MWC hires HD replay firm

The Mountain West Conference, perhaps in response to its bevy of replay debacles in the 2010 football season, has hired DVSport to provide HD services for replay officials.

2011 Bowl Agreements

With BYU's bowl announcement yesterday, here are the bowl agreements in place for the 2011 season, as the MWC loses a bowl affiliation, and the first-choice bowl for the WAC has changed for 2011 and 2012. Bowl positions indicate which bowls get first choice of teams from the conference, not necessarily the order of finish in conference.  Bowls in first choice position have first choice unless a BCS-bowl-eligible team is invited to play in a BCS bowl.

MOUNTAIN WEST
1- Las Vegas Bowl | Las Vegas, NV
2- Poinsettia Bowl | San Diego, CA
3- Independence Bowl | Shreveport, LA
4- New Mexico Bowl | Albuquerque, NM


WAC
1- Poinsettia Bowl | San Diego, CA
2- Humanitarian Bowl | Boise, ID
3- New Mexico Bowl | Albuquerque, NM
4- Hawai'i Bowl | Honolulu, HI


BYU
Armed Forces Bowl | Fort Worth, TX

Early 2011 MWC Football Preview

It is a year of transition in the Mountain West Conference. After a hectic 2010 offseason and beyond, the conference finds itself shedding two members, Brigham Young and the University of Utah, while gaining former WAC powerhouse Boise State. BYU and Utah, which left the conference to pursue football independence and an invitation to the Pac-12, leave a significant hole in the top level of the Mountain West. This hole was only magnified with the news that TCU, winner of last year’s Rose Bowl, will be leaving the MWC for the automatic qualifying pastures of the Big East after this season. In 2012, the MWC will add Fresno State, Hawaii, and Nevada from the WAC to fill the void its former compatriots left. Did you get all that? Conference realignment has hit the MWC hard and the conference has reacted in a very direct way to stay relevant.

Read more from our own Zach Bloxham's 2011 MWC Football Preview from the Dash Fans Network.

Early 2011 WAC Football Preview

No conference has seen more changes during the last calendar year than the Western Athletic Conference. The conference was home to a tremendous back-and-forth, behind-the-scenes battle with the Mountain West Conference for non-AQ supremacy in the western United States. At the end of the day, the WAC was left battered, changed, and with an unsure future.

Read more from our own Zach Bloxham's 2011 WAC Football Preview from the Dash Fans Network.

Rice is the right choice for UNLV

It is believed the coaching search at UNLV to replace Lon Kruger is a two-man race between current BYU assistant coach Dave Rice, and current Timberwolves assistant Reggie Theus. Both are former UNLV players, and both seem to have the support of a majority of people around the program if either is hired. With Theus interviewing today after Rice's visit yesterday, who should the Rebels choose?

To me, the answer is clear: Dave Rice.

Utah hires Larry Krystkowiak

The University of Utah introduced Larry Krystkowiak as its new men's basketball coach this afternoon. Highlights of the presser included:

• The coach repeatedly being referred to as "Coach K."
• Krystkowiak said he wants to win more recruiting battles in Utah and also has some ties internationally of which he wants to take advantage.
• He also said he wanted to return to the college game because he enjoys impacting the lives of his players and helping them be leaders.

Krystkowiak led Montana to the NCAA tournament as a head coach in both years there, and his most recent job was as an assistant coach of the New Jersey Nets. The official press release from the university is found at the link above.

UNLV's Kruger to Oklahoma

Despite reports just two days ago that Lon Kruger was set to stay at UNLV, The Oklahoman is reporting that Kruger has now agreed to a contract with Oklahoma. Joe Castiglione, OU athletic director, is on his way with an OU party to finalize the deal.

Kruger's deal is reported to be just over $2 million a year, with Ryan Greene of the Las Vegas Sun reporting via Twitter that the deal is for 7 years.
Via The Oklahoman

***UPDATE*** 5:56 pm MT - 4/1/2011
There have been lots of rumors throughout the day and many UNLV fans in disbelief, thinking perhaps this is an April Fools joke. If there were any doubts left, Ryan Greene tweeted 5 minutes ago: