Four-Star Recruit Calvin Smith Transfers from New Mexico

When the 2010 college football recruiting season came to a close, one shocker had everyone buzzing. Calvin Smith, a four-star defensive tackle out of Hileah High School in Hileah, Florida, surprised everyone by signing a letter of intent to the University of New Mexico.

But, according to Rick Wright of the Albuquerque Journal, Smith has decided to transfer from the school he committed to in order to play closer to home.


Courtesy of KOB.com

“I’ve had a positive experience during my time at New Mexico,” Smith said in a statement.  “I look forward to getting back closer to home and continuing my college career. I’d like to thank coach Locksley and coach Carter for their support and guidance during my time at UNM.”  

While it may look like a "close to home" move for the defensive tackle, Yahoo Sports' Graham Watson might have another theory. She mentions in her piece this morning that Smith was recruiting by not only New Mexico but Tennessee, Alabama, and Arkansas as well. Maybe this has more to do with playing in a bigger conference and a better team than it does being closer to where he lived.

Another university who also recruiting Smith out of high school was Florida State which is just about 480 miles to the north of Hileah. Coincidence? Maybe.

We don't know exactly where Smith is going to land or even if he is going to enroll at an SEC school to finish out the final three college years. The 6-foot-3 273 pound lineman had 14 tackles in 12 games last season for a team who finished with a horrendous 1-11 record last season.

If the young defensive tackle wants to be a star and wants to be noticed by NFL scouts, maybe this was a move which will do him some good down the road.


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Air Force Falcons: QB Tim Jefferson Looks to Improve Upon His 2010 Numbers

With BYU and Utah jumping ship from the Mountain West and TCU following them after the conclusion of the 2011 season, the Air Force Falcons look to be a player for the top spot this season and beyond.

One player who could make a huge impact on that goal is senior quarterback, Tim Jefferson, who will return for one more year with the Falcons to try and finally get his team over the hump.

It looked as if they had a great chance to do just that in 2010 after winning five of their first six games, their only loss coming on the road against the Oklahoma Sooners. Unfortunately for Jefferson and the Falcons, they couldn't match up with three of the conference's strongest teams-San Diego State, TCU, and Utah, losing each of those three games.


Ethan Miller/Getty Images



Jefferson, at 6 feet tall and 200 pounds, he is more of a threat running the ball than he is throwing it. His speed is what allows the Falcons to run their option which become their bread and butter especially against Oklahoma. Even Sooner linebacker Travis Lewis was ready for Air Force to leave town.

“I never want to see this kind of offense again,” Lewis said after the Sooners' three-point win over Air Force. “I love Coach Stoops and the way he schedules our non-conference, the tough ones. But not this one.”

Jefferson finished the 2010 season with 15 rushing touchdowns and became a dangerous rushing option in Air Force's offense. Though his arm strength might be a question, Jefferson showed a few times last season that he was able to step up and deliver a touchdown pass when he needed to.

With his senior season coming up and one last chance to prove himself to pro scouts who will most definitely be watching his progress, Jefferson has something to prove not only to them but to the Mountain West Conference as well.

He has improved in each of his last three seasons as a passer going and has stayed away from opposing defenses, allowing himself to be sacked just five times last season, his second lowest total in his career.

Though there are a few other names people will be watching, do not take your eyes away from this senior quarterback. He just might surprise you.

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Is It Time For Fresno State and Pat Hill to Part Ways?

With one last season in the Western Athletic Conference, the Fresno State Bulldogs will have their best chance to win an outright conference championship since the Boise State Broncos jumped on to the scene.

But it will not be just a walk in the park for head coach Pat Hill and his team. They will still need to deal with the likes of the Nevada Wolfpack and the Hawaii Warriors, neither of whom will allow Fresno State to walk out of the WAC holding the trophy high over their heads.

 

Before the Bulldogs go after their first, and only, outright conference championship since Hill took over, they will need to deal with one of their toughest non-conference schedules in recent memory.

They will take on the likes of Nebraska, Boise State, Cal, and Ole Miss as well as rekindling an old rivalry against an upstart San Diego State team in the final game of the 2011 season.

Though this team has a lot to look forward to and an uphill battle to climb, the biggest question will surround their head coach and how long he will and should remain with the program.

Since Pat Hill took over as the head coach at Fresno State prior to the 1997 season, the Bulldogs have a single WAC title which was shared with both TCU and Hawaii.

They had a legitimate chance at their first outright title under Hill in 2001. It was the same season the Bulldogs were ranked in the top 10 in the nation and featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. That was until a small school came out of nowhere to upset the Bulldogs at Bulldog Stadium in Fresno. That small school was in fact, Boise State.

Otto Kissinger III/Getty Images



Since then it has been season after season where the Bulldogs have under-achieved or really never got off to a good start, finishing just the same way.

Disappointing bowl losses to a 6-6 Wyoming team or getting blown out by the Broncos year in and year out just led to even more questions from fans in California's central valley.

So, as the 2011 season draws closer with each passing day, so do the questions as to how this team needs to finish in order for it's head coach to keep his job.

Well, it depends on who you ask.

Hill has had more than enough chances to prove himself and to turn this program in to a conference powerhouse. If you read Fresno State's official athletic website, it says "when Hill was hired, he promised to win games and championships. He has done that."

All do respect to gobulldogs.com, Hill has not done "that." While Hill's teams over the years have won their fair share of games, they have not won "championships."

The 2011 season shapes up to be one of the more difficult in recent memory. They were blown out by Ole Miss last season and face a Nebraska team who could be one of the best in the nation. Next to those games there is the continued rivalry with Boise State and a game against San Diego State who is fast becoming a team to be reckoned with.

While 8-4 or 8-5 has become the norm for the Bulldogs, they may be hard pressed to even reach that mark this season. If they do not, the hot seat Hill is sitting on will be turned up that much higher.

The football program at Fresno State is stuck in a rut. When was the last time this team could boast about a "huge win?" Maybe their 53-52 win on the road against Illinois back in 2009 or their 24-7 win on the road against Rutgers in their 2008 season opener?

We can argue about Hill's ability to show that his players can succeed both on the field and in the classroom. But when push comes to shove, will this university continue to be okay with average or mediocre seasons?

It is time for Fresno State to move on from a head coach who, though he has done a tremendous job with the program, has failed to bring the second part of his promise when he was hired.

If this team fails to win a conference championship in 2011, the university needs to look in to bringing in new leadership, especially with the move into a stronger Mountain West Conference in 2012.


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How Hot is the Coaching Seats in the Mountain West Conference?

The Mountain West Conference will enter the 2011 season without two of their powerhouse football programs, Brigham Young University and the University of Utah, as they head for proverbial greener pastures.
The Boise State Broncos will take the place of one of those teams and is expected to battle TCU for the top spot in the conference.


Rick Bowmer/AP

 Another battle which will take place this season is who will lose their job first? While the coaches at the top of the conference are relatively safe, the bottom half of the conference could be hoping for at least a mediocre season in order for them to have another year to work on what has or has not been working.

