| | By Ed Graney
Special to ESPN.com
Ted Tollner remembers back to an earlier time, back when he was head
football coach at USC and then later as an NFL assistant.
He remembers how he felt about conference opponents.
"I wanted them to lose every game," Tollner said. "I wanted them
beaten, depleted, as far down as they could possibly be. I wanted them to get their
tails kicked, so we might have some advantage."
And now?
"I want every team in our league to succeed. I want Wyoming to beat
Auburn. I'd love to see BYU upset Florida State. It's the only way our conference is
going to take the next step."
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Mon, August 14
Just a couple years ago, the old WAC schools were complaining about being left out of the BCS and established the Mountain West with the intention of making a splash. That didn't happen. While Conference USA (East Carolina and Southern Miss) and the MAC (Marshall) were rising in the polls and gaining national attention with major upsets, the Mountain West struggled. Sure, they beat up on the Pac 10, but who didn't? No major upsets occurred, and no Mountain West team threatened to break into the Top Ten.
In it's second year, the Mountain West will need to establish an identity or risk remaining behind the MAC and Conference USA. BYU is the conference's most recognized member and it is vital the Cougars restore their national reputation of producing top quarterbacks who play exciting offense.
Utah and Colorado State should be solid, but neither is likely to gain the national attention BYU could garner by virtue of their tradition. Which is why Wyoming may hold the key to the conference this year. With veteran QB Jay Stoner and early visits to Auburn and Texas A&M, the Cowboys may pull off a couple of major upsets that are necessary to catapult this conference onto the national scene.
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Tollner is the seven-year head coach at San Diego State. His team is part
of the second-year Mountain West Conference, which is quickly becoming associated with the P-word.
Parity.
The conference race ended in a three-way tie for first last year. A
fourth team finished one game out. Two games separated the top six teams.
But when you live within a Division I structure that pays homage to only
those leagues which own membership in a Bowl Championship Series, which have
already scaled the summit to national prominence, which are guaranteed five
to six post-season berths, overall balance might not be your best ticket to
gaining respect.
It doesn't figure to change much this season for the MWC, which went 7-5
against BCS teams last year and adds another 20 such games this fall. The
conference will again spend each Saturday afternoon trying to prove it
deserves a chair at the main dinner table.
There is a theory that says if one team (say Utah or Colorado State) has
an undefeated or near-flawless season and warrants a top five ranking and BCS
invitation, the MWC will benefit far more than if multiple programs again
share the spotlight.
The theory has its problems.
"Certainly, our goal is to be a member of the BCS with a guaranteed spot
for automatic qualification," said commissioner Craig Thompson. "There is
no doubt about that.
"But in the long run, in our formative years, we need parity. That's
what is driving our fan base. We were the seventh rated conference in attendance
last year in the nation and attendance drives television ratings," Thompson said. "We're in this for the long-haul and it's good right now we have some drama with our teams, that you can walk into any of our stadiums each week and not know
who's going to win."
The tune won't change this year. This league is another three-way tie
waiting to happen.
Ed Graney covers college football for the San Diego Union Tribune | |
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