I'm sure many of you will write "I knew this had to be a post from Airwolf considering the thread title".

BYU's 4 wins have come against Tulsa, Utah State, TCU and SDSU. The average ranking of all 4 schools is 88. They've lost to Arizona and Boston College, whose average ranking is 39. Interesting. I can't recall a time when the conference has been so weak? BYU is going to soundly demolish its 3rd high school team this year in 2 weeks (UNLV).

I also want to make a prediction: BYU will officially be bowl eligible on Nov. 4, but possibly as early as October 28. When will it take more than a mere 6 wins to become bowl eligible? Maybe the bigger question is: how long before there is a bowl for every college football team?

Man... the MWC sure is a dumpy league. The average ranking of all 9 teams (as of October 9) is 78. #78 in the nation right now is none other than powerhouse Kent State! That is embarrassing!!!

I agree that the conference is, well, a pretty crappy conference this season. We have had too many close losses that could have really made some statements. If, if, if....

That being said, maybe that's just what BYU needs right now. Even beating up on crappy teams gives you confidence. And a mindset change was sorely needed. If they can win 9 games, that should do wonders for their attitude going into next season, even with a different QB.

Airwolf84

I'm sure many of you will write "I knew this had to be a post from Airwolf considering the thread title".

BYU's 4 wins have come against Tulsa, Utah State, TCU and SDSU. The average ranking of all 4 schools is 88. They've lost to Arizona and Boston College, whose average ranking is 39. Interesting. I can't recall a time when the conference has been so weak? BYU is going to soundly demolish its 3rd high school team this year in 2 weeks (UNLV).

I also want to make a prediction: BYU will officially be bowl eligible on Nov. 4, but possibly as early as October 28. When will it take more than a mere 6 wins to become bowl eligible? Maybe the bigger question is: how long before there is a bowl for every college football team?

Man... the MWC sure is a dumpy league. The average ranking of all 9 teams (as of October 9) is 78. #78 in the nation right now is none other than powerhouse Kent State! That is embarrassing!!!

Airwolf, I'm going to agree with you on this one. I believe every team in the conference, with the exception of BYU is worse this year as compared to last year. TCU is certainly not as good this year. San Diego State, New Mexico, and UNLV are going in the wrong direction. Colorado State and Wyoming might be a little better than last year but they really haven't played any of the top teams in the conference. Utah may prove to be better than last year but I'm not convinced yet. Air Force also looked to be somewhat better but with their loss to Navy, I think they may be slipping. Even you, Airwolf, would have to agree that BYU is the one team in the conference that has shown improvement over last year.

I do think that BYU's victory over Tulsa is looking more impressive and is at least getting the Cougars some positive publicity. However, the loss to Arizona is really becoming a black eye and right now is keeping the Cougars from getting more votes in the national polls.

I also agree that 6 wins to become bowl eligible is absurd. When they increased the number of games to 12 and also said that victories over Division 1-A teams would count towards bowl eligibility, they should have increased the necessary total to 7. A team should at least have a winning record in order to be bowl eligible.

I agree the MWC is weak. The difference between BYU this year and the past several is that we are pounding the weak teams instead of letting them stay in the game because of a non-existent D and an O that doesn't believe in itself.

AZCavalier is right. Gaining confidence is great regardless of who it happens against. We can say what we want about the teams we have played, but John Beck has looked better the past two games then he ever has. And that is not because of playing poor teams. That didn't help him the past three years.

Airwolf84

I'm sure many of you will write "I knew this had to be a post from Airwolf considering the thread title"....

I knew this had to be a post from Airwolf considering the thread title.

Just trying to make you feel comfortable.

How quickly you forget. That's how it was EVERY year in the old WAC. BYU played 4 meaningful games all season.

I too find their record deceiving. They are only two regulation-time field goals away from undefeated and a top 15 ranking (where TCU was).

Just because you can count up those rankings right now at this time of year doesn't mean much. If BYU wins their next three those numbers will change greatly. Beyond that, the 16 team WAC still wasn't much better when BYU went 14-1 in 1996.

It's not BYU's fault that San Diego isn't a full team this year. Nobody ever complained meaningfully about Nebraska, Florida State or Oklahoma all those years when they rolled over patsies.

If you want to claim this team is a mediocre squad in excellent clothing, you really HAVE blown your credibility.

You've got this chronic worry syndrome. Give it up. Life's much more fun without it.

MJ

Airwolf84

When will it take more than a mere 6 wins to become bowl eligible? Maybe the bigger question is: how long before there is a bowl for every college football team?

I also agree that 6 wins to become bowl eligible is absurd. When they increased the number of games to 12 and also said that victories over Division 1-A teams would count towards bowl eligibility, they should have increased the necessary total to 7. A team should at least have a winning record in order to be bowl eligible.

Why must a team have a winning record? Why can't not having a losing record be enough? While there are a lot more bowl games now than 10 or 15 years ago, most teams still do not go, some even with 6 or 7 wins. Half the teams in the NBA make it to the playoffs, a few with LOSING records. There's not as much griping about that...