National Football Authority takes a look at who is safe and who could be handed the pink slip when the 2011 college football season comes to an end.

Air Force - Troy Calhoun
Coaching Record: Overall - (34-18) Bowls - (2-2)
After winning five of their first six games, the only loss coming against the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman, it looked like Falcons' head coach Troy Calhoun had his team on the right track. A track which could take them to the top of the Mountain West Conference.

Unfortunately, Air Force would drop their next three games against San Diego State, TCU, and Utah before winning three straight against Army, New Mexico, and UNLV to close out the 2010 regular season schedule.

A 14-7 win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the Independence Bowl ended Air Force's season on a high note with a 9-4 overall record. Their best record since Calhoun's first season as head coach in 2007.

It's not easy being the coach who replaced Fisher DeBerry. Those are big shoes to fill.

Hot Seat Status: Cool (there will never be another Fisher DeBerry)

Boise State - Chris Petersen
Coaching Record: Overall - (61-5) Bowls - (3-2)
I don't think I need to say much about the head coach at Boise State University, but I will anyway.

Since Petersen came on the scene in 2006, replacing departed head coach Dan Hawkins, the Broncos have been a mid-major powerhouse. How many coaches do you know who can put up 61 wins in five seasons including two unbeaten and two one-loss seasons?

He is one of the more sought after coaches in college football, just ask Stanford who thought they were going to be the one team who was going to be able to pry him away from Boise, Idaho.

Surprisingly, Petersen decided to remain with Boise State and could be looking at an even more lucrative job somewhere down the line.

Hot Seat Status: Ice Cold (colder than Alaska in winter-cold)


Colorado State - Steve Fairchild
Coaching Record: Overall - (13-24) Bowls - (1-0)
Steve Fairchild, before being named the head coach at Colorado State, was known as the starting quarterback for the Rams in 1980.

After Sonny Lubick was fired by the school in a controversial decision, Fairchild came back to his alma mater to take over the head coaching duties.

Unfortunately for Fairchild, things have not exactly gone any better for him in three seasons at the helm than Lubick's final two years.

While the Rams would win land a bowl bid in the first season under Fairchild, a 40-35 win over Fresno State, they have finished their last two seasons with a 6-18 record.

Hot Seat Status: Warm (and getting warmer)


New Mexico - Mike Locksley
Coaching Record: Overall - (2-22) Bowls - (N/A)
Mike Locksley has to be wondering how much worse this could possibly go for his coaching tenure at New Mexico.

Since taking over for Rocky Long, who left New Mexico after leading the team to five bowl games in his final seven seasons, the New Mexico Lobos have been the whipping post for just about every college football team they faced.

After two seasons, Locksley is staring at back-to-back 1-11 seasons and a possibility the school is running short on patience. Whether it is a recruiting problem or scheduling teams too tough for them to be playing, something has to change-soon.

The Lobos do not have quite the schedule they faced in 2010 so maybe things will not be as painful this time around.

Coaching Hot Seat: Boiling


San Diego State - Rocky Long
Coaching Record: Overall - (65-69) Bowls - (1-4)
The San Diego State Aztecs seemed to be on the right track and under the leadership of a head coach who believed in this team and it showed.

Quarterback Ryan Lindley and true freshman running back Ronnie Hillman put their stamp on the Aztecs football team, showing the Mountain West Conference they were going to be a player from here on out.

Then, just as fast as the good news continued to roll in, head coach Brady Hoke departed San Diego to return to his alma mater and took the head coaching gig for the Michigan Wolverines. Just like that, the Aztecs were left without their head man and needed answers in a hurry.

Rocky Long took the position, coming from the University of New Mexico, leaving one Mountain West team to another. He comes in with a team already built for success and will only need to keep that rolling. Time will tell if he is the right man for the job.

Coaching Hot Seat: Cold (at least for now)


TCU - Gary Patterson
Coaching Record: Overall - (98-28) Bowls - (6-4)
When you talk about TCU head coach Gary Patterson you talk about success and you talk about greatness. Next to Boise State head coach Chris Petersen, Patterson is one of those coaches who just about every other Division-I team would love to have.

Say what you want about the players who have come through the TCU program during Patterson's tenure, the head coach has become a recruiting tool in himself. High school players who are trying to decide where to go only have to look as far as who is coaching the team and the success that coach has had to make their decision so much easier.

Since the team made the transition from Conference USA to the Mountain West, they have had just one season with less than 10 wins (2007). Take that one season away and Patterson's teams have finished with a combined record of 58-6 over the last six seasons including five wins in six bowl appearances.

Coaching Hot Seat: Freezing Cold (top of Mt. Everest-cold)


UNLV - Bobby Hauck
Coaching Record: Overall - (88-28, 2-11 at UNLV) Bowls - (NA)
Bobby Hauck did not exactly get off to the kind of start he would have hoped for in his first season as the head coach at UNLV. The team finished with a disappointing 2-11 record, the only two wins coming against New Mexico and Wyoming who had a combined 4-20 record last season.

Hauck's success at Montana (80-17) did not translate to a Division-I program but there is no doubt they will give him at least three to four years to try to turn this team into a contender year in and year out.

While he has a long way to go, Hauck will be up to the challenge.

Coaching Hot Seat: Cool


Wyoming - Dave Christensen
Coaching Record: Overall - (10-15) Bowls - (1-0)
Dave Christensen ended his first year as a head coach with a surprising 35-28 win in the 2009 New Mexico Bowl against Fresno State. Though it meant finishing with a 7-6 record, a bowl win was completely unexpected.

One might thing, with that kind of momentum, the Cowboys might carry it into the 2010 season. Unfortunately it didn't quite go down that way.

The 2010 squad finishing with a disappointing 3-7 record including just one win in conference.

One bad season does not spell doom for Christensen as he heads into his third year at the helm but another losing record might turn up the heat just a little bit more.

Coaching Hot Seat: Lukewarm (wow it's getting warm in here)


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San Diego State Aztecs: What Can RB Ronnie Hillman Do For an Encore?

For those of you who do not bother to watch a small little school in a sleepy town on the west coast, you might be missing one of the best running backs in the country. A guy no one is talking about, except for those who get to watch him week in and week out.

San Diego State running back Ronnie Hillman put on a true freshman performance the football program has not seen since another freshman star, Marshall Faulk, wore the Aztec black and red.



Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

While his very first game of his college career wasn't anything to write home about, the following week against New Mexico State was his coming out party.

Ronnie Hillman, a true freshman last season, ran for 150 yards and four touchdowns. Prompting many in San Diego to wonder aloud, "who is this guy?"

The following week, against the Missouri Tigers, Hillman decided to put on his best show of his young career. He rushed for 221 yards and two touchdowns coming on runs of 93 and 75 yards respectively. It even made Faulk, a San Diego State legend, to give the young running back props. “I like Ronnie Hillman. He has game-breaking ability. He’s good, man; he’s really good," Faulk told Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union Tribune.

If people had not learned the name, Ronnie Hillman, they were slowly learning who this young running back was.

At 5-foot-10 and and 175 pounds, Hillman has tremendous speed in the open field and once he gets past the secondary he is almost impossible to catch. But it's not just his speed that defenses have a problem with. If a safety decided to go one-on-one with him, he may as well stand still and let Hillman just run on by because he is not an easy guy to bring down.

Hillman can bounce to the outside as well as run through the tackles. Once past the defensive line, his quick feet allow him to change direction or spin around defenders.

When the 2010 season came to an end, Hillman had rushed for 1,464 yards and 17 touchdowns. How man true freshmen do you know who can pull off those kind of numbers?

Just when you thought Hillman was done showing off, he left his best performance for last. In the 2010 Poinsettia Bowl, the Aztec star rushed for 226 yards, shattering the previous bowl record of 129 yards set by Navy's Adam Ballard back in 2005.

If he put up these kind of numbers as a true freshman, what could he possibly do for an encore in 2011?

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Could the TCU Horned Frogs Overtake the Dallas Cowboys For Football Supremacy?

In North Texas football is king. For the Dallas Cowboys, the team who once were crowned "America's Team," they are about to be replaced by a team who used to be 'that cute little team in Fort Worth.'

The TCU Horned Frogs, fresh off an unbeaten season and a Rose Bowl victory over the Wisconsin Badgers, it seems fans are beginning to stray away from the big silver star and over to the team named for a strange looking animal. And who can blame them?


Tom Pennington/Getty Images



Since his hiring in 2000, head coach Gary Patterson has led his team to top 25 finishes in eight of his 10 seasons including top 10 finishes in each of the last three seasons.

He has his team and his players at the highest level they have seen in years. Sure the TCU football program has had their share of great players, such as NFL running back LaDainian Tomlinson, but the 2010 team wasn't filled with big time "stars."

The team had a quarterback, Andy Dalton, who did his job and put up record numbers in his final year. They had the nation's best defense led by hard hitting linebacker, Tank Carder, and departed cornerback Tejay Johnson. Everything went their way and it ended with a goose egg in the loss column and a celebration in Pasadena, California.

For the fans here in the Dallas and Forth Worth areas, they have gotten use to the Dallas Cowboys being the only football in town.

Nevermind the fact they had Southern Methodist University to the east, led by new head coach June Jones who has them on the right track for the first time in a long time, and Texas Christian University to the west. They wanted the far-too-big television screen and the stadium that cost over a billion dollars to build.

For years, Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones had done and said the right things to keep fans coming back to his team and his stadium. Even after he built a brand new state of the art football stadium, raised parking prices to $75, and ticket prices to, well, out of range of families and the average fan, people still showed up.

But for the past 16 seasons, the fans have walked away from every NFL season in disappointment. Their team had not won a Super Bowl since 1996 and had just a single playoff victory. Despite all that, still the fans came and brought the same expectations they had the year before.

Could there finally be a changing of the guard? Could the Dallas Cowboys possibly play second fiddle to a college football team?

At this point one might wonder if Jones wouldn't love to have Patterson as his head coach. He has not had any luck finding the right guy since Jimmy Johnson left for greener pastures.

But, for reasons passing understanding, Patterson remains in Fort Worth and with a school who will finish up their final season in the Mountain West Conference before heading to the Big East Conference and a shot at an automatic BCS bid year in and year out.

The Cowboys have had their time in the sun and now it seems the Horned Frogs are making a strong case for fans in the metroplex to believe in what they are selling.

Like them or not, they are no longer the cute little team anymore. Now they have national attention and the fans who normally would not give them a second look, are buying up tickets like it's the last time they will get to see this team.

The final nail in the coffin of the Dallas Cowboys, whether you want to believe it or not, will be the continuation of the NFL lockout. If there is no professional football in 2011, the TCU Horned Frogs are the team who will benefit the most from it.

Before the 2010 college football season began, I remember listening to a good friend of mine on his radio show calling TCU "that cute little team." I laughed and knew it was just the biased opinion that seems to resonate here in Dallas.

But, when the season ended, he admitted to me that he never saw this kind of season coming from a team in the Mountain West.

If his opinion has changed, what are the odds the opinions of the rest of the naysayers have also changed?


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Will TCU QB Casey Pachall Become Another Andy Dalton?

With quarterback Andy Dalton moving on, the TCU Horned Frogs will need to move on as well with life after their star quarterback. But they may not have to wait long to see yet another star emerge.

Eric Draper/Getty Images

Casey Pachall, a four-star recruit out of Brownwood High School in Brownwood, Texas, is the most likely candidate to take over the starting quarterback position and make his own mark on the TCU football program.

Coming out of high school, Pachall was recruited not only by TCU but also by the likes of Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Florida just to name a few. The fact that he picked TCU should show the kind of belief this young quarterback had in this program and where it was going.

Sitting behind Dalton, Pachall knew he was just going to need to be patient and wait for his time to come. He did get to play sparingly in "mop up" time against New Mexico late in the season. A game the Horned Frogs would go on to win in blowout fashion, 66-14.

Pachall would four of his six pass attempts in that game for 54 yards and a touchdown, also adding 22 rushing yards on five carries and a score.

While Dalton might have been the winningest quarterback in school history, Pachall has the ability to put up similar or better numbers if he does stay for two years as as starter.

He is not your prototypical pocket passers. Pachall pull it down and take off with more speed than Dalton brought to the position. He has great arm strength and the ability to thread the needle when needed. Pachall will force defenses to stay honest when he is either under center or from the shotgun position.

Pachall will being a whole new dynamic to the TCU offense, one that hasn't been seen for quite some time.  You can not expect a first year starter to come in and duplicate what Dalton did for this football program. But there is absolutely no doubt that Pachall has the ability to bring his own style to the offense and make this team look much different offensively than it did last season.

He is going to have his first year problems and jitters when he's out on the field, but once he gets comfortable in the offense and with his teammates, this young man might be a hard one to stop.


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Video and Analysis of TCU RB Ed Wesley

The 2010 TCU Horned Frogs were led to an unbeaten season by their shut down defense and one of the best quarterbacks in school history.

But for all the credit guys like linebacker Tank Carder and quarterback Andy Dalton get, most college football as well as TCU fans overlook a guy who put his own stamp on this past season.


Ronald Martinez/Getty Images



For those of you do not know anything about running back Ed Wesley, it's ok, you are absolutely not alone. In fact, Wesley was named by Rivals.com as one of top 10 overlooked returning stars from the 2010 season. He also became the first TCU running back to rush for more than 1,000 yards (1,063) since Robert Merrill did it back in 2003 (1,107).

This past season, Wesley outrushed the Air Force Falcons, the nation's best rushing offense (346.9 ypg) at the time, 209-184, the 20th best performance by a running back in TCU history and the most yards since Joseph Turner put up 226 in 2007 against San Diego State.

If you followed this young running back from his days at McArthur High School in Irving, Texas, you saw the kind of potential Wesley had. His speed through the holes in the defense, his ability to avoid tacklers, and change directions on a dime, made him a difficult player to deal with.

