| | By Mike Sorensen
Special to ESPN.com
For the 2000 season, the Big West will operate as a lame-duck
conference. After this year, the conference will cease to exist as a
football league as its six members move off in different directions.
Defending champ Boise State is headed to the Western Athletic
Conference, New Mexico State, Arkansas State, North Texas and Idaho are
joining an expanded Sun Belt Conference, while Utah State will try to make a
go of it as an independent.
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Mon, August 14
After more than 30 years of play, the Big West will wrap it up after this season. It's sad to see the conference go under; they've produced some exciting teams and players (remember Ickey Woods and Randall Cunningham?) The economic reality of college football is forcing new alliances and eliminating some of the conferences as we know them. Most of the 6 members are heading for the Sun Belt Conference after this season. Nevada just left for the WAC and Boise State will join them next year. Utah State is left to fend for themselves as an independent until they can find an affiliation.
Expect a great deal of scoring in the final year of the Big West. There are two new coaches: Tom Cable at Idaho and Mick Dennehy at Utah State, both of whom like offense (Cable ran the offense at Colorado). Everyone in the Big West will by vying for a shot at the final conference title and a spot in the Humanitarian Bowl.
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"It's great to be going to the WAC, but that doesn't diminish anything
about this season," said Boise State coach Dirk Koetter.
The other five coaches feel the same way. Each will be doing their
darndest to claim the final Big West football title and the Humanitarian
Bowl berth that goes to the winner.
Koetter's Broncos will be favored to repeat as champions with the best
quarterback you've never heard of in senior Bart Hendricks. They'll be
challenged by New Mexico State, which made it into the winning column for
only the third time in 33 years when the Aggies finished 6-5, including a
35-7 thrashing of Arizona State on the road.
Idaho, which has a new coach in Tom Cable, will be trying to regain the
title it won in 1998, while Arkansas State looks to be much improved under
fourth-year coach Joe Hollis. Another new coach, Mick Dennehy, has taken the
reins at Utah State and he'll attempt to put the Aggies in the upper
division with a potent passing offense. North Texas, which has been a
Division I school for less than a decade will try to avoid finishing in the
cellar again and improve on last year's 2-9 mark.
Last year, the league gained respect with some impressive non-league
victories, including New Mexico State's win over Arizona State, Idaho's
victory over Washington State, North Texas's win over Texas Tech and Boise
State's wins over Utah and New Mexico and Louisville in the Humanitarian
Bowl. The Big West schools have a chance to make a national splash again
with six games against Big 12 opponents, and five each against the Pac-10
and Mountain West Conferences as well as games against SEC, ACC and
Conference USA opponents.
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