Friday, December 5, 2008.

I, for one, can't wait for Sunday to get here, so all this bowl schmole discussion will be behind us. When I see people across the nation ripping apart Ball State for declining the Roady's Humanitarian Bowl opportunity, I keep thinking a You Tube video's going to pop up supporting the Cardinals, similar to the one where the girl screamed, "Leave Brittany aloooooooone!" Ball State should have played Boise State. It said no. Let's move on. Get the Poinsettia Bowl thing settled with TCU--or even BYU--and let the hype begin. All the Broncos lose out on by not getting Ball State is two weeks' worth of publicity on the Late Show With David Letterman.

Kellen Moore's photo has been all over SI.com this week--in various places. Mostly it ties in with Boise State being locked out a BCS bowl by the combination of Utah's ranking and Ohio State's heritage. The outcry has generally been coming from other places around the country, but national media has felt obliged to respond to it. SI.com's Stewart Mandel did. Then he had to respond to the response, calling it "a near-universal, negative backlash with item No. 5 in last Sunday's 'Five Things We Learned This Weekend.'"

Mandel recalls, "I wrote: 'That the mid-majors are getting greedy.' Just looking at it now, out of context, makes even me cringe. I sound like the Grinch that Stole Bowl Season. Just to be clear, I've got absolutely no beef with Utah, Boise State, Ball State, etc., whose coaches and players have done nothing whatsoever to elicit my criticism." Then he replied to a question about the Boise State-Ohio State debate by writing an essay on the business of BCS bowls. Which was, by the way, well-done.

Hawaii is a notoriously difficult place to play for teams that don't have the right mindset. Tomorrow night the Warriors host Cincinnati, which has already clinched a BCS bowl berth. Maybe UH has a chance. If the Warriors pull it off, though, it could set Oklahoma on its ear. Why? Says Mandel (it's Stewart Mandel Day around here), "On the Web site for the Colley Matrix (one of the six BCS computer ratings), there's a tool where you can "play god"--i.e., plug in future results and see what happens. So [an associate] plugged in Florida beating Alabama, Oklahoma beating Missouri and USC beating UCLA, and here's what came out: 1) Oklahoma, 2) Texas, 3) Florida. Then, he threw in Hawaii beating Cincinnati. Mind you, not only did Oklahoma beat Cincinnati, but Florida beat Hawaii. The envelope, please: 1) Florida, 2) Texas, 3) Oklahoma."

The piranha media in Denver is cutting former Boise State coach Dan Hawkins some slack, judging by a Woody Paige column in the Denver Post. Despite Colorado's 5-7 record and consequent lack of a bowl game, Paige feels the future bodes well for the Buffaloes. "In his first three seasons Bill McCartney compiled a 7-25-1 record and was 4-16 in the conference," writes Paige. "Two years later, the Buffs were dancing in the postseason and soon were the No. 1 team in the country. In his first three seasons, Hawkins is 13-24 overall and 8-16 in the Big 12. Give him speed and depth and two more years and...Hawk and the Buffs are getting closer to being like the blasts from the past and the forces of the future." The CU season was fraught with injuries, and Cody Hawkins' future as starting quarterback is very much up in the air.

Elsewhere, Fresno State's Pat Hill has taken his name out of consideration for the head coaching job at Washington. Might have something to do with the fact the Huskies look like they're about to announce USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian as their new coach. The Bulldogs have confirmed that they're going to the New Mexico Bowl on December 20. Utah State has its man, as Utah defensive coordinator Gary Andersen has been introduced as the Aggies' new coach. In his press conference, Andersen took aim at Boise State. And for those that long for the olden days of Division I-AA Playoffs, Weber State is at Montana tomorrow afternoon in the quarterfinals in what should be an electric atmosphere.

The Idaho Steelheads have activated Derek Paget as they finish up their three-game series with Utah. Paget, who just turned 30 a couple weeks ago, has been on the injured reserve list all season. Now he looks to play his first game for the Steelheads since he helped the team win the Kelly Cup Finals in 2004. In fact, it would be his first pro hockey game of any kind since that time. The Steelies try to extend their season-high four-game winning streak as they host the Grizzlies tonight and tomorrow night in Qwest Arena. Idaho has moved into a tie for second in the ECHL West Division, three points behind the Alaska Aces.

Maybe a Saturday night will do the trick in the stands for Boise State basketball. There were 3,067 in attendance for Wednesday night's 86-85 win over Wyoming--the Broncos' biggest crowd of the season, but not nearly enough to serve as an audition for future Mountain West membership. BSU gets another chance tomorrow night when Colorado State comes to Taco Bell Arena. You'd think the Wyoming win would stir the pot, as the Cowboys have the look of a solid club. They sure did in the first half, anyway. Look at this: after five home games a year ago, BSU was averaging 5,317 fans a game. But that included a home date with nationally-ranked Washington State. Okay, take that out and it was still 3,638. Hopefully Bronco fans understand how important it is to step it up.

After a sweep of Anaheim last weekend, the Idaho Stampede hit the road for the first time this season. The Stampede play at Austin tonight and at Rio Grande Valley Sunday afternoon. Rio Grande is coached by one-time Stampede general manager Clay Moser, and he has former Idaho Vandal Keoni Watson on his roster. Meanwhile, Stampede coach Bryan Gates has one of his old playmakers back on his roster, as Luke Jackson has rejoined the team. The former Oregon star was money down the stretch for the Stamps last season and impacted the playoffs, helping the club win the D-League championship.

Other college basketball here in the valley: Northwest Nazarene hosts the Shilo Inn & Suites Classic this weekend. The Crusaders will face Colorado Mines tonight, a rematch of NNU's buzzer-beating 62-60 road win last Friday in Golden, CO. Colorado-Colorado Springs plays Central Washington in the other game tonight and will be the Crusaders' opponent tomorrow night. Hard to tell where NNU is quite yet--it's 4-1, including a season-opening 136-97 win over Multnomah University that broke the school single-game scoring record.

Nampa's Tyler Aldridge has surged into a tie for fourth place in the finals of the PGA Tour Qualifying School in La Quinta, CA. The former Boise State golfer shot a six-under-66 in yesterday's second round. There's a lot of golf left to be played in the grueling six-round tournament, but this is quite a turn of events considering the season he had. Aldridge played 23 Nationwide Tour events this season, making the cut in only six and never finishing higher than 49th. Boise's Ryan Hietala dropped to a tie for 23rd after a two-under-70, and former Boise State star Troy Merritt improved to 50th with a four-under-68. The top 25 players and ties out of Q-School earn 2009 PGA Tour cards when the dust settles Monday.

This Day In Sports...December 5, 1981:

In its first trip ever to the Deep South, Boise State beats Jackson State, 19-7, in the first round of the Division I-AA playoffs. Future Pittsburgh Steeler and former Boise High star Rick Woods set a BSU post-season record for longest interception return--a 73-yarder that set up the clinching points. That mark would stand until Shaunard Harts broke it with an 80-yard pick for a touchdown versus Louisville in the 1999 Humanitarian Bowl. And that standard was eclipsed by Andy Avalos with his 92-yard rumble against the same team in the 2004 Liberty Bowl.

(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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