In the National News

Start your day with this article by Matt Hayes of The Sporting News, profiling Colt Brennan and June Jones. A lot of the info Warrior fans already know, but it's a really well written article for a national publication about the ordeals June and Colt have gone through, and I may or may not have gotten choked up reading it. Ahem. Here's an excerpt:

It's late afternoon in paradise and the sun is settling into sleep with a magnificent orange horizon. The first week of preseason camp is wrapping up, and Brennan is walking off the field and signing autographs. A young fan asks if Brennan remembers him.

"I spoke to your class this spring, right?" Brennan says.

Boys and their heroes: a beautiful rite that never gets old.

More fans on the islands are making the drive -- or flight -- to the Honolulu campus to watch the team practice and play. They know this season could be special: The Warriors have a soft schedule and could finish unbeaten and find a spot in a BCS game. Boise State and Utah have proved it can be done.

A big season could vault Brennan to the top of the first round of the draft and could have NFL teams again looking at Jones -- a guy whose pass-happy offense was successful in the stodgy NFL, the coach who led the Falcons to the playoffs, the coach the Chargers desperately wanted.

Two men who shouldn't be where they are, on the verge of something neither could have imagined.

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Here's a great article Garret found in the LA Times about the rise of the WAC.

Never in its many incarnations has the WAC entered a fall campaign with more visibility.

"It's not a one-hit wonder," Boise State tailback Ian Johnson said of the conference. "It's not a gimmick show."

The WAC is excited. Overnight guests attending July media days in San Jose received hotel room key cards with WAC football information stenciled next to the magnetic stripe.

The WAC is opening doors.

Boise State's win over Oklahoma in last season's Fiesta Bowl still reverberates. The Broncos didn't win the national title despite finishing as the nation's only 13-0 team, but their performance gave the WAC credibility you can only win, not buy.

"What's good for the conference is good for us," Hawaii Coach June Jones said of the ripple effect. "Boise kind of set a standard that everyone's shooting for. . . . I think much of the preseason hype is because of their success."

The WAC has not one Heisman candidate, but two!

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And Steve Cameron of the Merced Sun-Star writes about Hawaii, the WAC and how the whole BCS system prevents most teams from competing for a national title.

Trust me: Northern Colorado, UNLV and Charleston Southern aren't going to trouble Jones' team. Hawaii does finish the year against Washington, but that game is also in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

OK, so why doesn't Hawaii have a shot at playing in the national title game?

Well, it starts with the preseason rankings.

Hawaii checks in at No. 23 in the AP poll, and slotted at No. 24 in the USA Today rankings.

Boise State, by the way, got a similar back of the hand from voters -- 23rd in the USA Today poll and No. 24 on the AP chart -- despite finishing at No. 5 last year.

You simply cannot jump from those lowly positions all the way to first or second no matter how many doggone games you win.

Simple math tells you that it's impossible for all those teams currently ranked above Hawaii to lose at least twice.

Cameron goes on to discuss Hawaii's weak schedule, which doesn't help. Maybe next year, coming off an undefeated season and a BCS bowl win, with UH playing Florida in the Swamp, Oregon State in... Beavertown(?), Washington State at home, and the WAC in general getting better and better. Can always dream!