Thursday, May 8, 2008.

Fresno State might be the trendy pick in the WAC this year, but BYU is the national darling of those trying to identify a BCS-buster to follow Boise State and Hawaii. Stewart Mandel goes that route in his first "College Football Mailbag" of the year in SI.com this week. "BYU has all the right ingredients," writes Mandel. "The Cougars have quietly posted consecutive 11-win seasons. They return practically their entire offense. They're most likely going to be ranked at the start of the season, so it wouldn't take that much to climb into the top 12. And they play a schedule not unlike the one Utah did during its dream season in 2004, with two games against "name" opponents--UCLA and Washington--that will add credibility, but whom the Cougars should be favored to beat.

Mandel says it's not inconceivable the Cougars could lose a game and still reach the BCS. I would contend that, if Fresno State is able to otherwise run the table, the Bulldogs could afford one loss this season and still make the BCS. They have their traditionally strong schedule, so they won't be vilified for that the way Hawaii was last year (and, to a lesser extent, Boise State was the year before). Fresno State plays Rutgers and UCLA on the road and Wisconsin at home, all in September. If the Bulldogs dropped one of those but were dominant in going undefeated in the WAC, they could still make a BCS bowl. On the other hand, if they rolled through September and through the conference unbeaten but lost the season finale Thanksgiving weekend at Bronco Stadium, it would probably do them in.

Change, or the winds thereof, seems to be the norm among broadcast contracts around the WAC. Not only has Boise State left its 35-year relationship with KBOI and Paul J. Schneider behind, Nevada had earlier moved its radio rights to another ownership group. That displaces Dan Gustin, who had been announcing Wolf Pack games for 33 years. Gustin has been named the play-by-play man for Reno's new D-League team. And a renegade group that owns a couple sports-talk stations in Fresno aims to bump KMJ from the Fresno State booth after 39 years as the Bulldogs' flagship. Fresno State is listening, even though KMJ still has two years left on its current contract.

More evidence that the Boise Burn-Spokane Shock matchup Saturday night up north is the Game of the Week in af2. Spokane is undefeated and is No. 2 in this week's af2 Coaches Poll. The Burn are one game behind the Shock in the West Division and are up to No. 5 in the rankings, riding a dominating four-game winning streak. And we're talking a 29-team league here.

KTIK's J Bates dredged up this transaction that had passed us by. T.J. Acree has a new address in the CFL, as the former Boise State wide receiver was traded in the offseason from the Edmonton Eskimos to the Toronto Argonauts. Acree's role has increased in each of his three Canadian seasons--last year he started nine games for the Eskimos and caught 32 passes for 478 yards and three touchdowns. He had signed with Edmonton after playing his first two seasons with the B.C. Lions. Acree always came up big in big games during his BSU days. He was ESPN's Player of the Game in the Broncos' 2003 Fort Worth Bowl win and caught the winning touchdown against BYU in 2004.

At least Coby Karl can say he's played in the NBA Playoffs. The Boise State product got into one first round game for the Lakers, a 122-107 win over his dad's team, the Nuggets. Karl had two minutes, one assist, and one foul to show for it. He's been back with the big club since playing with the L.A. D-Fenders in their D-League playoff loss to the Idaho Stampede last month in Qwest Arena. Former Stampede standout Ira Newble is also on the Lakers roster, and he spends a lot of time sitting next to Coby. Newble's had one minute of playing time in the postseason. It was pine time for both guys last night in the Lakers' 120-110 win over the Jazz in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals last night at Staples Center.

This is one of those reaches when it comes to a former Boise Hawk of the Day, as Francisco Rodriguez played only one game for the Hawks as a 17-year-old in 1999. But the Angels closer is a key component in a 22-14 start that has the club on top of the American League West. Rodriguez recorded his Major League-leading 14th save in Tuesday night's 5-3 win over Kansas City. K-Rod was assisted by a couple other Boise alums, as Scot Shields set him up with a perfect eighth inning, and Garret Anderson cranked a three-run homer and had five RBIs. The Angels never got to use Rodriguez yesterday as they were walloped by the Royals, 9-4.

The postseason begins tonight for College of Idaho baseball with the NAIA Region I Tournament in Vancouver, where the Coyotes face host British Columbia. The Yotes have extended a pair of longstanding streaks in advancing to their playoff spot. It's their 22nd straight season in playoff action--that goes all the way back to when baseball was reinstated at the school in 1987. And C of I has won at least 25 games each year (they're 28-24 this season). Lewis-Clark State, now 47-5 and top-seeded in the tourney, plays Concordia today.

This Day In Sports...May 8, 1968, 40 years ago today:

One month after the A's debut in the Oakland Coliseum following their move from Kansas City, they give their new fans an historic thrill. Jim "Catfish" Hunter throws a perfect game--the first in the American League in 46 years--as the A's beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-0. Hunter would remain the heart of the Oakland pitching staffed as the A's would win three straight world championships in the early 70's.

(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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