The Cowboys are looking to build upon their overtime thrilling win over Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl this spring and in to the fall. It is quite amazing that Wyoming got to a bowl and won their game.  Their offense and defense were below average in the Mountain West which should have pointed to a losing season.  However, their turn around can be attributed to a great increase in turnover margin.  In 2008 the Pokes were minus 22 and plus eight in 2009.

Spring practice begins for Wyoming on March 6th with plenty of goals in mind.  This spring will be much different from last year since Dave Christensen will have had his offense for a full year, and the team will not be learning the offense like last year.  This time around the offense will be able to expand the playbook and to fine tune stuff with a much less learning curve.

However, the defense will move from a 3-4 to a 4-3 due to the loss of several key players especially defensive tackle John Fletcher.  The expected replacements on the line will be Gabe Knapton and Josh Biezuns who are making the move to play defensive end to anchor the new defensive scheme.  Knapton ranked second on the team in tackles and Biezuns was third on the team in sacks and tackles for loss.  The Pokes will use the 4-3 but will show multiple looks out of their base defense. Ghaali Muhammad and Ben Durbin will get the chance to start and contribute big time at linebackers due to the move of Knapton and Biezuns at end.

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Apparently we jumped the gun -- along with others -- about Utah's running back Matt Asiata gaining an extra year of eligibility because of his torn ACL that he suffered early this season, and because of his broken foot he suffered back in 2007.

So, what does this mean for Utah?

Well, it means that the Utes will have cluster of backs and a position change could be coming to one of the players.  Matt Asiata, Eddie Wide, and Sausan Shakerin will stay at running back.  The change will come to Shaky Smithson who came to Utah as a wide receiver, but made the switch to running back when Asiata was out with his torn ACL.  Smithson did play running back at his previous junior college stop.

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The big hurdle or perceived hurdle about BYU joining the Pac-10 or even the Big XII is that they do not play games on Sunday due to their religious faith, but they do travel on those days.  Time to compare Sunday games that the Pac-10 and the Big XII participates in against the BYU sports to see if this is as big a deal breaker for the Cougars to join either league.  The reason the Big XII is considered is because that is a possibility if Colorado leaves to join the Pac-10.

BYU participates in nine men's varsity sports: baseball, basketball, football, tennis, swimming, volleyball, cross country, golf, and track and field.  Football can be eliminated as neither leagues play games on Sunday as is volleyball where BYU would still be in the MPSF no matter what and they do not play on Sunday.  Swimming is not effected either since the championships for the NCAA, Pac-10, and Big XII end on Saturday.

Check out the chart after the jump for a full comparison of what sports participate on Sundays, and to see if it is really that big of a deal.

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To be honest, this is such a transitory year for the Aztecs football team, I don't even know where to begin. The new coaching staff of Brady Hoke, Al Borges, and Rocky Long has their first full recruit class coming in, with the first year with a full amount of scholarships because the team has finally gotten a high enough APR.

I would be remiss to say that although Chuck Long didn't win as a head coach, he is the main reason that the team in organized and on track academically, and that was an important step in waking the "sleeping giant" as new AD Jim Sterk plans to do. Since the high school recruits are still in school, they will not be participating in spring practice, however the Aztecs do have a number of important JC transfers and red/grey shits from last season.

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In somewhat of a surprise hire, San Diego State has hired Jim Sterk away from Pac-10 school Washington State to be the new athletic director in San Diego. Sterk had not been on the list of the final 3 candidates as chosen by the search committee, in fact it is sort of a mystery where his name came from. It seems as though the secrecy involved might have been because of the fact that Sterk was a current working AD for another school.

After watching the video of the press conference that was held today, it seems as though SDSU president Stephen Weber may have chosen Sterk as a personal candidate and the other 3 candidates that were considered finalists by the search which were UCLA Senior Associate Athletic Director Ross Bjork, Michigan Senior Associate Athletic Director Joe Parker and University of Massachusetts AD John McCutcheon (withdrew his name earlier) whom apparently were informed Friday that SDSU had made their decision according to an article in the San Diego Union Tribune which was released last Friday.

