| | |
News
New Mexico Bowl Notes - Week 5
NEW MEXICO BOWL NOTES - WEEK 5
Week 5 New Mexico Bowl Notes in PDF Format
POINSETTIA BOWL TIE-IN: San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl announced its agreements for the next four-year bowl term (2010-2013) this week. It is extending its agreement with the Mountain West Conference for the next four-year bowl term and guaranteeing the Western Athletic Conference will receive spots in the 2011 and 2012 games and will be a backup in 2010 and 2013 should Navy and Army not be bowl eligible in those respective years.
This year, the Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl and the New Mexico Bowl have both guaranteed spots to the Mountain West and Western Athletic Conferences. The WAC also has an agreement with the San Diego Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl for this season to provide a team if the Pac-10 cannot fill its contracted spot. If that occurs, it would be the third MWC vs. WAC bowl game of 2009.
UNDEFEATED NOW AND THEN: Boise State (WAC) and TCU (MWC) are two of 17 teams in the nation without a loss. The Broncos are 4-0 on the season while the Frogs are 3-0. It’s the fourth time since the 2004 season that Boise State has started a season 4-0. The previous three times, the Broncos went on to finish the regular season undefeated (2004, 2006 and 2008). The only other time this decade that TCU has started 3-0 was last year and the Frogs finished 11-2. In the MWC since 2001, seven teams have started 4-0 or better but only two have finished undefeated, both being Utah in 2008 (13-0) and 2004 (12-0).
BOWL PREDICTIONS: Some college football experts are already making their postseason predictions. Colorado State and Utah were selected more than once from the Mountain West Conference while Nevada and Fresno State were picked twice from the WAC. CBS Sportsline went out on a limb, predicting that the WAC will not have an eligible representative, leading to the selection of Oregon State. Here is the complete breakdown of what is selected for the 2009 New Mexico Bowl:
CollegeBowlProjections.com: Fresno State (WAC) vs. Utah (MWC)
College Football News/Fox Sports: Nevada (WAC) vs. Colorado State (MWC)
CBS Sportsline: Oregon State (PAC-10)* vs. Colorado State (MWC)
ESPN (Mark Schlabach’s pick): Fresno State (WAC) vs. Utah (MWC)
ESPN (Bruce Feldman’s pick): Nevada (WAC) vs. Colorado State (MWC)
Sports Illustrated: Utah State (WAC) vs. UNLV (MWC)
BOWL TICKETS ON SALE NOW: Tickets for the fourth annual New Mexico Bowl are on sale to the general public today. Prices remain the same as the first three bowl games, with Premium sideline seats available for $30 and North end zone seats for $23. Groups of 20 or more can purchase tickets for $25 each.
Fans have three convenient ways to purchase tickets. They are available online at www.newmexicobowl.com, at the UNM ticket office located on the Northwest corner of Avenida Cesar Chavez and University Boulevard, or by calling the Lobo Ticket Office at (505) 925-LOBO or the Bowl office at (505) 925-5999.
The game, featuring a representative from the Mountain West and Western Athletic Conferences, will be played on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 2:30 p.m. MT at University Stadium on the University of New Mexico campus and will be televised nationally on ESPN and ESPN-HD.
FOLLOW THE NEW MEXICO BOWL ON TWITTER: The New Mexico Bowl is now using Twitter to keep fans up-to-date with the latest information. By becoming a follower of our Twitter page, you will have the opportunity to receive breaking news, score updates, and special announcements. Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates (known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. Updates are displayed on the user’s profile page and can also be received on cell phones who have signed up to receive them. Sign up for a Twitter account, registration is free, at Twitter.com.
NEW MEXICO BOWL CONNECTIONS: There are currently 13 former Mountain West or Western Athletic Conference players who played in one of the three New Mexico Bowls and is on an NFL team roster. Colorado State leads the way with five, followed by four San Jose State Spartans, three New Mexico Lobos and one Fresno State Bulldog. Below is a complete list of the athletes:
Kyle Bell (2008, CSU) - RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Quincy Black (2006, UNM) - LB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tom Brandstater (2008, FS) - QB, Denver Broncos
Billy Farris (2008, CSU) - QB, Cincinnati Bengals
Jarron Gilbert (2006, SJSU) - DT, Chicago Bears
Tommie Hill (2008, CSU) - DE, New York Giants
Gartrell Johnson (2008, CSU) - RB, San Diego Chargers
James Jones (2006, SJSU) - WR, Green Bay Packers
Dwight Lowery (2006, SJSU) - CB, New York Jets
Chris Owens (2006, SJSU) - CB, Atlanta Falcons
Marcus Smith (2007, UNM) - WR, Baltimore Ravens
Kory Sperry (2008, CSU) - TE, San Diego Chargers
Robert Turner (2006, UNM) - OL, New York Jets
MWC AND WAC REGULAR SEASON WAR: New Mexico State kept the WAC going in the regular season series with its’ come-from-behind win, 20-17, at New Mexico on Saturday. The season series is now 4-2 in favor of the MWC, with its members outscoring the WAC 165-138.
There are three games left in the regular season match-up between MWC and WAC members. Colorado State is at Idaho, New Mexico State visits San Diego State and UNLV fights Nevada for the Fremont Cannon in Reno. The three WAC schools need to win in order for the WAC to claim the regular season series title.
