Did you know, over the last six years, the WAC CONFERENCE has the 3rd best winning percentage in bowl games of any conference in the nation! The WAC has sent 22 teams to postseason games from 2002-07 and those teams won 54.5 percent of their games with a 12-10 record. They also produced the only team (Hawaii) in the nation with a perfect record during the regular season in 2007. No sir, things aren't as wacky in the in the Conference as you might have imagined.

Returning starters are listed alongside each team's name (returning QB's designated with an *)

WAC

BOISE STATE - 4 / 7
Team Theme - SAME OLD, SAME OLD

The accolades are many - Winningest program this decade (86-16); Best record the last ten years (102-24); Best home record the last five years (32-1); 43 consecutive regular season home victories; Best conference record since 2002 (46-2). Despite it all the Broncos still don't get the credit they have earned. Much of that lack of respect, we're sure, is due to the strength of the conference in which they reside. The WAC in not only a non-BCS league, it is laced with a bevy of cupcakes, rivaled only by the Sun Belt Conference. Still, behind star back Ian Johnson (nation's top returning RB in four categories, including rushing yards) Boise will claim another conference crown, beg for a BCS bowl bid (just 4-17 vs. BCS opposition since 1996) and likely remain the best team nobody knows. Sometimes, the more things change the more they stay the same.

PLAY ON: vs. Hawaii (10/17)

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FRESNO STATE - *8 / 7
Team Theme - THE AAA WAY

Meet the nation's most underappreciated coach - Pat Hill. With the 10th most wins in the nation since 2001 and 11 victories over BCS teams this decade (the most of any non-BCS school), Hill has never had a losing season in WAC play where his teams are 60-27. The four losses suffered by the Bulldogs last year came at the hands of opponents that were 38-10 combined. He welcomes 10 starters back on offense, including 6' 5" SR QB Tom Brandstater, the MVP of last year's Humanitarian Bowl. Brandstater has increased his yards per pass attempt from 5.8 to 7.9, signaling a breakout year is in the offing in 2008. Hill's motto - Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere. - may get him in trouble on occasion but the fact remains his teams will back down from no one. That's why his teams have averaged nearly nine wins per season the last nine years.

PLAY ON: vs. UCLA (9/27)

HAWAII - 4 / 5
Team Theme - JUNE BUGGED

Why are there only eleven months on a new calendar in Hawaii? Because June has departed. June Jones, that is. The former head honcho in Honolulu has set sail for SMU, leaving the defending WAC champions to fend for themselves. Also gone is former Heisman-hopeful QB Colt Brennan, and his 31 NCAA records, along with his entire cast of starting wide receivers. That doesn't leave new head coach Greg McMackin, the former defensive coordinator, much to work with. Sure, 64 returning lettermen hold promise but just nine are back to reclaim starting jobs. The schedulemaker lends a hand, however, as eight opponents with losing records last year dot the schedule. Still, replacing a quarterback that completed over 70% of his career passes will be no easy task. Like Jones, Hawaii's fifteen straight conference wins and an eight-game road win skein are soon to be a distant memory.

PLAY ON: as dog vs. Cincinnati (12/6)

IDAHO - *11 / 5
Team Theme - AKEY BREAKY HEART

A 1-1 start last season under new head coach Rob Akey, including a 21-pointspread cover against powerful USC, found the Potato heads in a state of delirium. They woke up three months later in the state of Idaho, sporting a 1-11 mark for the year. The 2008 season holds possibilities, though, with a bumper crop of talent returning, including all 11 starters from an offense that improved 40 YPG last season. Most promising is SO RB Deonte Jackson, who averaged 98 RPG before suffering a high ankle injury that limited his playing time. Jackson was the No. 4 freshman RB in the nation in 2007. With nine of their first ten games, including the first six, against teams who had losing records last season, look for the Spuds to sprout early and often in 2008.

