Wednesday, January 16, 2008.

If the rest of the WAC would like to emulate Boise State’s football program, then the same can be said for Utah State’s basketball program. The Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan is the one place in the conference where you can find a true college hoops atmosphere. The Aggies average over 8200 fans a game, second in the WAC to Fresno State. But USU’s atmosphere is far more electric than Fresno’s. Think about it—8200 fans a game…in Logan. The students are the key for the Aggies. They turn out in droves, and they’re well-prepared in their attempt to get inside the heads of opponents. It's a loud, raucous scene that greatly benefits the home team. Picture the BSU Pavilion 20 years ago. That’s it.

The Spectrum environment is certainly one reason BSU has gone 0-fer all-time at Utah State in men’s basketball. Did it have an effect down the stretch in last year’s game at USU? I don’t know, but that loss is a particular thorn in the Broncos’ side. They played a magnificent game against the Aggies—until the wheels came off in the final five minutes, with a 13-point lead evaporating into an 80-79 loss. There’s been a lot of talk about the guard position this week. If BSU can get a focused performance out of Anthony Thomas and Jamar Greene, you’ve got to think Reggie Larry and Matt Nelson will hold up their end. Larry and Nelson have taken mental toughness up a notch or three this season.

The guys in the most glaring of spotlights for the Idaho Stampede at the NBA D-League Showcase showed well last night. Randy Livingston played all but two minutes of the Stampede’s 10th consecutive victory, a 93-89 win over Rio Grande Valley in the feature game at Qwest Arena. He scored 20 points and dished out 11 of his trademark assists. Livingston was only 5-of-15 from the field but hit all 10 of his free throws. Lance Allred did a lot of damage in the 25 minutes he played, scoring 24 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. The local guys didn’t make much of a stamp for NBA scouts. Cory Violette had six points and six boards in 17 minutes, Roberto Bergersen scored only two points, going 1-for-5 from the field, and Jason Ellis did not play.

Other notes from Day 2 of the Showcase: a former Idaho Vandal caught the eye of former L.A. Laker and current NBA TV commentator Norm Nixon: “Colorado's Kaniel Dickens played well and has great touch. He shot the ball really well. I was so impressed with his ability to shoot the ball with his size.” Dickens, the 6-8 forward, scored 25 points to lead the 14ers past Albuquerque yesterday, 98-81. And the Showcase in general gets high marks from Denver Nuggets Vice President of Basketball Operations Mark Warkentien: "It’s just the best. Boise’s like the unknown secret—this arena, the whole nine yards, it’s just a great setting to get to see everybody and take inventory of all of the D-Leaguers. It’s big time."

So will there be another non-BCS school in 2008 that duplicates the undefeated seasons by Hawaii this season, Boise State last season, and Utah in 2004—and makes it to a BCS bowl? Or should there be more reliable access to the BCS for mid-majors? As the discussion gets a little more serious regarding a Division I playoff, I harken back to something Kurt Kragthorpe in the Salt Lake Tribune recently wrote, “The solution (for non-BCS schools), as being proposed by BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe and others, is a BCS qualifying round. Take the champions of the Mountain West and the WAC, play at the home of the highest-ranked team and send the winner into a BCS game.” Kragthorpe’s reasoning is, beyond automatic access, “a BCS play-in system would reduce the incentive to follow Hawaii's example this year and play a soft non-conference schedule, because winning the league title would be sufficient.”

Kragthorpe continues: “Beginning in 2004, this plan would have produced these matchups: Unbeaten Boise State at unbeaten Utah, Boise State at TCU, BYU at unbeaten Boise State and BYU at unbeaten Hawaii. That's good stuff.” Kragthorpe feels that Conference USA and the MAC would have to be left out of the equation because they play championship games the same week this WAC-Mountain West thing would have to be scheduled. And then there’s the Sun Belt (oh well). But that right there tells you the plan probably wouldn’t work. And what about seasons like 2005, when there wasn’t a team that was BCS-worthy?

So let’s say the BCS play-in game doesn’t get past square one. Kragthorpe has a suggestion that makes just too much sense. Why don’t the WAC and Mountain West collaborate on a plan to have their champions meet in the Las Vegas Bowl? In years like 2007, with Hawaii vacating to a BCS bowl, the second-place team goes. “Instead of BYU vs. UCLA, that would have produced BYU vs. Boise State, which would be way more interesting to me,” writes Kragthorpe. “Although maybe not to ESPN and the rest of the country, which will always be the problem the local leagues face.” And such a plan was not helped by what happened in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

He may have had an eye on Boise State for a long time, but he sounds very happy to be going to Tulsa. Former Mountain View quarterback Jacob Bower has chosen the Golden Hurricane and has a chance to replace a guy who had an even better season than Colt Brennan in 2007. As for Bower, he had a huge year at Bakersfield College, throwing for 3,144 yards and 35 touchdowns. Bower told Inside Tulsa Sports.com it was renowned offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, the guy who bolted Arkansas a year ago, who was the key to his decision. "I have a great relationship with Coach Malzahn," the 6-4, 240-pounder said. "I feel like he's the best offensive mind in the nation right now. The best receivers in the nation, I feel, are at Tulsa. Who wouldn't want to play in a system like theirs, where they throw for 5,000 yards?" Which is what departing senior Paul Smith just finished doing. Smith also threw 47 TD passes.

Roy Jones Jr. is 39 years old today. So what’s happened to him since he beat Prince Badi Ajamu in his comeback bout at Qwest Arena a year and a half ago? Jones went almost a year before fighting again, winning the IBC light heavyweight title in a victory over Anthony Hanshaw last July. Now Jones goes into his first super-fight since October, 2005, facing Felix Trinidad Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York. The bout will be on HBO pay-per-view. But many boxing experts are questioning why these two are getting in the ring again, especially Jones. Tim Dahlberg of the AP writes, “Don King knows how to dress up a turkey when he needs to sell one.”

This Day In Sports…January 16, 1972:

After years of frustration, the Dallas Cowboys win their first Super Bowl, crushing the Miami Dolphins, 24-3. MVP Roger Staubach completed 12 of 19 passes, and the Cowboys rushed for 252 yards—95 by a nearly-unstoppable Duane Thomas. Having ended every season since 1966 with a loss in the playoffs until falling in the Super Bowl the previous year, Dallas started the season badly but finished with 10 straight victories after coach Tom Landry settled on Staubach as his starting quarterback.

(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment Sunday nights at 10:30PM on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors five sports segments each weekday on 1350 KTIK/The Ticket. He also handles color commentary on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football.)

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