Thursday, October 8, 2009.

The rest of the WAC is growing weary of hearing how bad it is. And those schools always hear it in the context of Boise State running the table. The attitude about the Broncos around the conference is becoming quite evident. It's not BSU's fault--the Broncos didn't ask to reach the Top 5. They didn't lobby for the now toned-down talk of making the BCS title game. Quite the opposite, in fact. But perception is reality around the league. We talked a few weeks ago about a Fresno Bee writer going off on BSU's "arrogance," and now the Nevada student paper, the Sagebrush, fires a salvo.

Here's what Lukas Eggan of the Sagebrush has to say. "I've been reading a lot of message boards relating to college football this season, and I am sick and tired of all the Boise State fans and all the 'experts' saying the Broncos have a cakewalk to an undefeated season and a berth in the Bowl Championship Series. I'm done listening to all the rants on how the Western Athletic Conference is holding the Broncos back from contending for a national title. I'm here to tell all those people: prepare to be surprised. Before the 'mighty' Boise State Broncos punch their tickets to a BCS bowl game, don't forget one important thing. You still have to play the games." I mean, there is some anger out there. Yes, this was a student paper. But that is the climate BSU has to deal with the rest of the season.

How would you feel about these sick numbers if you were on the short end of them? Boise State is 61-4 all-time in the WAC and has never lost a WAC home game. That's 32-0. The Broncos have posted undefeated conference seasons in five of their eight years in the WAC. And the Broncos' conference home win streak is 38 games going back to the Big West days. Sheez.

Boise State has a mini-bye this week to absorb all the unrest, and coach Chris Petersen likes the setup. The Broncos' game at Tulsa comes 11 days after the UC Davis win, and 10 days before the tussle at Hawaii. "I don't mind it at all," said Petersen. "You can lose a little bit of rhythm (with a full bye week)--10 days on either side isn't bad." Pete was asked about being idle this weekend, and perhaps taken out of the national conversation. His response was predictable. "I like it if nobody's paying attention," he said. "We can just play football."

Before Tulsa gets all lathered up about Boise State's visit next Wednesday, it had to decide what to wear for national TV. The Golden Hurricane broke out new canary-yellow jerseys and pants and metallic-blue helmets for their home opener against Sam Houston State. Wow, were they loud. The Hurricane pounded the Bearkats, 56-3. But coach Todd Graham said Tulsa is probably going back to the traditional look--the gold helmets, blue jerseys and gold pants that Broncos fans are familiar with from the Hurricane's WAC days.

The week leading into Idaho's opener at New Mexico State, coach Robb Akey said he wanted his team to show swagger. Instead of humbly entering the Las Cruces city limits, Akey wanted the Vandals to act like they were going to win the game. It's not a common motivational tool in this era of building up your next opponent to be Superman, but it worked. And Akey's not going to change course anytime soon. "Maybe that game down in Boise late in the year will be a big day," he said in the euphoria after the win over Colorado State. Akey, of course, quickly deflected the talk back to his task at hand--getting WAC win No. 2 at San Jose State Saturday.

Two of the teams theoretically in the WAC's upper echelon face an elimination game in the conference race Saturday night. Fresno State and Hawaii each have a loss in WAC play, and another one would effectively end any championship hopes in 2009. If the Bulldogs go down, that'll mark 10 years since their lone league title under Pat Hill, a shared one in 1999. If the Warriors lose, their 2007 Sugar Bowl season will fall deeper into the "one-hit wonder" category. Considering Fresno State's considerable advantage in the ground game--and Hawaii's difficulty in stopping it--the 9½-point spread favoring the Bulldogs is looking pretty accurate.

Eight former Idaho Stampede players are in NBA camps, the most familiar of whom is Coby Karl in Cleveland. The Boise State product saw 15 minutes of action in the Cavaliers' 92-87 win over Charlotte to open the preseason schedule, scoring eight points with two rebounds. It's an eventful time in Cleveland's camp, with elder statesman Shaquille O'Neal and Lebron James bent on creating chemistry this season. Karl has an interesting perspective, having watched Kobe Bryant operate in L.A. as a member of the Lakers two years ago. Karl did a lot better in NBA summer camps than he did earlier this year in European pro hoops, so it'll be interesting to see what he does should he not stick with the Cavs.

When John Lackey takes the mound to start the American League Divisional Series tonight against the Red Sox, it may mark the beginning of the end for his career-long stay with the Angels. Lackey is clearly the top pitcher in this year's free agent class, having rebounded from off-season elbow surgery to go 11-8 with a 3.83 ERA, his fifth straight season below 4.00. The 6-6 righthander also matched his career strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3-to-1. And he is durable, averaging seven innings a start. Lackey is finishing his eighth season with L.A.--he pitched for the Hawks back in 1999.

This Day In Sports...October 8, 1956:

One of the defining moments in World Series history, as Yankee pitcher Don Larsen pitches a perfect game in a 2-0 win over the Brooklyn Dodgers. Larsen would end up Series MVP as the Yanks won another world championship. Nothing else in Larsen's major league career came close to what happened that day--he was 81-91 with nine different teams over 14 years.

(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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