The Mountain West and Western Athletic Conferences have gone head-to-head the last three years in the New Mexico Bowl with the MWC holding a 2-1 advantage thanks to Colorado State’s come-from-behind win over Fresno State last year. Last year the MWC also came away with a 5-2 edge in the regular season series. In the breakdown, the MWC outscored the WAC 236-166. Five MWC teams played against four different WAC teams. Utah State (WAC) played the most contests, taking on UNLV (L, 27-17 on Aug. 30), Utah (L, 58-10 on Sept. 13) and BYU (L, 34-14 on Oct. 3). San Diego State and UNLV played the most WAC teams for the MWC, both going 1-1. The Aztecs played San Jose State on Sept. 13, falling 35-10, and Idaho (W, 45-17) on Sept. 27. UNLV, besides facing Utah State to start the 2008 season, also played Nevada in the annual Fremont Cannon game, falling 49-27.
ON THE SAME PLAYING FIELD: Many critics claim that it is unfair to consider making the Mountain West Conference or the Western Athletic Conference automatic qualifiers for BCS Bowl Games because the level of competition in their leagues is weak, providing them an easier schedule week-in and week-out. Say what you want, but both conference’s members have gone above and beyond scheduling current automatic qualifiers from the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC. For the season, there are 27 games slated with 19 already in the books. Boise State opened its season Thursday, Sept. 3 with the Pac-10’s Oregon, handing the Ducks a 19-8 loss in front of the nation on ESPN. Two days later, BYU stunned Oklahoma (14-13), last year’s runner-up in the BCS Championship Game. Colorado State wrapped up the weekend on Sunday, knocking off the Big 12’s Colorado Buffaloes on their home turf, 23-17. In week three, two more victories were recorded over the automatics as TCU went into Virginia and came away with a 30-14 win and Hawai`i cruised past Washington State in Seattle, 38-20. This past weekend, TCU did it again, going into another ACC stadium (Clemson) and pulling out a 14-10 win. Utah also added a win, topping the Big East’s Louisville in Utah, 30-14.
So far, the BCS automatics do hold the advantage this season with a record of 7-17 and have outscored the MWC and WAC 706-442. With five more games remaining, the underdogs will be looking to even the score. This week New Mexico plays at Texas Tech on Oct. 3. New Mexico State visits Ohio State Oct. 31, Louisiana Tech takes on LSU Nov. 14 and Fresno State and Hawai`i conclude the regular season at Illinois and vs. Wisconsin, respectively.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: Boise State, the WAC’s lone representative in the AP and USA Today rankings, is back as the highest non-automatic qualifying BCS team, climbing to fifth in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Polls. The Broncos’ finished the 2008 season ranked ninth in both polls, their highest regular season showing ever. BSU did rank No. 5 once, in the final AP poll in 2006 after upsetting Oklahoma in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Boise State has been ranked in the top 25 at least once in each of the last eight seasons. At least one team from the WAC has been in the polls every week since Sept. 17, 2006 (51 consecutive polls).
The Mountain West Conference has two teams ranked among the top 25 in the national polls. TCU comes in at No. 11 in the AP Poll and No. 10 in the USA Today poll. BYU dropped to No. 20 in the AP rankings and No. 22 in the USA Today poll despite theie 42-23 win over then-undefeated Colorado State.
The Mountain West and Western Athletic Conferences are receiving more respect each year from the national media. The Associated Press and USA Today preseason polls put four non-BCS teams (Boise State, BYU, TCU and Utah) in the top 25 for the first time. Boise State’s No. 14 AP poll ranking was also the highest preseason nod for a non-BCS team since the Bowl Championship Series was formed. Since 2003, at least one non-BCS team has placed in the top 15 of the final Associated Press poll or USA Today coaches’ poll in every season. On three occasions -- No. 4 Utah in 2004, No. 5 Boise State in 2006 and No. 2 Utah in 2008 -- a non-BCS team has cracked the final poll top five. On average, the highest-ranked non-BCS team at season’s end has been ranked 12 spots better than the highest-ranked non-BCS team in either preseason poll.
TALE OF THE TURNSTILES: The heads have been counted and in the fourth week of collegiate football just under 400,000 fans supported the Mountain West and Western Athletic Conferences. BYU had the highest home attendance out of the MWC for the second straight week, drawing 64,091. Utah State, which had the largest away figures for the last week, welcomed the most fans this week, seating 18,472. On the road, TCU played in front of the most fans as 70,000 witnessed the Frogs play at Clemson. The WAC’s Fresno State, which had the largest home attendance last week, played before a crowd of 32,910 at Cincinnati. A complete breakdown of each team’s attendance figures are available in the attached PDF.
100 PERCENT SCORING: Three Western Athletic Conference teams and one Mountain West Conference team are a part of the 12 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision to score every time it moves the ball inside the red zone (an opponent’s 20-yard line) this season. TCU (MWC) leads the way at a perfect 13-of-13, followed by Louisiana Tech (9-of-9), San Jose State (8-of-8) and Utah State (7-of-7).
NCAA’S ACTIVE CAREER RECEIVING YARDS LEADERS: UNLV senior WR Ryan Wolfe is currently the nation’s active career receiving yards leader with 3,119 yards. He leads Naaman Roosevelt of Buffalo by 81 yards (3,038) and Bryan Anderson of Central Michigan by 86 yards (3,033). BYU senior TE Dennis Pitta is eighth on the list, but leads all tight ends with 2,328 career receiving yards. Marshall TE Cody Slate trails Pitta by 115 yards with 2,213 career yards.
THIS WEEK’S PREVIEWS: This week’s action kicks off Wednesday night on ESPN2 in Ruston, La. as Louisiana Tech hosts Hawai`i. Two days later, Utah State and BYU battle for Beehive State bragging rights, airing on The Mtn. at 7 p.m. Utah is the lone MWC team with a bye in week five, while Fresno State and San Jose State from the WAC take a well-deserved break. Brief breakdowns of each game slated for this week are available in the attached PDF.
--NEW MEXICO BOWL--
MWC Headings
WAC Headings