PLAY ON: vs. Utah State (9/20)

LOUISIANA TECH - 8 / 5
Team Theme - A D T E T

When the Bulldogs hired Derek Dooley last year little did they realize he was not only going to motivate this team but the entire athletic department as well. His mantra - Attitude, Discipline, Toughness, Effort and Team - paid huge dividends in his rookie season when La Tech improved from 3-10 to 5-7. More importantly, the numbers increased on both sides of the ball. As a result, Dooley is now the only Division 1-A combination coach and athletic director. He'll know better than to schedule a bevy of bowl teams down the road like his successor Jack Bicknell did (38 bowl opponents in his final eight years). He'll also rely heavily on SR RB Patrick Johnson who needs 1,170 rush yards to become the Bulldogs' all-time rush leader. With six of the final seven opponents sporting losing records in 2007, look for the Dogs to be barking by season's end.

PLAY AGAINST: vs. Kansas (9/6)

NEVADA - *8 / 4
Team Theme - THE RED-FACED WOLF

In the wolf world the only species more dangerous on the North American continent than the gray wolf is the little-known red wolf. He's been known to turn vicious when put into uncomfortable surroundings. Nevada's Wolf Pack may not be Red Wolves but, after being shutout for the first time in 329 games in the New Mexico bowl last year, they are certainly red-faced. The humiliating loss left them at 6-7 for the season, which sets the table for a few milk bones in 2008. That's because teams who lost a bowl game to conclude a 6-7 season tend to howl as puppies the following season, especially at home (11-2-1 ATS, according to the 2008 BLACK BOOK™). With eight starters back on offense, including SO QB Colin Kaepernick (WAC Freshman of the Year) and JR RB Luke Lippincott (18 TD's led the WAC in '07), look for Nevada to pack a bite in '08.

PLAY ON: vs. as dog vs. Boise State (11/22)

NEW MEXICO STATE - *7 / 6
Team Theme - TOP GUN

There is no denying the fact that Hal Mumme's "Air Raid Offense" took Kentucky and SE Louisiana to new heights. With only eight wins in three seasons with the Aggies, Mumme will be locking in on the arm of 6' 5" SR QB Chase Holbrook this season. And why not, when you have a fighter pilot that has tossed 60 TD's while completing 70.4% of his career passes (best among all active QB's). With seven other starters back on the attack side, Holbrook likes his chances to at least duplicate the production of the unit that finished 3rd in the nation in total offense in 2006. Just as important is the addition of new DC Joe Lee Dunn, a mainstay with Arkansas, Memphis, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and South Carolina. Look for the Aggies to be on target in '08.

PLAY ON: vs. Nevada (10/11)

SAN JOSE STATE - 6 /6
Team Theme - DNA

Dick Tomey's pawprint is all over this team. Tomey works to limit his team's mistakes in hopes that the other team will beat itself. Hence, the Spartans were the least penalized team in the conference last year and have ranked in the Top 15 nationally in turnover margin the last two years. Just as important, SJSU has won 12 of its last 14 home games with only USC owning a better record in the state of California over the same span. After being denied back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in 15 years, the Spartans are primed to return to their winning ways behind WR's Kevin Jurovich and David Richmond who combined for 140 receptions last year. Don't bet against the Tominator. He'll be back.

PLAY ON: vs. Fresno State (11/21)

UTAH STATE - 6 / 9
Team Theme - OUR GUY

Like Mike Sanford at UNLV, Brent Guy should be living life on the edge. His 6-29 record at USU would rattle even the most staid AD, but it doesn't seem to bother Aggie boss Scott Barnes. Barnes said, "Brent Guy's status is not open for debate. We have our guy - Brent Guy". It's been 12 years since the program last finished above .500 and for all intents and purposes 13 looks like it's on the burner. The Aggies, who face seven teams that went to a bowl game last season, played 48 freshmen the last three seasons (22 last year) and return their top four tacklers for the 2nd year in a row. If they can learn to finish games they might have a chance to shake the haunting fear of triskaidekaphobia.

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