The Big Wiener, er Winner

I’m not a big proponent of crowning a conference champion in college football strictly from one season’s bowl results. Fans like to beat their chests and point to the bowl results if their particular conference has fared well but I think the best conferences are those that demonstrate consistency over a number of seasons not merely a one-year blip.

However, over the course of two bowl seasons the Mountain West Conference (MWC) is making the big boys of the SEC, Big-10 and PAC-10 take notice. Last season it was Utah’s upset over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl which generated buzz about the MWC, yet this years 4-0 start, with just TCU’s game against Boise State remaining, has the college football world sitting up to take notice.

An area of the country better known for skiing, rugged terrain, and wide open spaces has used the national stage of the college football bowl season to change perceptions of what most considered a second-tier bowl conference. Despite smaller fan bases, inferior facilities and less national media attention the MWC has thrust itself into the national championship conversation in each of the past two seasons and has fared well when matched up against the big boys in December and January.

The success of the MWC may just force the big boys to consider its worthiness for an automatic bid into the BCS should the Cotton Bowl come online as a new BCS bowl in the next couple of years.

Ask yourself a question, can you honestly say that the ACC or even Big East is any better than the MWC at this point? I can’t and I guarantee you if you would’ve asked me that question in 2007, I would’ve thought you didn’t know much about college football.

Mountain West 2009-10 Bowl Results

New Mexico Bowl
Wyoming 35, Fresno State 28

MAACO Las Vegas
BYU 44, Oregon State 20

S.D. County Credit Union Poinsettia
Utah 37, Cal 27

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces
Air Force 47, Houston 20