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Head for the Mountain

New conference begins '99 with two guaranteed bowl bids

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Posted: Monday July 26, 1999 09:09 PM

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- Brigham Young University is the preseason choice to win the inaugural Mountain West Conference football title, according to separate polls of coaches and the media on Monday.

In the coaches' poll, BYU received five first-place votes and 47 points, based on the awarding of eight points for a first-place vote, seven points for second, etc. Coaches could not vote for their own teams.

Air Force was a close second, receiving three first-place votes and 44 points.

San Diego State ranked third with 32 points, followed by Utah at 30, Colorado State at 29, Wyoming at 22, New Mexico at 13 and UNLV at 7.

In the media poll, BYU received 35 of the 49 first-place nods and 372 points. Air Force got one first-place vote and 282 points. San Diego State received four first-place votes and 253 points, Utah got four firsts and 252 points and Wyoming received five firsts and 248 points.

Colorado State ranked sixth at 206, followed by New Mexico at 81 and UNLV at 70.

The media also selected a pre-season All-MWC team. Special preseason awards went to:

- BYU linebacker Rob Morris, player of the year.

- Utah running back Mike Anderson, offensive player of the year.

- Morris, defensive player of the year.

- UNLV running back Jeremi Rudolph, newcomer of the year.

The new conference boasts agreements with both the Liberty and Las Vegas bowls this season. The MWC champion will meet the Conference USA champion in the Liberty Bowl. A second MWC team will meet the WAC champion in the Las Vegas Bowl.

"We are very excited about both tie-ins," commissioner Craig Thompson said. "Those of you who have lived in the South know football is pretty important there. For us to have the exposure outside of the Mountain and Pacific time zones in that part of the world is, I think, really a plus for us. Memphis is a very traditional bowl with a 40-plus-year history. "And, of course, Las Vegas has become a wonderful home for us. Our basketball tournaments will be played there."

Thompson said the new conference might also be considered for two other bowls. The Humanitarian Bowl faces an uncertain future because of the impending breakup of the Big West Conference. "If there is no Big West, we'll have to see what happens with that bowl," Thompson said. The commissioner said a startup bowl scheduled to begin in 2000 in Houston "is talking about a Mountain West participant against a Big 12 participant. We're very strongly in the mix there, but the bowl hasn't been certified yet."

 

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