Around the WAC

Here are some Media Preview quotes and stories from other WAC newspapers.

From The Salt Lake Tribune.

Meanwhile, at the top of both polls, Hawaii edged BCS-busting Boise State to inherit the title of WAC preseason favorite.
Hawaii, led by quarterback Colt Brennan, finished 11-3 last season and led the nation in scoring offense, passing offense and total offense.
"Expectations are always that way when you win," said coach June Jones. "Having Colt back fosters all those things. But I don't feel any different. It's the start of the season and you have to get lucky, you have to win on the road and all that. I really don't put too much into polls."

From The Idaho Statesman:

"If we expect to be anybody, we have got to beat Boise State," Hawaii coach June Jones said. "That's the key."

Teddy Feinberg of The Las Cruces Sun-News writes a profile of Colt Brennan. An excerpt:

"He's a great player," NMSU coach Hal Mumme said. "I thought that the first time I saw him play and I still think that today. He's got a great arm and all the physical tools. He's one of the marquee players in our conference."

And what June Jones says about Colt's abilities:

"You can improve a quarterback's technique, his fundamentals, all that," Jones said. "But when your under pressure, you go back to what comes natural to you. You either hit the guy or you don't. And he does. He's a very gifted player."

More from The Las Cruces Sun-News:

"We're excited about the team we have coming back this year," Hawaii coach June Jones said. "The thing that concerns me as a coach is the leadership of some of the kids we lost. But we think we have some players that can play pretty well behind them."

June also has high praise for New Mexico State.

"The sleeper to me I really do believe this because Hal has a quarterback is New Mexico State," Jones said. "They lost two or three, maybe even four really close games last year. If they won those, they would have been like San Jose last year - 8-4, 8-3. They seem to have taken a step up."

I agree, they're gonna shock some people this year.

From Jon Wilner's San Jose Mercury News blog, former UH and current SJSU coach Dick Tomey talks about his team's upcoming season.

San Jose State was picked to finish fifth in the Western Athletic Conference media poll.

Hawaii, not Fiesta Bowl champion Boise State, was slotted for first place.

“There are two prohibitive favorites, Hawaii and Boise State, and everybody else is scrambling,'’ SJSU Coach Dick Tomey said. “Personally, I think this will be our best team.'’

That the Spartans were picked for the middle of the conference seemingly has more to do with the strength of the league than any expected drop-off in SJSU’s performance.

It's gonna be a very competitive conference. Lots of talent coming back. As Boise coach Chris Peterson says:

"I got the spring prospectuses from the different schools and I was depressed for a week (saying) ‘I thought that guy was a senior,' " Petersen said.

By the way, here are the polls.

Media Poll

Rank Team (1st place votes) Points

1. Hawaii (32) 494

2. Boise State (26) 490

3. Fresno State 361

4. Nevada 337

5. San Jose State 321

6. New Mexico State 233

7. Louisiana Tech 157

8. Utah State 110

9. Idaho 107



Coaches' Poll

1. Hawaii (6) 62

2. Boise State (3) 59

3. Nevada 45

4. Fresno State 40

5. San Jose State 39

6. New Mexico State 31

7. Louisiana Tech 25

8. Utah State 13

9. Idaho 10