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Some of Lloyd's criticism of the MWC was valid. Since 2005, the MWC has a combined 55-53 non-conference record, including bowl games. Take away a 10-2 record against I-AA, and a 6-1 record over WAC cellar-dweller Utah State, and the MWC is 39-50.
Only TCU (10-2), UNM (6-3) and Utah (6-4) have a net winning record after that. That leaves the rest of the MWC at 17-41.
This includes BYU's 4-6 record against I-A opponents without the acronym USU.
Boise State's 15-0 record against the current MWC structure doesn't help.
Quote: "To get to that top tier -- and the big bucks that come with it -- you have to have notoriety and that's not going to happen very easily in the Mountain West."
Funny, but in 2004, Utah rolled through the MWC undefeated.
And all Utah did was make it to a BCS bowl game -- the same thing Lloyd's belly-aching about BYU not doing the past two years.
What was the difference in that 2004 Utah team and the BYU teams of 2006 and 2007?
Utah won all its non-conference games. BYU didn't.
In 2004, Utah whipped Texas A&M, 41-21. UU went to Arizona and won, 23-6, thumped USU 48-6, and crushed an eventual 6-5 UNC team, 46-16.
In 2006, BYU blew its BCS chances in the first game of the season, inexplicably losing at Arizona, 16-13. BYU bounced back against Tulsa, 49-24. But in a key exposure game on the East Coast, BYU missed PATs and turnovers on national TV saw Boston College pull out a 30-23 overtime win. At 1-2, BYU had no chance of getting to the BCS, despite winning out.
In 2007, BYU opened with a 20-7 win over Arizona. But the next week, BYU was whipped 27-17 at UCLA, which finished at 6-6. (Let's not forget that two weeks later, UCLA was absolutely crushed by Utah, 44-6.) BCS chances were hurting dramatically, but they were washed away the following week when BYU couldn't stop Tulsa and suffered a 55-47 defeat at the hands of the eventual C-USA runner-up.
No, BYU's lack to reach the BCS cannot be laid at the feet of the MWC brethren.
It can be laid only at the feet of the BYU Cougars.
Quote: "Beating up on bad teams does very little to impress either voters or computers, as evidenced by the slow rise of BYU in the polls in a year when everyone is piling up losses."
It seemed to work for Hawaii this year.
His argument that conference makeup determines the BCS' fate is totally destroyed by Utah's advancement in 2004, Boise State's advancement in 2006, and especially this year's inclusion of Hawaii.
Hawaii played two I-AA teams this year -- Northern Colorado and Charleston Southern -- and survived two overtime scares on the road, a two-point road win and came from behind to score the winning TD in the final minute of the final game against a 4-9 Washington team.
Hawaii had conference wins over 1-11 Idaho, 2-10 Utah State, 4-9 New Mexico State, 5-7 San Jose State, 5-7 Louisiana Tech and 6-6 Nevada. Hawaii's only victories over "name" opponents came over Boise State and Fresno State, both on the island.
BYU had conference wins over 9-3 Air Force, 8-4 New Mexico, 8-4 Utah and 7-5 TCU. It's others were against 4-8 San Diego State, 3-9 Colorado State (which gave an early-season scare to then Top 5-ranked California) and 2-10 UNLV (which came within 3 points of upsetting vaunted Big Ten power Wisconsin early in the year).
Conference wise, BYU wins that matchup with Hawaii, hands down.
But, the pendelum swings back the other way in non-conference play. Even though BYU played a tougher non-conference schedule, it lost two games that Hawaii did not.
In case you think that's a fluke, look at 2006 when Boise State made it to the Fiesta Bowl.
Boise's conference wins were against 1-11 USU, 3-10 La Tech, 4-8 NMSU, 4-8 Idaho, 4-8 Fresno State, 8-4 Nevada, 8-4 SJSU and 10-3 Hawaii.
BYU's conference wins were against 2-10 UNLV, 3-9 SDSU, 4-8 AFA, 4-8 CSU, 6-6 Wyoming, 6-6 UNM, 7-5 Utah and 10-2 TCU.
However, in non-conference play, the pendelum swings away from BYU again.
Boise beat I-AA Sacramento State, throttled Oregon State 42-14, squeaked out a 17-10 win at Wyoming, then pasted Utah 36-3 on the road.
BYU had the losses at Arizona and BC.
Hello, Broncos! Not, Bronco.
Quote: "Name the biggest victory the conference has had in the past two years. BYU blasting Oregon? Air Force over Notre Dame? Utah beating UCLA? That's the best the Mountain West has been able to muster, while the WAC can point to Boise State beating Oklahoma in that time span."
Very convenient to point to the "last two years" when BYU has won back-to-back conference titles.