While Wesley's 209-yard performance against Air Force was impressive, his 165 yards and two touchdowns against Baylor was his best game of the season in terms of yards per carry. Wesley carried the ball 19 times and averaged almost nine yards per carry (8.7) against the Bears in a 45-10 blowout by TCU.

With Dalton now in the NFL, it seems the spotlight might shift from a start quarterback to a mostly unknown running back. After a 1,000 yard season in 2010, more might be expected of this young player.

If Rivals.com is correct, he could go from unknown to a star in one of the biggest media markets in the country.

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TCU Takes Aim at Boise State in Their Final Year in the Mountain West Conference

The TCU Horned Frogs and the Boise State Broncos will finally battle in a game that does not have a BCS logo on the field. Both schools will play one season as conference foes in the Mountain West Conference before TCU ships off to the Big East for the 2012 season.

Three years ago, these two teams would meet in San Diego for the 2008 Poinsettia Bowl in a game that did not really mean all that much to either team. Not to say either team wanted to prove a point, it just was not the kind of bowl either of these teams were hoping for at the end of the season.



Jamie Squire/Getty Images



Mid-way through the first half the Broncos had held TCU scoreless before Aaron Brown scored on a 16-yard touchdown run to pull the Horned Frogs to within six, 13-7, at the half.

It seemed to be the momentum TCU needed. Their defense stepped up and held Boise State to just three points in the second half and pulled out a 17-16 win.

Just over a year later, these two teams would face each other again. This time it would pit the two mid-major teams against each other in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl. It was the first time in BCS history that a mid-major team, Boise State, would get an at large bid to play in a BCS bowl game.

Just like in the Poinsettia Bowl, Boise State jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead but would give up a late touchdown to TCU quarterback Andy Dalton with under a minute left in the first half. This game was shaping up to go exactly the same way as the Poinsettia Bowl had gone.

By the end of the third quarter TCU had tied the game, 10-10, and looked to be on their way to beating Boise State in a bowl game for the second straight year.

The Broncos were not about to let that happen. After a Doug Martin touchdown to give the Broncos a 17-10 lead, their defense would do the rest shutting TCU down for the remainder of the game and allowing Boise State to walk away with their second Fiesta Bowl victory, 17-10.

After two bowl games and a combined 60 points between these two teams, you would have to think that a conference showdown between TCU and Boise State would be one to watch. The Broncos can play the underdog all they want but it's TCU who wants to play spoiler in more ways than one.

After the departure of the Utah Utes to the PAC-12 and BYU going independent, TCU was the only big time team left in the Mountain West Conference. Rumors began to spread that the Horned Frogs were looking for greener pastures of their own.

Some thought the WAC and Mountain West would join forces once again to create one big conference in order to chase an automatic BCS berth. Others believed the MWC was wooing such schools as Houston, SMU, and others to try and keep the Horned Frogs from jumping ship.

After bringing on Boise State and following that up with Fresno State, Nevada, and Hawaii, all from the Western Athletic Conference, it looked like the MWC was going to get their wish and would be able to keep TCU close to home.

However, the Big East came calling with their automatic BCS bid and TCU could not resist the temptation of playing in a BCS bowl game year in and year out. It would benefit the program, and the school itself, in a lot of ways. It was more than enough to convince them to sign on the dotted line, allowing them to look forward to things to come.

So, in 2011, TCU and Boise State will battle as conference foes for the first and last time. A rivalry, though a small one, has begun between these two teams and this game may hold implications for not only further showdowns but also with bragging rights.

As the Horned Frogs finish up their final season as members of the Mountain West Conference, they can end their time by stealing victories and the conference championship trophy. Taking it with them to their new conference, thumbing their nose the whole way.

Their conference has already stolen from them, taking their home game against Boise State and handing it to the Broncos instead. The phrase "don't poke an angry dog with a stick," is exactly what the athletic directors from around the conference did by taking the home game away from the veteran and handing it to the rookie.

TCU wants to be the one to laugh last and laugh the longest. They would like nothing more than to throw a blowout on the Broncos and yelling out "how do you like us now" while boarding the team bus.

This could be an epic battle between these two super power mid-major programs and two already legendary coaches, Chris Petersen and Gary Patterson.

Boise State might get the most national attention, both good and bad, but TCU has waited a long time for their chance in the spotlight.

After their battle on November 12th, someone might end up writing a book titled, "The Silence of the Broncos."


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Analysis and Video of TCU Linebacker Tank Carder

By Todd Kaufmann

If you have not watched the TCU Horned Frogs or been living under a rock, the last few seasons have been defined by the lock down defense. They have led not only their own conference but college football in total defense in each of the last two seasons.

They have not only shut down the best passing offenses around but running against them is almost next to impossible. If you have ever watched a TCU game you may have noticed a big presence behind the defensive line. A guy who registered 89 total tackles, 10 for a loss, in 2009 and 61 total tackles this past season.

At 6-foot-3 and 237 pounds, linebacker Tank Carder is exactly that. A tank, and he hits like one too. For those who watched the Rose Bowl saw the bone crushing hits he delivered on Badgers' quarterback Scott Tolzien.

Carder is the quarterback of the defense. He calls the plays and makes sure his guys are where they are supposed to be. He's constantly moving and gauging his routes before every snap of the ball. He has incredible instincts on the ball but has a tendency to be cut off from the play as well.

He stay back and follow the opposing quarterback or make him or his running back pay for trying to go up the middle. He makes plays when they are needed and never gives up on a play.

Carder's performance against Wisconsin was exactly what this team needed. Say what you want about Wisconsin being the underdog, make no mistake about it, the Horned Frogs were the team from the small conference. They were the team who should not be able to play with a big dog from the Big Ten.

The linebacker tied his season best for solo tackles with six, never registering more than three after his six solo tackle performance on the road against Colorado State.

He has one more year in the TCU uniform and one more year to prove he has what it takes to play at the next level. If he continues playing like he has in each of the last two seasons, he will have NFL teams lining up to draft him as their next starting linebacker.

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Should the New Mexico State Aggies and New Mexico Lobos Ditch Their Football Programs?



Eric Draper/Getty Images


When you happen to be in a big football state, recruiting and winning seem to come easy. But in New Mexico, football is not the top sport in town and recruiting definitely does not come easy. So is there an argument to be made to ditch the sport altogether?

For New Mexico State University and the University of New Mexico, two football programs in two different conferences try to recruit against the top dogs in each of those conferences.

For the New Mexico Lobos, they have to compete against TCU, BYU and BYU while the New Mexico State Aggies have to deal with Boise State, Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii. Both schools aren't going to get the top recruits even in their own state. They are not big football schools and high school players know it.

In 2010, the Lobos became the running joke in college football. It seemed no matter who they were up against, they were getting blown out and embarrassed.

Through the first four weeks of the season, New Mexico had been outscored 225-41 including a 72-0 throttling at the hands of the Oregon Ducks in the very first game of the season.

