Show J. J Mountain of Opportunity Does the Mountain West Conference have havea i a chance of gaining prestige and credibility r in college football By Elliot Roper Staff Writer t ii- ii Most fans when they hear the initials ini ini- k cringe curse and curse some more After all the controversy that went on last year this year should be just as interesting So how does this whole system effect the Mountain West Conference Well it seems like we sort of do our own thing here and no one really notices Except for this year Last season BYU climbed all the way to number even in thew the w country on some polls Not without without without with with- out controversy though With a couple of early wins this year already thanks to Colorado State and BYU this conference has already shown that we are not to tobe tobe tobe be taken lightly Besides Colorado State and BYU other schools have opportunities to put this conference up there with the Big Tens and Twelve s ACC s and SEC SECs s. s Utah plays ninth ranked Michigan Air Force plays twenty- twenty second ranked Notre Dame and Wyoming plays tenth ranked Washington All of which come from major football conferences All of these games give exposure to this conference and if victorious national atten atten- tion But is it enough Not a single team from the Mountain West Conference was placed in hi the preseason preseason preseason pre pre- pre pre- season top ty-five ty on any poll Doll We have already beaten the six-ranked six team in the country and have only played one game Is it enough Will it be enough if the other teams beat their then ranked opponents opponents opponents Respect in this game is done over time These wins will have to come convincingly and repeatedly This is a step in the right direction for this conference conference conference confer confer- ence but may require more time as well as more of these quality opponents This year does provide a turning turning turning turn turn- ing point for the conference Many more quality opponents have come into the schedule This is what was needed However hopefully this conference conference conference confer confer- ence did not bite off more than it could already chew The opposite opposite opposite site is also true Lose to all these teams and it will be a while before this conference is even Respect in this game is done over time These wins will have to come convincingly and repeatedly mentioned on national television television television sion or radio This is a chance that you must take as a football team as well as conference e trying to establish your yourself yourself yourself self amongst the best in the nation Another thing to take in is you have u. u to be careful u. u about not wearing yourself out outplaying outplaying outplaying playing the better ranked teams that you let an easy win slip by you in the conference play All the traveling plus schoolwork can add up and possibly burn bum players out Which could ultimately ultimately ultimately ulti ulti- lead to your sliding down downin in the polls Hopefully this year there is less cringing and cursing about who should be placed here or ranked there For the teams in the Mountain West Conference the task is simple Slay Goliath Take down the big teams this year and each subsequent year 0 |