College Preview- WAC

In the last of my college preview series, I'll go over the WAC. The WAC has produced two BCS busters with Boise St. and Hawaii. Fresno St. is looking to crash the party this year. Should be another interesting year in this conference that is still full of fireworks. I'm not going to cover the other mid-majors (MAC, Conference USA, Sun-Belt, though for future reference, keep your eye on UCF & FAU) because I'm just not that familiar with them. Here are the picks...

• Boise St.- Fresno is getting all the pre-season love but Boise cannot be overlooked. They always have plenty of weapons on offense and they have a fairly easy schedule, other than a trip to Eugene. The annual matchup with Fresno is on the Smurf Turf so Boise gets the advantage.
• Fresno St.- I can see why so many picked the Bulldogs to win the WAC this year, they return a lot of starters and should be a powerhouse on offense. Tough schedule that includes @Rutgers, @UCLA and Wisconsin, then @Smurf Turf. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. They have a tendency to lose games they shouldn't.
• Hawaii- Hangover from last years devastating loss to Georgia. Plus they've lost June Jones and Colt Brennan. They'll still be competitive and Honalulu is a tough place to play for visitors. They have to travel to Gainesville for their first game...Ouch! That's not gonna help the old confidence!
• Nevada- Tough early season matchups with Texas Tech and Missouri. This team is usually in the hunt but can never quite get over the hump.
• New Mexico St.- Have the firepower to win more than one conference game this year. Defense is the achilles heal here. Chase Holbrook may be the best qb they've ever had.
• San Jose St.- Several returning starters. They need to find a way to win close games. Solid defense but overall average team.
• Louisiana Tech- I still can't figure out why this team is in the WAC? Just being in Louisiana should give them an automatic recruiting advantage over many others in this conference, but that doesn't seem to happen. Just below average team.
• Idaho- Doormat that doesn't have the talent to compete with the elite of the WAC. Will it ever improve?
• Utah St.- See Idaho. Ditto here.