Lobos "Loco" Locksley, continued

ESPN's Mark Schlabach reports on new information on the continuing saga in Albuquerque over New Mexico head coach Mike Locksley's altercation with assistant coach J.B. Gerald.

Locksley claimed that the incident was nothing more than pushing and shoving which was resolved in seconds.  However, key information is coming forth from hand-written notes written by Shannon Garbiso of New Mexico's HR department, which ESPN obtained through New Mexico's open records laws.

O-Line coach Mike Degory said Locksley "reached out and started choking [Gerald] ... I held Locks back as he was still swinging at Gerald."  Tackle/tight-end coach Cheston Blackshear and QB coach Tee Martin were also quoted saying that Locksley choked Gerald.

There is also info coming forth about a chair-throwing incident last summer.

(click title link for full article)

Utah goes 'blackout', quietly moving up polls

The University of Utah will be having its second annual "blackout" game this Saturday when the Utes play host to Wyoming.  After switching their uniform contract to Under Armour last year, Utah players lobbied for a black alternate, which was unveiled last year in Utah's 13-10 win over TCU.

ESPN-U picks up Idaho @ Boise St (Nov. 14)

ESPN-U has exercised an option it has with the WAC to televise the November 14 matchup between Boise State and Idaho.  The Vandals look to be one of only two tests remaining for the Broncos, who are trying to qualify for a BCS bowl for the second time in school history.  Idaho, on the other hand, is looking to rise up as high as possible after having qualified for its second bowl game period in school history.

Lindley, Kaepernick Performers of Week

The College Football Performance Awards named quarterbacks Ryan Lindley (San Diego State) and Colin Kaepernick (Nevada) as the Performers of the Week.

TCU blasts BYU, rises to #6 in BCS

During our visit to Provo for GameDay and the week's prime matchup, The Upset found our way to the bookstore as we awaited kickoff. As we entered the doors to the building, kindly holding the door for us was none other than BYU prize QB recruit Jake Heaps.  As we entered the bookstore, Heaps met up with Kyle Van Noy, another talented recruit, and the two chatted while Heaps' mother made some purchases.

Following a 38-7 pounding at the hands of TCU, BYU fans may be wondering when their new stock of talented recruits will get on the field, as the current level of talent seems to have found their peak:  10 or 11 wins, with 2 or 3 losses to teams just too athletic for BYU to handle.  Not to discredit BYU's return to excellence, as they have been a virtual top-25 mainstay in the last 4 seasons.  But those who found their way to Versus got to see exactly why TCU is currently the elite program of the MWC.  TCU came with the same swagger with which they pounded BYU last year, and left Provo in the non-AQ BCS driver's seat.

BCS Standings (Week 2)

The second week of BCS standings are out.   TCU's romp in Provo moves them ahead of Boise with a computer average of #4.

1. Florida
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. Iowa
5. USC
6. TCU
7. Boise State
8. Cincinnati
9. LSU
10. Oregon
16. Utah


The Upset is surprised that the human voters still have one-loss USC at #4, after beating Oregon State by only 6, and ahead of undefeated's TCU, Boise State, and Cincinnati.  Iowa surprisingly rose to #4 after needing a TD with time expired to beat Michigan State.  Iowa is #1 in all but one of the computer rankings (which places them firmly at #1 because the lowest and highest computer rank for each team is thrown out).

"BCS Intelligence"

Many people say that college football does have a playoff, called the regular season.  Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports details how the BCS has actually made this claim into a farce, and how quality of regular season games continues to decline.  (click title link)

ESPN's College GameDay to Provo for TCU @ BYU

In a surprising move that helps to validate non-AQ football--especially the Mountain West--ESPN's College GameDay announced that they will be holding their popular morning show nestled against the mountains in Provo as #8 TCU travels to play #16 BYU.

This marks only the third time in recent history that GameDay will host their show on the campus of a 'non-BCS' school.  The first also came in the state of Utah in 2004, when Utah hosted BYU in a game that had the Utes poised to be the first to 'crash' the BCS.  The second time was in 2007, when the program showcased Division III football with Williams College (MA) playing host to rival Amherst College.

TCU is coming off a 44-6 home rout of Colorado State.  BYU defeated San Diego State 38-28 on the road.

First BCS Standings Released

Right now, Boise State sits within surprising reach of the national title game.  The computers and Harris Poll are much more reasonable with TCU's ranking than is the AP poll (which doesn't factor into the BCS standings).  The computer average for BYU is #25, and the computers love Utah who garnered a #14 from the machines.  Here are the standings:

#4 Boise State
#8 TCU
#16 BYU
#18 Utah

Q&A with Idaho's Max Komar

See the title link for ESPN's Graham Watson's interview with Idaho wide receiver Max Komar

Watch out for Tulsa

With minutes left before kickoff, The Upset feels that Tulsa has a puncher's chance against Boise State tonight.  Always capable of big plays, Tulsa was very conservative last week in a 27-10 victory against a bad Rice team.  Look for Tulsa to throw in lots of new wrinkles tonight, reminiscent of the Golden Hurricanes 2007 victory over BYU, who finished 11-2 that year.  Tulsa was unimpressive in a 35-17 win over Louisiana-Monroe, and then came out with guns blazing in the next week to down BYU 55-47.  While Tulsa may not win, watch for a similar approach.

No Locksley news after all, or is there?