But, since he brought up the 21-of-24 MWC results since Mendenhall took over, let's look at the 3-year picture -- that still doesn't include Utah's run through the Fiesta Bowl.
(Oh, by the way, this starts with newcomer TCU's undefeated run through the MWC. TCU didn't make the BCS despite an 11-1 record -- and a season-opening 17-10 win at Top 5 Oklahoma. The reason TCU didn't make the BCS was not because no other MWC team could post better than a 6-5 record that season, but rather because TCU lost in Week 2 and lost at SMU.)
Wyoming opened this season with a 23-3 pasting of Virginia. All the Cavs did was go 9-3, just miss the ACC title game, and go to the Gator Bowl.
Wyoming has given Boise State fits the past two seasons. The Cowboys lost 24-14 at BSU. Last year, UW gave BSU it's biggest scare on its way to the Fiesta Bowl, losing 17-10.
Utah absolutely crushed UCLA 44-6 early this season, right after BYU lost to the Bruins. That whipping knocked UCLA out of the Top 20.
And since Lloyd includes BYU's thumping of a down-trodden 8-4 Oregon team in the LV Bowl, it would be fair to include Utah's 38-10 pasting of a 7-4 Georgia Tech in the 2005 Emerald Bowl.
TCU opened 2005 with a 17-10 win at Top 5 Oklahoma. In 2006 -- a week before BYU began its dominant run in the MWC with a win at TCU -- the Horned Frogs held Top 20 Texas Tech to its lowest point total in the Mike Leach era in a 12-3 TCU victory. And this year, with a freshman QB, TCU pulled out a 38-36 win at Stanford, which had just defeated No. 1-ranked USC seven days earlier in L.A.
AFA's win against a 3-9 Notre Dame team was mentioned. More impressive was last year's 31-30 loss at Tennessee, when Fisher DeBerry ignored OT by going for two in the final seconds.
UNM had a 45-35 road win in 2005 against a rising Missouri program.
CSU gives Colorado a battle-to-the-end every season, winning in 2006 and losing by a field goal in 2005 and 2007.
SDSU has struggled, but it played Top 25 Cincinnati to within four points. In 2006 they played the 11-1 Badgers to a near standstill at Wisconsin before falling 14-0.
Likewise, UNLV has struggled. But the Rebels came within whiskers of upsetting Wisconsin early this year before falling 20-13.
Meanwhile, BYU's biggest non-conference wins in that period are 20-17 over 5-7 Arizona this year, a 49-24 win over Tulsa last year, and that bowl win over an Oregon program that was struggling mightily to end the season. Otherwise, there are only a pair of wins over I-AA teams and one over USU.
Finally, look at the 2003 MAC. Miami,(O.) was 12-1, in a banner year for the MAC.
MU had two wins over 10-3 Bowling Green -- a 27-26 which beat 9-3 Purdue, 27-26, and lost at Ohio State, 24-17 -- and wins over Northwestern, CSU and Cincy. MAC mate Northern Illinois went 10-2 with a 20-13 win at 9-3 Maryland and a 19-16 win at Alabama.
However, the Redhawks didn't make the BCS. They went to the GMAC Bowl.
"Until the Cougars get some help -- knocking off a team that has beaten a Texas, an Ohio State or even a Cal -- or defeats a Top 5 team themselves (i.e. 1984), the dream of returning to national championship contention will remain forever out of reach, no matter how many conference games they win."
The MWC needs to upgrade its non-conference schedule. And, most everybody is doing that.
AFA goes to Oklahoma ('10) and has a series with Florida State ('11-'12). CSU's series with Colorado runs through 2015. UNLV has games with Arizona State ('08), Wisconsin ('10-'11) and Hawaii ('09-'12). UNM faces Texas A&M ('08-'09) and Texas Tech ('10-'12). SDSU has scheduled Notre Dame ('08), UCLA ('09) and Wisconsin ('10, '12). TCU will announce a home-and-home with Oklahoma, and has Texas Tech ('10-'11), Arkansas ('12-'13) and LSU ('13-'14) on its schedule. Utah opens at Michigan ('08), with Oregon State ('08) and BSU ('11-'13). Wyoming has Tennessee ('08), Missouri ('11-'12) and BSU ('10-'11).
Of course, the MWC must represent in those games.
But instead of you crying for somebody else in the conference to do the dirty work, Lloyd should point his finger at BYU. It's amazing what might happen if BYU wins its against Washington ('08, '10), Arizona State ('09, '11-'12) and UCLA ('08). And continue its domination of USU ('08-'12).
Until BYU wins all of its non-conference games -- or any MWC, WAC, C-USA or MAC team (i.e. non-BCS leagues) -- the dream of reaching the big-money payday of the BCS is absolutely out of reach, no matter how good or weak your conference is.
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