non-conference Games to Watch:
* Boise State vs Virginia Tech at Landover, MD, Sept 6 - Arguably the biggest non-conference game of the year, and definitely the biggest game for a non-AQ team in the BCS era. A win would get Boise State in the national championship discussion.
* Oregon State at Boise State, Sept 25 - Even if Boise State can get past Virginia Tech, they still have to beat Oregon State to run the table. It's an under-the-radar game since most people will only focus on the opener.
* Cincinnati at Fresno State, Sept 4 - Even though Cincinnati is coming off back-to-back BCS bowl appearances, there's a lot of upset potential for a new head coach in his first game. Fresno State lives for these opportunities.
* Cal at Nevada, Sept 17 - Despite their overall success, it has been a few years since Nevada's last notable win. Hosting Cal on a Friday night is a chance to change that.
* USC at Hawaii, Sept 2 - This is mainly because it's the first game for USC since Pete Carroll left, not because I think it will be a good game. I expect a lot of people will stay up late on opening night to watch this one.

Projected Standings: