WAC bowl predictions

Four WAC schools earned invitations to bowl games this year and, since I’m in the mood, it’s time to take a look at who is playing where, against whom and how I think they’ll do.

Fresno State vs Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl: Wyoming, to be blunt, is not a very good football team. They earned wins over some of the worst football teams in America by sneaking out of the bottom of the MWC. Fresno State, of course, did some of the same, but the Bulldogs are simply a better team. This one will be a blowout with Fresno State coming out on top.

Nevada vs SMU in the Hawaii Bowl: June Jones makes his return to the Islands after leaving the team he guided to a BCS bowl two seasons ago. His return won’t be a happy one, though. SMU is bowl eligible by virtue of playing in a mediocre Conference USA. Nevada is there because the Wolf Pack has an offense that is scary good. The defense is questionable, however, so this will be a high-scoring affair with the Pack coming out on top.

Bowling Green vs Idaho in the Humanitarian Bowl: The Vandals have struggled stopping anyone over the last six weeks of the season. Bowling Green will take advantage of this and burn the Vandals in front of what will essentially be a home crowd for Idaho.

Boise vs TCU in the Fiesta Bowl: The Cop-out Bowl, how convenient that no schools from BCS conferences have to risk getting embarrassed (again) by the Mountain West and WAC, will be one of the more competitive games of the season — just like it was last year. This time, the offenses are better, the defenses stiffer and the chips on the shoulder larger. Should be a slugfest. I’ll go with TCU because its defense is better than BSU’s offense — and that’s saying something.