Their offensive would score more than 20 points just four times all season and their defense gave up 40 or more points six times including two lopsided blowouts at the hands of Oregon, 72-0, and TCU, 66-17.

“We didn’t play well today,” New Mexico coach Mike Locksley said after their loss to TCU. “We didn’t execute on offense, defense, and special plays, and that all starts with me as a head coach.” Locksley could have put that quote on a recorder and played it after each loss during the 2010 season. It would have saved him from answering the same questions week in and week out.

They were outmatched from the first game to the last and it showed as the Lobos were staring at a 1-11 record when the season mercifully came to an end.

For the Aggies, 2010 did not have any better of an experience as their in-state rivals. They finished the season with a 2-10 record and gave up 40 or more points seven times including each of their first four games.

The top teams in the Western Athletic Conference were dominating them from start to finish. They lost games to Boise State, Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii by an average of 51-10 including lopsided losses to Boise State, 59-0, and Nevada, 52-6.

Both the Lobos and the Aggies had the worst offenses in their respective conferences. New Mexico averaged 15.8 points per game while the Aggies averaging 15.7 points per game. On defense, neither were much better, giving up 44.3 and 39.5 points per game respectively.

The fan bases on both sides have to be wondering if or when they will ever see a winning season from one or both of these programs.

With Boise State joining the Mountain West Conference for the 2011 season and the resurgence of San Diego State, the New Mexico Lobos may see more of the same especially with Fresno State, Nevada, and Hawaii due to join the conference for the 2012 season.

As for New Mexico State, as I wrote about San Jose State possibly ditching their football program, the Aggies may in fact benefit from the four top teams in the conference heading for greener pastures after the conclusion of the 2011 season.

Maybe, just maybe, New Mexico State could see some improvement but is it enough for them to keep football around?

If things do not change and both the Aggies and Lobos continue to struggle in their respective conferences, maybe they need to re-think even having a football team.


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What Keeps Gary Patterson at TCU?

There are a few head coaches in college football who remain at their current jobs when most of wonder what keeps them from moving to a big time, BCS school. One of those is TCU head coach, Gary Patterson.

Like Kyle Whittingham of Utah and Chris Petersen of Boise State, Patterson has been one name who seems to be talked about during each and every college football off season. With every job opening, Patterson's name comes up and he becomes one of the hottest rumors on the internet.

But no sooner do these rumors come up, TCU and it's football coach are quick to make sure no one throws gas on the fire. They make it clear TCU is the place for him and it's where he is going to remain.

The question everyone seems to ask is, what keeps him with the Horned Frogs? Why stay at a school in the Mountain West Conference and not take a higher paying job in a big time BCS conference which would give him a chance at a national championship?

"There's been a lot of people in college football who left for where they think the grass is greener," TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte told ESPN's Pat Forde back in December of last year. "They're chasing ghosts. For every Urban Meyer, there's nine guys that caught the train on the way down and say, 'I should have never left.'

Patterson is someone who has become well known not only in the Fort Worth, Texas area but around every circle of college football. Del Conte even argues Patterson could very well become TCU's version of Penn State's Joe Paterno.

"He is that guy for us who can become a JoePa. Everyone knows him -- his strengths and his weaknesses, he told Forde. "Gary's strength is that he is true to himself -- honest, super intense, genuine. … It's him against the world to prove, 'Hey, I am a dang good coach.'"

Del Conte could not be more right. His reputation and coaching styles has led to the kind of recruits he has been able to bring in to the small school on the west side of the metroplex. Some would say TCU shouldn't be able to recruit against the likes of Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and the like but it seems the Horned Frogs are doing just fine.

All of Patterson's efforts came together during the 2010 season. The leadership of quarterback, Andy Dalton, and their shutdown defense led to the program's first ever birth into the granddaddy of them all--The Rose Bowl.

While a victory over the Wisconsin Badgers was sweet, it was just another notch in the belt for TCU's head coach. It was certainly a victory which put Patterson and his program on the national map. So much so that it allowed the university to begin, and finish, negotiations with the Big East Conference to make them the newest member as well as becoming a BCS conference team.

All of his accomplishments as well as the accomplishments of the teams he is able to put together have made the name, Gary Patterson, an even bigger name around the college football landscape. He has proved year in and year out that he is more than happy being the head coach of Texas Christian University and has no plans of being anywhere else.

You have to respect a coach who isn't out for a bigger pay day and a bigger program. Patterson is not the kind of guy who wants to build up his name at one place just to move on.

They have been loyal to him and he has return that loyalty a few times over. He is beloved among the fans and the players who have played for him and those who continue to suit up in TCU colors.

While they may not be the biggest school in college football or one of the more respected, Gary Patterson will continue to bring in some of the best recruits in college football and will continue to make noise on the national stage from one year to the next.

There is no doubt Patterson will continue to get interest from every school that has a job opening, it will not take long for them to realize they will not have enough to be able to pry him away.

Now that TCU will become the newest BCS member after the 2011 football season, it will give Patterson the opportunity to recruit even better players and, for the first time, make a legitimate run at the BCS National Championship.


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The TCU Horned Frogs Likely to Hand Offensive Reigns to Casey Pachall

The TCU Horned Frogs would love to have quarterback Andy Dalton back for just one more season.

After going undefeated in 2010, and going into their last season as a member of the Mountain West Conference, it would only make sense why they would want to go out on top.

But, unfortunately for the football program and head coach Gary Patterson, they will have to usher in a new era as Dalton has moved on to the next level of his football career, leaving the head coach to look for the man who will best lead this program into the Big East Conference in 2011.

If their spring game was any indication it looks as if the one filling the position might be a foregone conclusion.

Coming into their spring game, TCU had a quarterback battle going on between Casey Pachall and Matt Brown.

When the game came to a close, Patterson wouldn't say he was completely happy with what he saw but did say the offense needed to be more consistent and they needed to limit the number of sacks. But when it came to the quarterbacks, it was clear who the head coach was happier with.

"I thought Casey Pachall played pretty dang good," Patterson told the media on Monday. "Running the football, running the offense, he didn't turn the ball over; I thought he did very well."

However, Pachall was a little harder on himself than was his head coach. "I felt like I did several things good, but didn't do as good as I wanted to. There were several throws and reads I didn't make and I felt like I should have. As an offense, we were a little slow. Little mistakes cost us each drive. But that's something we will get fixed."

The heir apparent to Dalton came in to the program in 2009 as a very highly touted recruit. He's been able to learn from the former TCU quarterback and it showed during his time with the media as well as his throws on the field.

Sure he might have more work to do but when it comes to Patterson and his coaching staff deciding on who their starter will be when the 2011 season opens, Pachall seems to have the inside track. It doesn't hurt that he's taken snaps with the practice team since he came in right out of high school.

"It does feel like I've been here for a while because I came in early," Pachall told Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star Telegram. "That first spring was a little tough. Being what you'd consider a high school kid coming in and competing against all these athletes it was a little overwhelming at first, but eventually I started getting a hold of things."

That experience has led to the kind of performance the young quarterback put on during their spring game a few weeks ago. It's that experience that will give him a little more confidence to win the starting job and be able to win the confidence of his teammates right off the bat.

There will be growing pains and he will make mistakes here and there. How Pachall learns from those mistakes and gets better is how he'll be critiqued and looked at by both the fans and the media.

The Horned Frogs are in good hands with Casey Pachall. Sure he's no Andy Dalton but he doesn't have to be. Give him a little time and you may see he's a man all his own.

2011 NFL Draft: Could TCU's Andy Dalton Be the Surprise of the Draft?

For the TCU fans who have watched quarterback Andy Dalton, they know there's more to him than most of the college football world cared to see for themselves.

They were too busy watching the likes of Auburn's Cam Newton, Arkansas' Ryan Mallett, Washington's Jake Locker, and Missouri's Blaine Gabbert.

Though Dalton started all four years at TCU, his final three seasons is what the fans will remember him for. He led the Horned Frogs to a combined record of 36-3 over his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons. Wrapping up his final year in purple and white with a perfect 13-0 record and a Rose Bowl win over the Wisconsin Badgers.

What a better way to wrap up your college career.

Now, with the NFL Draft bearing down on him, he's gone from one of the top college quarterbacks in the country to a guy who seems to be lost in the spotlight of the other so-called "stars."

There's been talk about Mallett being the number one overall while others think Gabbert will be the man going No. 1 to the Carolina Panthers.

While you watch for that first pick with anticipation, keep your eyes focused closely on the young man from Katy, Texas. You may be surprised when his name is called before some other names you thought for sure would be already off the board.

He's not your prototypical NFL quarterback and a guy you would call the next "face of the franchise," but his name seems to be gaining strength over the last few weeks. If this continues, we might actually see Dalton as the third or fourth quarterback taken in the draft.

GASP! What did he say?

You heard me right. After Gabbert and Newton leave the board before the 10th pick is called, it won't be Mallett or Locker who will be up next. It will be TCU's own, Andy Dalton.

In 2010, Dalton set career numbers in completion percentage (66.1), total passing yards (2,857), touchdowns (28), and yards per game (219.8) which included an astounding 355 yard 3 touchdown performance against Utah when the Utes were ranked in the top five.

There are certain quarterbacks NFL teams will take chances on. Most of the time, they are guys who weren't the biggest stars in college but put up numbers that made believers of just about every scout who came across this young man.

We can talk about the teams TCU did or didn't play and you can try to argue with me that anyone who plays outside of the SEC and Big Ten isn't ready to play at the next level. If you want to use that argument, you're more than welcome to. I just think someone forgot to tell former LSU quarterback, JaMarcus Russell.

I'm nto the only one who believes Dalton will be off the board before the first round comes to an end. Former NFL quarterback turned ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer gave his guarantee Dalton would be off the board in the first round.

SI.com draft analyst Tony Pauline also weighed in on Dalton saying he'd be off the board before the 40th overall pick came around.

He's been compared by some to Green Bay Packers' quarterback, and Super Bowl Champion, Aaron Rodgers who was someone most didn't see anything in when he came out of Cal.

Whatever your take is on the quarterback out of TCU, it seems he's not only passed Mallett but could be gaining on Newton and Gabbert as well.

Ok, maybe that's stretching it a tad too much.

Still, Dalton could absolutely be the surprise of the NFL Draft next month. Not only that, he could surprise his future teammates by challenging for the starting job in 2011. Unless of course the NFL can't find a reason to play any of their games this season.


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Rich Rodriguez: Where and When Will the Former Michigan Head Coach Surface?

Ever since the Rich Rodriguez era came to an end in Ann Arbor, I've wondered where he could land next. Where will his next head coaching job be and who he might open to?

After coaching at two BCS schools, Michigan and West Virginia, it would only seem logical he would return to coach another BCS school. But what if a non-BCS came calling?

Let's assume for a minute a coach like Chris Petersen at Boise State, Gary Patterson at TCU, or Kyle Whittingham at Utah were to get offers they couldn't turn down. And let's assume all three of these schools were to have interest in bringing Rodriguez in as their new head coach. Which job would he take? Would he take any of them?

Of course his name is going to bring with him the stigma of failing at Michigan. There are going to be fans who want no part of having him be the next head coach of a team they root for, especially teams who are so used to success year in and year out.

As for me, I would give Rodriguez a chance at a school that needs a shot in the arm. A school who's been desperate to become what the three aforementioned schools have become.

Since we're looking at this as a debate how about I mention a school I grew up rooting for. A team who needs that shot in the arm I talked about before. A team who seems to be stuck in neutral and a school who's university seems to be ok with it.

I'm talking about Fresno State.

The Bulldogs are finishing their final season in the Western Athletic Conference before they move to the Mountain West Conference to join former rival Boise State along with Nevada and Hawaii who are also making the jump.

Since the Bulldogs hired Pat Hill prior to the 1999 season, the football program is still yet to win an outright conference championship. Not only that, but in the 11 seasons under Hill, Fresno State has won just four of their 11 bowl appearances.

While a losing record got their head basketball coach, Steve Cleveland, fired it landed Hill a three-year contract extension.

If you talk to some of the media who cover the team and they'll tell you that while it seems mediocrity has become a habit in the central valley, the fans will continue to come out because of the hype surrounding quarterback Derek Carr. He's the younger brother of another former Fresno State star, David Carr.

But there's one thing the Bulldogs are missing. It's the one thing that will keep them from even being in the middle of the pack once they move to their new conference.

That one thing is recruiting.

There's a change that needs to be made and the program needs a name players can relate to and a name they recognize.

For the last few years the Bulldogs haven't been able to recruit the players they need to be able to turn their football team into a conference champion and BCS buster year in and year out.

Before we mention money, let's not forget Boise State has a smaller recruiting budget and has somehow been able to to bring players in who have kept them not only at the top of the WAC, but also on the national scene.

They've been a team who have been talked about before, during, and after each college football season. They're hated by just about every BCS fan because they continue to hang around.

There's no doubt Petersen has been the right head coach to bring out the best in his players, but Rich Rodriguez is a guy who can do the exact same thing to a school who desperately needs his experience.

Fresno State won't have the luxury of playing conference cupcakes like San Jose State and New Mexico State. They'll have to face off against not only Boise State, Nevada, and Hawaii, but they'll deal with an upstart San Diego State program along with Air Force and a Colorado State team that can never be taken lightly.

Why not bring in a name that automatically makes recruits think twice about signing with rival schools?

Michigan fans couldn't wait to ship him out of town and West Virginia fans couldn't have celebrated more when he failed in Ann Arbor. Miserably.

But when Rodriguez comes up for air and he makes it known he's ready to get back into coaching, there won't be a shortage of teams willing to pay him what he wants to be their next head coach.

For Fresno State, they need to be on that bandwagon. If for no other reason than to let their fans know they're committed to doing more than they've done to this point.

Put the rules violations and things said about Rodriguez aside. He's still a name that attracts attention and a name that brings instant notoriety.