Sterk has been the athletic director at Washington State for the past 10 years, being hired in 2000. Other than the fact that SDSU had been reported as looking for candidates with a strong fund raising background, it is unclear why they went with Sterk over the other candidates. I will try to post the video for today's press conference as soon as they post in on YouTube. Jim Sterk apparently has been successful is increasing charitable contributions at Washington State in his tenure but the performance of his athletic teams are nothing to write home about. Post in the comments below if you have any insight into this hiring or have any knowledge of Sterk's past accomplishments at AD.

There are so many ways to go with the many Pac-10 expansion rumors, but what happens if the Pac-10 takes Utah and the fallout leaves BYU still in the Mountain West.  The best case scenario for BYU in a sans Utah Mountain West would be for Commissioner Craig Thompson to invite Boise State to help ensure the MWC gains an auto bid to the BCS.

The way the time line should work is that first the Mountain West will invite Boise State this summer and have them begin conference play in 2011.  The 2011 season would be the last year of the BCS evaluation period which means all of Boise State's rankings would be included with the rest of the Mountain West even though they were in the WAC.  This to date would have four Mountain West teams in the top 25 final BCS standings, and most likely at least three in the final top 25 for the following two years since Boise would now be included.  That should be enough for the Mountain West to be the seventh league with an auto bid to the BCS, even if Utah leaves.

Now, the Pac-10 will most likely extend an invite to Utah in the summer of 2011 and in this scenario Colorado goes as well -- unless the Pac-10 jumps the gun and hands out invitations this summer.  Utah would still finish year four of four of the BCS evaluation period with the Mountain West and not effect the MWC's rankings during the current BCS evaluation period.  So, the Mountain West would have a BCS bid for the next few years without Utah, but with the addition of Boise State -- who would essentially be a swap for Utah -- the Mountain West could still keep that BCS auto bid for the foreseeable future with BYU, Boise State, and TCU performing well on the field.

This scenario nothing much would change for BYU except that the Mountain West would be a BCS league and earn the rewards that come with that.  The only downside is that with three good teams and not four the MWC will still need to perform well to keep their BCS status for more then just one cycle.

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By now everyone has heard that the Pac-10 looking to expand their conference to get that championship game and a more lucrative TV contract.  But when are they going to do it?

"It is really over the next six to 12 months that we'll start having serious analysis and serious evaluations," Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott said.  It sounds like a decision that will be made very soon.

Most are expecting the Pac-10 to expand in 2011 so teams would play in the Pac-10 during the 2012 season.  They are due for a new TV contract to be made starting with the 2012 season.  It makes perfect sense for them to expand then.

They may not wait though.  The Pac-10 possibly will expand this offseason.  Why?  To crush the MWC's BCS hopes and preserve their power out west.

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Football season never ends signing day was last week and now spring football is about a month away for most schools and here is the schedule for all Mountain West schools.

Guess it is time to star beefing up on the spring depth chart.  The 'Biggest Task' area is coming from Rivals.com

AIR FORCE
Practice begins: Feb. 18.
Last spring practice: March 17 (no spring game).
Biggest task: Air Force lost its defensive coordinator when Tim DeRuyter left to become the defensive coordinator at Texas A&M, but the Falcons should have a relatively seamless transition. Air Force replaced DeRuyter by promoting co-coordinator Matt Wallerstedt, who won't make any major changes to the Falcons' 3-4 scheme. The bigger concerns are on offense, as the Falcons lost all five of this past season's starting linemen to graduation.

BYU
Practice begins: March 15.
Spring game: April 10. (Tentative)
Biggest task: BYU must find a replacement for departed starting QB Max Hall. The early arrival of true freshman Jake Heaps will give him a chance to compete with veterans Riley Nelson and James Lark for the job.

COLORADO STATE
Practice begins: March 26.
Spring game: April 24.
Biggest task: Colorado State should have plenty of competition at quarterback and running back. True freshman QB Pete Thomas already has enrolled and will compete with Jon Eastman, Klay Kubiak and Nico Ranieri. The Rams also must decide how they will divide carries in the backfield among UCLA transfer Raymond Carter, Leonard Mason, John Mosure, Chris Nwoke and Lou Greenwood.

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