Tuesday, December 9, 2008.

Maybe this is the culmination of a 13-year journey for what is known as Texas Christian University. The Poinsettia Bowl is not in the BCS club, but a win over Boise State in that game can get TCU back to the mountaintop of national respect. The Horned Frogs have been working at this ever since the Southwest Conference folded following the 1995 season and they were left out of the group that moved to the Big 12. This was a program that had been a member of the SWC for 72 years and had won national championships in 1935 and 1938, the latter featuring Heisman Trophy winner Davey O'Brien. If TCU had been stronger in the 1970's and 80's, maybe it would have survived the SWC breakup and made it to the Big 12 instead of, say, Baylor.

For the Horned Frogs, it'll be the first time since the 1959 Bluebonnet Bowl they've played a postseason game with the two teams ranked this high. That year, No. 11 Clemson defeated No. 7 TCU, 23-7. The Frogs didn't finish the season in the Top 10 again until 2005, when they were ninth in the Coaches Poll. A victory over the Broncos, combined with some bowl losses by Top 10 teams, could get TCU higher than that, cementing its status as the best of the former Southwest Conference schools outside of the University of Texas.

A Poinsettia Bowl triumph would also position the Mountain West ever closer--at least in the national debate--to the coveted automatic BCS berth currently held by the woeful Big East. And that's where Boise State comes in. The Broncos would like to demonstrate that, as a member someday, they could help the conference achieve a place at the BCS table. For BSU, this game is a chance to answer the naysayers who think the Broncos are not Mountain West worthy. Mark May's now-infamous ESPN inference that BSU would have lost four games in the MWC this season has been like nails on a chalkboard around here. And, after all, it was TCU for whom Boise State was passed over when the Mountain West expanded almost five years ago.

The Roady's Humanitarian Bowl made its formal announcement yesterday. The game hopes to send its ACC era out in a blaze of glory by giving Maryland a good experience, setting the table for another conference affiliation down the line. Meanwhile, Notre Dame tries to save a winning season in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl Christmas Eve, while Hawaii tries to strike a note for the WAC. Getting the Fighting Irish is a coup for the bowl, but it's not the first time Notre Dame has made the trek. The Irish played the Warriors in the regular season at Aloha Stadium in 1991 and 1997, winning both times. Notre Dame also played in the old Aloha Bowl in 1984, losing to SMU 27-20.

Mark Sanchez is supposed to be filling the shoes of Matt Nelson this season, and he's doing a good job of duplicating Nelson's Boise State feats to this point. Sanchez yesterday earned his second WAC Player of the Week award of the young season after leading the Broncos past Wyoming and Colorado State last week. Sanchez topped BSU with 24 points against the Cowboys and hit the game-winning lay-in with less than a second left. He then recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds in the victory over the Rams. Now Sanchez can see how he stacks up on a bigger stage, as tomorrow night the Broncos go to BYU, where the Cougars have a 51-game homecourt winning streak.

The Utah Grizzlies have Idaho in their barn tonight, hoping to get back at the Steelheads after dropping two of three games in Boise last week. The Steelies are on a steady climb, having won seven of their last 10 games after a 5-5-2 start. And the melding of Derek Laxdal's newcomers has been no small factor. They're jelling now, led by Ben Nelson, who has four goals in his last four games and is tied for second among ECHL rookies with 11 goals. The Steelheads are three points out of first place and two points out of second in the West Division.

The Steelheads are buzzing today about the performance of a former teammate last night. B.J. Crombeen recorded his first NHL hat trick, leading St. Louis past Nashville, 6-3. Crombeen's third goal was the game-winner with less than four minutes remaining. He also assisted on a goal, giving him four points on the night. Crombeen, part of the Steelheads' 2007 Kelly Cup championship team, was picked up by the Blues on waivers earlier this season from the Dallas Stars, Idaho's NHL affiliate. Ironically, former Steelheads star Dan Ellis was not in goal for the Predators last night.

How about two Nampa natives earning PGA Tour cards yesterday in one fell swoop? For Robert Garrigus, who finished sixth in the finals of Q-school at La Quinta, CA, it's a relief--he's a veteran of 86 PGA tournaments. For Tyler Aldridge, it's a stunning turn of events after a struggle on the Nationwide Tour this year. Rewind, in fact, to the first stage of Q-school in October. Aldridge was in quicksand after shooting 75 in back-to-back rounds. But the former Boise State golfer says he made an attitude adjustment then and there, and he finished tied for 11th yesterday at the end of the six grueling rounds in the finals. The top 25 plus ties were granted their tour cards; Boise's Ryan Hietala tied for 40th, and former BSU star Troy Merritt ended up tied for 137th place, doomed by a third-round 79 last Friday.

The 2009 baseball season, in effect, starts today for former Boise Hawk Troy Percival. The Tampa Bay closer will have surgery on his ailing back, expecting to be ready for Opening Day next April. Now 39 years old, Percival was one of the big stories of the first half of the season for the Rays but had three stints on the disabled list. His back flared up again in September, causing Tampa Bay to leave him off its postseason roster as it made it to the World Series for the first time. Percival led the Rays last season with 28 saves--he is signed for 2009 and is set to make $4 million.

Tonight's a big night for the former Voice of the Vandals, Bob Curtis. He'll be at the Waldorf- Astoria in New York City for this year's College Football Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, where he'll be a co-recipient of the Chris Schenkel Award for excellence in broadcasting. Curtis called 540 consecutive football games for Idaho and hundreds of basketball games during a career on the Palouse that spanned more than 50 years. The honoree list includes everyone from John Glenn to T. Boone Pickens, plus the 14-member induction class for the College Football Hall of Fame, including Troy Aikmen and Lou Holtz. It should be one of the highlights of Curtis's life.

This Day In Sports...December 9, 2006:

Idaho athletic director Rob Spear tells the media that Dennis Erickson is headed for Arizona State, less than a year after his celebrated return to the Vandals. Erickson, who had coached Idaho from 1982-85, was 4-8 in his one season back in Moscow. The lure of the Pac-10 proved to be too much as he was drawn to ASU to replace the fired Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State coach.

(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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