MORE:  Joe Schad has now posted the one game suspension story on his ESPN page.  The Upset wonders, because it follows logically ... if New Mexico wins the game against UNLV with Locksley out, should Locksley then be fired?
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4556183
10/13/2009  11:28 a.m.
-------------
UPDATE:  Conflicting with the previous report, ESPN's Joe Schad reports on his Twitter page that Locksley has received a one-game suspension and 8 days without pay for the altercation with his assistant coach.
http://twitter.com/schadjoe
10/13/2009  11:05 a.m.
--------------
Tom Deinhart of Yahoo! Sports reports that New Mexico will no longer be holding a press conference to address the status of first-year coach Mike Locksley.  The university also announced that all legal issues have been resolved regarding the sexual harassment and age discrimination suit charged by Sylvia Lopez, former administrative assistant.

The Upset wonders if this is a unspoken show of support to the new coach, as his 'Tom Cable' incident and 0-6 start don't exactly shine a warm light on his tenure so far.  To avoid going winless, the Lobos will likely need to pick up a victory in the next two weeks, at home against UNLV and on the road at San Diego State.  Their last four games are against Utah, BYU, Colorado State, and TCU--three of which are currently ranked, all of which played in bowl games last year.

Utes' Johnson is Defensive Performer of Week

Utah's Robert Johnson has been named the Defensive Performer of the Week by the College Football Performance Awards.  Johnson intercepted 3 passes in Utah's 24-17 win over Colorado State, including 2 key INT's in the 4th quarter, the first of which led to Utah's go-ahead score, the second of which sealed the victory.

Also awarded was UNLV's Deante Purvis as Kick Returner POW, for his 94-yard TD kickoff return in the Rebels' 59-21 loss to BYU.

Lobos will have Locksley decision tomorrow

ESPN.com's Marck Schlabach is reporting that the University of New Mexico is deciding today on the future of head coach Mike Locksley, who has been charged with sexual harassment and age discrimination, allegedly punched an assistant coach, and is off to an 0-6 start.  University officials have scheduled a press conference for Tuesday to announce any decision they reach.
(click title link for full article)

ESPN: Wyoming Off To Strong Start

ESPN's Graham Watson has a piece today on the Pokes fast start to the 2009 season. 

Week 6 Quick Recap

A quick review of Saturday's action across the MWC and WAC

Week 6 Polls

The Poll where PR agents vote for the Coaches
but unfortunately it affects the BCS standings

#6 Boise State

#8 TCU

#19 BYU

'#29' Utah

AP Poll
#5 Boise State
#12 TCU
#18 BYU
#24 Utah

Week 6 Predictions

A slate full of conference battles this week, as teams start to position themselves for conference titles.

Overall Record: 33-10
The Good:  The Upset had some time to catch up on homework the last few weeks.
The Bad:  We have taken a few weeks off the predictions.
The Picks...

MWC could send team to Independence bowl

ESPN's Graham Watson is reporting that the Mountain West is in talks with the Louisiana bowl to send a team from the conference starting in 2010.  The MWC did not offer a comment at this time.  The potential matchup with an ACC team is good, but traveling all the way to Louisiana is not.

UNLV faces pivotal stretch, especially for Sanford's future

Before this season started, there was much talk around the conference that this would be the year the Rebels broke out and coach Mike Sanford saw the fruition of his labors.  2008 saw the Rebels post their best record in quite some time at 5-7 (the four years previous having won only 2 games each season), which included a win against a then-ranked Arizona State.

Now, the Rebels face dire straits, and coach Sanford has to be feeling the heat.

BYU's T'eo dismissed from team

BYU has dismissed DB Shiloah T'eo from the team due to violation of team rules.  Jay Drew of the Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that T'eo was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence on August 29, but this information was not reported to head coach Bronco Mendenhall until late Saturday night (Oct. 3).

Nevada's Ball named Nat'l Performer of Week

The College Football Performance Awards named Nevada RB Mike Ball as the National Performer of the Week for his performance in Nevada's 63-28 blowout of UNLV.  Ball finished the game with 184 yards rushing on only 15 carries and had 5 TD's.

Also receiving honors were:
Nevada DE Dontay Moch (Defensive Peformer of the Week)
BYU TE Dennis Pitta (Tight End POW)
TCU WR Jeremy Kerley (Punt Returner POW)

photo from Nevada Athletics

BYU's Jacobson out 4-6 weeks

BYU WR McKay Jacobson is out 4-6 weeks after straining his hamstring in pre-game warmups before Friday's match against Utah State.  Jacobson has 280 yards on 11 receptions and 3 TD's on the season, including the game-winning catch vs. Oklahoma.

The Cougars lose some vertical presence in the passing game with Jacobson out, but WR's O'neill Chambers and Luke Ashworth will be serviceable enough.  Chambers has shown some deep-threat potential, and will be taking over Jacobson's punt-return duties.  The Upset feels that BYU should be quite fine against upcoming foes UNLV and San Diego State.  If O-Coordinator Robert Anae was paying attention, UNLV gave up over 550 rushing yards last week, so the receivers might not play a large role in that one.  RB Harvey Unga also has a 200+ yard rushing game against SDSU on his resume.  Add to that the fact that Las Vegas and San Diego have historically played as virtual home games for BYU, and the Cougars should be fine for at least the next two weeks before TCU makes a trip to Provo on 10/24.

Week 5 Recap

Here's a look back on the happenings in week five from around the Mountain West and WAC, including 4 MWC vs. WAC matchups

Week 5 Polls

AP Poll Coaches Poll

#6 Boise State #6 Boise State

#10 TCU #9 TCU

#18 BYU #20 BYU

"#30" Utah "#32" Utah

BYU takes care of Utah State 35-17

BYU never buried Utah State like one would have expected, but still cruised to a 35-17 win in Provo on Friday night.

Utah State certainly was not blown out by any means, but BYU's defensive dominance against the talented run-game combo of Robert Turbin and Diondre Borel kept the game just out of reach for the Aggies, who fell to 1-3 with the loss.