With the end of the regular college football season - at least for most of the teams in the Western Athletic Conference - less than a month away, the Rice Owls sit firmly in the driver's seat in the WAC's Mountain Division.
Sure, Rice is joined by BYU and New Mexico in a Mountain threesome that so far have only one conference loss apiece. But the Owls enjoy the edge - and tiebreaker advantage - of having already defeated the other two teams in head-to-head action.Either BYU or New Mexico could run the table by going undefeated the rest of the way (they both can't, because they meet Nov. 15 in Albuquerque) and end with glossy league and overall records . . . and still find themselves at home when it comes time for the WAC championship game Dec. 6 in Las Vegas.
Such would be the case if Rice also went undefeated through late November. And that appears to be a strong possibility.
In a season-opening loss to Air Force in a WAC crossover game and aforementioned victories against BYU and New Mexico, Rice has pretty much faced the toughest tests of its league schedule. Five of the division's six worst teams are all that await the Owls, with the two remote possibilities of upset coming in a pair of road
games - Nov. 1 at Southern Methodist and Nov. 15 at Utah.
Revenge may be a factor in the latter, since the Utes suffered a 51-10 whipping by the Owls last year.
Already saddled with a pair of league losses, Utah can only hope to finish the second half strong and perhaps merit lesser-bowl consideration.
BYU is in the midst of the cushy part of its conference schedule, with cellar-dwellers TCU, UTEP and Tulsa coming up. The Cougars must close in mid-November at New Mexico and at home against Utah and cross their fingers for someone to hand Rice a second WAC defeat.
Besides the hosting of Rice, Utah still has New Mexico and BYU to play, and the Utes can take advantage of playing the division's three top dogs. By going undefeated the rest of the way, Utah could do no worse than a tie for the division title and clinch the berth in the championship game because of beating the others in head-to-head competition.
In the Pacific Division, Fresno State's upset at Air Force last week resulted in four teams showing just one WAC loss. Air Force holds the upper hand - the Falcons have already won four games and have beaten preseason favorite Colorado State, another single-loss squad. Also in the mix are defending division champion Wyoming and Fresno State. UNLV and even San Diego State are just a step off the pace with two losses, but both still have five WAC games remaining - which mean greater odds at making up lost ground.
Air Force's key conference game still remaining comes Nov. 15, when the Falcons host Wyoming. CSU ends the regular season by first squaring off against Fresno State and then visiting San Diego State.
Besides the aforementioned matchups among the Pacific Division's top foursome, Wyoming travels to Fresno State on Nov. 22.
*****
Additional Information
WAC honors Dabney
BYU return specialist Jaron Dabney, who returned a punt 83 yards for a touchdown Saturday in the Cougars' 17-3 victory over Hawaii, was named WAC Mountain Division special teams player of the week.