Karl Benson has a cartoon hanging above his desk in his Denver-area office that’s an ugly reminder of one of the Western Athletic Conference’s most painful days.
It’s a drawing of a Brigham Young football player with the calendar page “Jan. 1” draped over him. The caption reads, “All dressed up and nowhere to go.”
It’s from 1996, when the WAC was a 16- team league. BYU stood 13-1 and appeared headed to the lucrative Fiesta Bowl. That was also the year of the first Big 12 championship game and the first time anyone cursed a conference championship game.
Remember? No. 20 Texas stunned third-ranked Nebraska 37-27 in St. Louis. That sent Texas to the Fiesta, Nebraska took an at-large bid to the Orange and BYU plummeted to the Cotton.
“That’s the one thing that scares me,” said Benson, the WAC commissioner.
When Benson looks at his current calendar, it says 2009 but it could read 1996. He has a Boise State team that’s 12-0 and sixth in the BCS standings — and headed for a BCS bowl if, Benson cautions, it beats 3-9 New Mexico State at home Saturday.
Also that night, 21st-ranked Nebraska (9-3) meets third-ranked Texas (12-0) in the, you guessed it, Big 12 championship. If Nebraska wins, the Cornhuskers go to the Fiesta Bowl, Texas gets an at-large bid and Boise State plummets to a bowl only Idahoans will care about.
Also gone will be the $17 million payday to the WAC. It’s 1996 in reverse.
One other slight nudge: It would likely push fourth-ranked Texas Christian of the Mountain West Conference into the BCS championship game.
Iowa-Boise State in Fiesta?
If the Fiesta Bowl wants to avoid a TCU-Boise State rematch from last year’s Poinsettia Bowl, it may take Iowa with its first at-large pick after the Sugar Bowl takes the loser of the SEC championship game.
The Orange, which follows the Fiesta, would then take TCU to play the ACC champion and the Fiesta would follow with Boise State. The Sugar, with the last pick, would take the Big East champion.
Iowa vs. Boise State? I thought the WAC champion was supposed to be David, not Goliath.
Mangino fans flames.
If former players had willed their family fortunes to Mark Mangino last week instead of accusing him of verbal abuse, he’d still be in hot water for the mind-numbing play-calling at the end of Kansas’ 41-39 loss to Missouri.
Kansas led 39-36 with the ball at its 3 and 2:59 left. Missouri had one timeout to use. On first down, Kansas tried a bomb that wasn’t close. On second down, another incomplete pass. On third down, quarterback Todd Reesing tried a draw from . . . the shotgun?
Reesing was stopped for a safety. Instead of three running plays and getting the clock under at least 1:30, the Jayhawks took only 14 seconds off, gave Missouri two points and the ball with great field position, which led to the winning field goal.
Mizzou marksmen.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that Missouri kicker Grant Ressel drilled the winning 27-yard field goal. He’s not only the most accurate kicker in the country at 24-of-25 (.960), he follows Jeff Wolfert, who was the most accurate in NCAA history with 59-of-72 (.819) field goals and all 185 PATs from 2006-08.
The Tigers’ secret? In practice, Mizzou players and coaches stand next to the kickers waving towels during their kicks and offensive line coach Bruce Walker throws a hat across their line of fire.
Bye-bye Bowden?
Bobby Bowden and offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher, Florida State’s coach in waiting, meet with school officials today to determine Bowden’s future. If Bowden wasn’t in his 34th year and was just another schmuck who lost six games for the third time in four years, this would be a one-sided conversation.
But here’s betting athletic director Randy Spetman, a former Air Force AD, gives him the dignity to bow out on his own terms. Bowden’s declaration that he’d pick the next defensive coordinator to replace retiring Mickey Andrews grated at Fisher, and it’s Fisher’s problem to fix.
Saturday’s 37-10 loss to Florida marked the third time this year an FSU opponent topped 500 yards. Then again, how much dignity will there be if Bowden’s last game is the Meineke Car Care Bowl?
Short stuff.
Want a major rebuilding job? UNLV’s finale against San Diego State drew 13,730 fans. . . . In Al Groh’s last game at Virginia, the crowd of 58,555 was half Virginia Tech fans who chanted in the final minutes of the 42-13 rout, “Keep Al Groh!” . . . There are 72 bowl-eligible teams for 68 slots. Army can make it 73 by beating Navy. . . . Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops denied a CBS report that he would fly to South Bend, Ind., this past weekend. . . . Oklahoma State QB Zac Robinson played the entire game against Oklahoma after spraining an ankle on the second play.
