After much internal fighting amongst the staff here at the BBC, I am proud to say that I came out on top and was allowed to preview this fantastic bowl game. Booyah!
Fresno St (8-4, 6-2 WAC) vs. Wyoming (6-6, 4-4 MWC)
December 19, 2009 4:30 PM ET
University Stadium, Albuquerque, New Mexico
I guess I will start with the things that interest me about this game. First, I
wanted to know about the stadium (yeah, the teams excite me that much).
University Stadium is the home field of the New Mexico Lobos and has a seating capacity of 38,634. So, um, nothing too interesting I guess.
My first thought is if they will sell out this game or not. My guess is they won’t, even with the relatively small seating capacity, which leads me to question whether or not anyone will be making any money off of this thing. I guess someone has to be making some money or else they wouldn’t have it. Only in America can capitalism bring us such an exciting game.
The second thing that interests me about this game is the match up between the two conferences. The Mountain West and the Western Athletic Conference challenge for mid major BCS slots seemingly every year, so establishing which conference is more competitive seems like it would be pretty advantageous.
I personally think that the Mountain West is a much better conference overall and that going undefeated in the WAC is a pretty worthless accomplishment (I’m looking at you Boise State).
Fresno State looks to be the favorite in this game (based on wins and losses and pretty much nothing else) and if Wyoming were able to win it would send a pretty strong message that the WAC is garbage.
This, of course, assumes that the national media pays attention to these things, which I highly doubt they will. Boise State has a free pass forever thanks to their victory over Oklahoma.
I personally don’t mind mid majors making runs at BCS bowl games, but if Boise State (or any other school in the WAC) wants me to take them seriously, they need to start scheduling three decent out of conference games, otherwise, you don’t deserve anything in my book.
So the conference implications are mildly interesting in this game. I doubt that the national media will pay any attention to them, but if Wyoming wins that would hurt the credibility of the WAC, at least in my eyes.
Given that Boise State going undefeated every year with a pathetic schedule is mildly obnoxious to me, and that scheduling one competitive out of conference team a year to pretend like their schedule is worthy of BCS consideration is even more obnoxious, I will be rooting for Wyoming in this game.
That being said, I chose Fresno State to win.
So to conclude, here are some reason to watch this game.
1. You have nothing better to do.
2. The conference implications are somewhat interesting, especially if Wyoming wins.
3. Fresno State’s Ryan Mathews is the leading rusher in Division I-A this year with 1664 net yards, so it might be fun to watch him run the ball.
4. It is college football, and college football is good, and you need to soak it in as much as you can now before the off season gets here.
The staff here at the BBC are going to be making picks for all of the bowl games this year. I am not sure if there will be a prize for not for the winner (I think the winner should get a case of beer, but that’s just me), but here are the picks.
Who Are We Picking?
Jeff at the BBC: Fresno State
Mali: Fresno State
Eric: Fresno State
Jim: Fresno State
It’s unanimous. Who would have guessed a 6-6 team from Wyoming that I am pretty sure no one has seen play a single game all year would not receive a vote of support.
That wraps it up for the first of 34 bowl games this year. The BBC will be previewing them all, and we promise that at least some of the match ups will be a little more intriguing than this one.
Until then, enjoy the bowl games this weekend, if you choose to watch them.
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