The note arrived as part of the weekly Bowl Championship Series media release, not the Mountain West’s spin machine.
“This week marks the 16th time TCU has received a rank in the BCS standings, the most of any school playing in a conference without an automatic BCS bowl bid. The Horned Frogs crept up a notch to 17, once again ratifying the decision to expand the league from its charter eight- school membership. Without its early stumble against SMU, TCU might have given the MWC its second straight run at a BCS berth.”
Texas Christian was not brought in to improve MWC scenery, nor for its facilities or for ease of scheduling. After last week’s brutal late hit by safety Eric Buchanan on Colorado State wide receiver David Anderson, it’s apparent the Horned Frogs weren’t invited to make friends on the field, either. And coach Gary Patterson’s ban on player interviews with out-of- town reporters in a league otherwise known for its cooperation with the media didn’t win any friends off the field.
The private school in Fort Worth was accepted into the MWC to do exactly what it is doing: make a run at the BCS. If the Horned Frogs climb a few more notches and BCS No. 14 West Virginia slips, it will mark the second consecutive year the MWC has its champion ranked ahead of the Big East champion. (Utah was No. 6 in 2004.) However, the Big East has another BCS top-25 member, Louisville.
There is a four-year rolling period from 2004-07 to re-evaluate automatic qualifying leagues. Part of the BCS formula includes which leagues have the highest- ranked team. Another part includes the number of top-25 teams from each league at season’s end.
While the MWC has ample parity with four 5-4 teams, commissioner Craig Thompson wonders aloud if more parity at the top would be better.
“In the past, having a single team ranked as high as possible was best for the league,” Thompson said. “Now I think we’re better with two or three in the top 25. That will come, just like a lot of leagues knocking each other around.”
San Diego tripleheader?
The Rams, Buffaloes and Broncos could all be playing in San Diego in December.
CSU’s best hope of a bowl invitation rests with the new Dec. 22 Poinsettia Bowl.
“Certainly we’re interested in Colorado State and several others,” bowl executive director Bruce Binkowski said.
Colorado has been mentioned as a likely Big 12 representative in the Dec. 29 Holiday Bowl.
The only Colorado team officially scheduled to play in San Diego is the Broncos, Dec. 31 against the Chargers.
Footnotes
New Mexico coach Rocky Long gets the tale of woe award for the year. “In most cases you get healthy during a bye week. We lost our starting quarterback,” Long said. A back injury suffered by Kole McKamey in the Oct. 15 Wyoming game worsened during the Lobos’ bye week, and McKamey won’t play Saturday against Utah. … Surging Brigham Young, which has scored 117 points the past two weeks against cellar-dwellers Air Force and Nevada-Las Vegas, seems to be going retro in another respect. The Cougars, who haven’t been to a bowl game since 2001, appear on the wanted lists for at least two bowls – Las Vegas and San Francisco.
Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303-820-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