Say what you want about his coaching styles or the way he handled himself at Michigan, but with that kind of pressure from not only the athletic department but the boosters as well, it tends to change people and not for the better.

Given another opportunity could turn this coach from a villain to a success story.

All it takes is the right program and the right players. Whether it's Fresno State or another school who could be looking for a new head coach, the name Rich Rodriguez is going to be mentioned more than once.

When he finally does return, all eyes will be on him and the program he takes over.


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College Basketball: Steve Cleveland Steps Down at Fresno State Among Mis-Guided Expectations

On Thursday night, Steve Cleveland stepped down as the head coach of the men's basketball team at Fresno State University.

For the past week, or maybe more, rumors were flying about the university wanting to go in another direction. Wanting a new face and hopefully change in a program that has had it's struggles since Jerry Tarkanian left the program.

But this wasn't all Cleveland's fault. Sure the team wasn't winning like most wanted them to but this was a coach who came in after his predecessor was cited for recruiting violations which kept the new head coach from bringing in the kind of players who could turn this program around.

In 2006, just his second season at Fresno State, it looked like the Bulldogs were finally getting back to where they needed to be. The team finished with an astounding 22-10 record after a 15-13 record in Cleveland's first season, but they were bounced in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament.

But, over the next three seasons, the program couldn't seem to pick itself up off the floor, struggling to a 41-58 record from 2007-2010.

The university wanted more and they made that clear to Cleveland after the Bulldogs lost in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference tournament a little over a week ago.

Cleveland stayed behind in Las Vegas and had conversations with athletic director Thomas Boeh. Conversations that led to the head coach deciding to step down and taking a new position within the athletic department at least until his contract runs out next year.

Boeh told the media last night the former Bulldogs' head coach would assist in the search for his replacement and a short list had already been compiled.

The more I listened to the press conference the more my mind began to wonder why Fresno State handled their basketball program differently than they've handled their football program?

Why would they run off a basketball coach who really had the deck stacked against him from the very start? Boeh said this move was about wins and attendance, but how many wins did Boeh expect out of his head coach? What were his expectations for a program which, after two different head coaches blamed for NCAA violations against the university, couldn't have been that attractive to young players?

It was this exact thought which led me to wonder why Pat Hill, the head football coach at Fresno State, was being treated differently? What was I missing?

Under Pat Hill, the football program is 4-7 in 11 bowl appearances and has yet to win an outright conference championship. You'd think it would be enough for the university to go in a different direction.

Instead, it got Hill a three-year contract extension.

When I asked a local beat writer about it his only response was, "fans will come out to see Derek Carr fling the bean around the field." Really? I thought this was about wins not about seeing a young quarterback throw the football around?

There are apparently a lot of things I don't understand about how Fresno State is handling these two programs. They want more wins in one of them but seem happy with 8-5 and 8-4 seasons, year in and year out, from another.

The next head coach for the men's basketball team will need to be a name they can flaunt and a name that will bring in the kind of recruits that will allow them to rebuild this program into a contender once again.

Maybe moving into the Mountain West Conference in 2011 will enable them to start the process. Until then, apparently all I can do is sit back and watch it unfold.

WAC: Four Teams Jumping Off an Already Sinking Ship

Karl Benson, you had your chance to save your small insignificant conference. Instead, you came out looking like a fool and it cost you your top four teams. The only reason anyone knew who the Western Athletic Conference actually was.

TCU's Move to the Big East Was the Right Move at the Right Time

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

 

When TCU head coach Gary Patterson saw the writing on the wall after Utah departed and BYU was in the middle of considerations to follow them out the door, it seemed to him that there was no other decision to make. They needed to look for a way out of the Mountain West Conference which was quickly becoming the old version of the Western Athletic Conference.

Most of the talk shows in the Dallas/Ft Worth area had callers wondering why the Big 12 hadn't come calling. The answer to that was simple. There wasn't enough money in it for the conference to consider them. It's not that the Horned Frogs wouldn't have fit in and been better than schools like Baylor, Kansas, and Kansas State to name a few, at least in football. The conference wouldn't see enough revenue coming in from the school, especially in the television ratings.

There's no doubt there are some hardcore TCU fans in the area but let's not kid ourselves, this is a state ruled by either the Texas Longhorns or the Oklahoma Sooners. No offense to the Horned Frogs, you just don't get top billing around here.

But, that didn't mean they didn't need to make a decision about their future. Especially if they didn't want to get stuck in the same old rut they had been in over the past few years. Even though Boise State was coming in, TCU still knew that the MWC receiving an automatic BCS bid was still going to be close to impossible.

That's when a new conference came calling, one that Patterson and the university couldn't ignore. It meant a move to a conference east of the plain states and it meant a whole new realm of possibilities for each of the athletic programs.

The conference that came calling was the Big East and TCU wasted no time in accepting the invitation. It left the MWC stunned and unable to recover no matter what kind of moves they made.

Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii were brought in but they knew the loss of Utah, BYU and now TCU was more than they would be able to recover from. They had built another version of the WAC, the same conference that split apart almost 12 years ago.

For those of you who blame them for leaving you might want to ask Boise State if they would have re-thought their decision about jumping to the MWC if they had known TCU was about to leave. My guess is, they would have held out for a better offer. Maybe they would have gotten the Big East offer that TCU received or possibly gotten an invite as well.

The Horned Frogs made a move that was beneficial to their university at the exact right time. They knocked down half of their football stadium and plan to rebuild it in time for the 2011 college football season. The stadium, when finished, will hold 40,000 fans and according to an article from CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd the weight room will go from 8,000 square feet up to 20,000 square feet.

Not a bad piece of real estate, right?

The changes being made at TCU, on top of their big Rose Bowl win over Wisconsin this past January, has put the Horned Frogs on the map when it comes to some of the top recruits in the country. After signing day had concluded, the Horned Frogs' recruiting class was ranked among the top 25 in the nation.

Though they lost 14 starters from last season, this wasn't a rebuilding class for TCU, this was a reloading class that will keep them as a dangerous team in college football for a long time to come.

Patterson has had his chance to walk away from the school. He's had job offers from other universities that have sought to bring him on and accomplish the same kind of success that he's built at TCU.

Unfortunately for them, as well as other schools who have gone after guys like Boise State's Chris Petersen and Utah's Kyle Whittingham, Patterson has stayed loyal to Texas Christian University. Though they've been known as just another small school in north Texas, he's built the name into so much more.

Now they're the school that won the Rose Bowl in their first ever appearance in the 'Grandaddy of Them All,' and the school that knocked off would be Big Ten powerhouse, Wisconsin.

It's no small feat to be sure but the head football coach at that small little school in Fort Worth uses the naysayers to get his players jacked up for each and every game on their schedule. They proved that going on the road to Utah who was ranked in the top five in the nation. They didn't beat Utah, the humiliated them on their home field in front of their home fans.

It was the start of what become a tremendous season for the Horned Frogs. One not to be forgotten.

But for those that think this team is a one-hit wonder, you might want to think again. As long as Gary Patterson is the head coach at TCU, this program is going to be hanging around the BCS rankings for a long time.

You better get used to that now, because it's not changing any time soon.


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The Best College Basketball Team in the Country is...San Diego State?

Photo courtesy of the Associated Press

College basketball is normally reserved for the Duke's, the North Carolina's, the Syracuse's, and...you get the picture.

However, in 2011, the college basketball landscape has taken on a very different feel than in year's past. There is one team from Southern California, not named UCLA, that has taken the college basketball world by the throat and refuses to let go.

Sure the Bruins have been known as the team of the decade during the John Wooden tenure and sure Coach K has had some of the best teams in college basketball through his years at Duke. While I'm certainly not going to compare this team to the great teams coached by those great men but you better believe they've woken up fans in this sleepy little town.

Am I going to tell you who I'm referring to? Sure, but you're going to have to wait a little longer.

You see, this sports town has gotten used to mediocrity with their professional teams. While playoff appearances are great it's the best this city has seen in more than a decade. In fact, it's the best they've seen since 1998, 13 years ago.

They've gotten used to their teams having a great regular season and have been in anticipation of great things, only to watch it fall apart like it has so many times before.

This past football season, they came oh so close to knocking off Missouri who was ranked in the top 10 at the time. They had the lead with less than two minutes to go but a bad defensive effort led to a last second touchdown and a loss that never should have been.

Have you figured it out yet? No? Then keep reading because it only gets more fun from here.

This school has never been known as the upper echelon of athletics, especially in basketball. They've made it to the NCAA Tournament and won their conference championship, but still were never in the national conversation.

This season, they're in the top five and all the buzz surrounds this team. In fact, maybe this team should be considered the best college basketball team in the nation?

At this point, you should have figured out who I'm referring to. It's none other than the fourth ranked, unbeaten, San Diego State Aztecs.

On Wednesday night, they will be in Provo, Utah in front of a sold out crowd to take on ninth ranked BYU (19-1) for a conference showdown not to be missed. These two teams have 39 wins between them so far this season. This is a game that will have every fan of both teams on the edge of their seats all night long.

Despite their unblemished record to this point, the college basketball "experts" still have San Diego State behind one-loss Duke, two-loss Pitt, and unbeaten Ohio State.

I'm not one to call out anyone that votes in the top 25 polls, but they have it wrong. Simple as that. The Aztecs are behind two teams with a combined three wins. The only reason they still sit at fourth is for no other reason than their name and their conference.

Shame on them.

That has created a chip on the shoulders of the San Diego State players and, with every win, the college basketball pundits have to sit up and take notice just a little bit more than they did the game before. They're wondering how much longer they can ignore the team from San Diego.

The way things are going for this team, they won't be able to do that much longer. A win over BYU tonight, especially on the road, would send a message loud and clear that they are here to stay and they are ready for whoever wants a shot at them.

We can sit here and talk about mid-majors all we want but the same thing was said about TCU before they headed to Pasadena and showed the Big Ten they weren't too big for the top dog in the Mountain West.

San Diego State wants to be noticed, they want the college basketball world to recognize that they aren't just going to play a conference schedule most call "weak" and then crumble when the post season rolls around.

Make no mistake about it, Ohio State has looked at the rankings and they know exactly what San Diego State is doing. They may not give it a second look but that first one was enough for them know there's someone in their rear view mirror.

Anticipation surrounding this team and this city is at an all time high and it began when the Aztecs were ranked in the preseason top 25 for the first time in school history.

Keep an eye on the Aztecs because you never know what they might do next. Brush them off, just once, and that chip on their shoulder will get that much bigger.

A win on Wednesday night will go a long way to proving just what this team can do. A win will put them in the conversation for the best college basketball team in the country.

The Mountain West Screwing TCU is Nothing But Sour Grapes

Eric Draper/Getty Images

The TCU Horned Frogs, fresh off a big win in the Rose Bowl over the Wisconsin Badgers, will be playing their final season in the Mountain West Conference before they become the newest members of the Big East Conference.

While the Utah Utes and BYU Cougars will no longer be members of the Mountain West, a newcomer will join the fray when the 2011 season gets underway in just over seven months.

Boise State.

The Broncos made their decision to jump ship before BYU's decision to go independent became official and long before TCU accepted an invitation from the Big East to become a member of their conference. Had they known these moves were coming, I'm not sure the Broncos would have made the move so quickly. They believed they had a shot at an automatic BCS bid in the future. Now they're not so sure that bid will ever come.

However, the season will roll on and it will feature a conference game between two mid-majors who spent most of the 2010 season making college football headlines week in and week out. Neither team gave any ground to those around them and both refused to lose.

As the season was winding down it looked as if the BCS was going to have to make arguably their toughest decision since they came into existence. Putting both schools into a BCS bowl game.

Fortunately, or unfortunately for us BCS haters, Boise State fell victim to the Nevada Wolfpack.and allowed the BCS to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

However, TCU remained unbeaten which earned them the Rose Bowl bid.

Now, with the Texas Christian University heading for greener pastures after the 2011 college football season, they could end up losing their home game against Boise State. To no one's surprise, the university isn't at all happy with that possibility.

Neither am I.

I've debated this topic with friends as well as through the Twitterverse earlier this morning. I'm surprised at how many people are ok with taking the home game away from TCU and handing it to Boise State. Yes, I said handing it to them. What would you call it?

While MWC commissioner Craig Thompson says most of the athletic directors within the conference are ok with this decision, TCU won't be the only team affected. If the game is moved, Air Force, San Diego State, Wyoming or New Mexico will also be forced to move their "home" game against the Horned Frogs.

This feels too much like sour grapes from the MWC. Not only are they going to vote on handing a home game to Boise State but TCU will not be able to have a say in the decision because they are a lame duck university.

For those that argued this decision to move the game is only because TCU is jumping ship I have this question to pose to you. Why didn't they take home games away from Utah or BYU in their final season?

The answer to that is simple. This has more to do with doing everything the Mountain West can do to make Boise State look good than trying to screw TCU. If this was really about being upset that TCU is taking the prettier girl to the prom, they would have screwed over the aforementioned two schools for the same reason.

Let's take this a step further. Not only is the MWC "taking their ball and going home" but apparently they are too afraid the Broncos couldn't win this game on the road. They are trying to make absolutely sure they stack the deck in Boise State's favor.

This is a bad move on several levels. It doesn't matter that one school is leaving while another one is coming in. It's a move that shouldn't be made by them, the Western Athletic Conference, or any other conference for that matter.

Thompson is trying to save face by hyping up their new addition. They have a new toy and they want to show it off.

The ultimate backfire in this story will be watching TCU go to Boise and come away with a win. If that scenario happens it will be the Horned Frogs that get the last laugh. Especially if they run the table and make it back to another BCS bowl.

This is a bad move for the Mountain West no matter how you look at it. It has the potential to go very wrong and they don't need any more bad press.

Let's face it, they already look like the old version of the WAC minus BYU and Utah. Screwing your best program in 2010 just makes you look that much more foolish.