The Front Row with MARK NELKE Oct. 16, 2011
This conference roulette nonsense seems to be getting crazier by the day.
There was talk the other day of Boise State and Air Force, among others, joining the Big East in football - not because of the lore of belonging to the storied Big East, a league mostly known for its basketball, but rather so they can have the chance to automatically qualify for a BCS game and rake in millions of dollars for their fine institutions.
A couple of weeks ago, flipping through the channels on a Saturday, I saw Utah playing BYU. At first glance, I thought I had fallen asleep for a couple of months - don't those two teams normally play in late November, usually with a conference title on the line?
But alas, Utah is in the Pac-12 and BYU is an independent in football - for now.
SPEAKING OF Utah, Coeur d'Alene's own Dale Nosworthy (of Nosworthy's Hall of Fame) has had a chance to check out the Ute football program a couple of times this season in person. He visited his alma mater for conference games vs. Washington (a 31-14 loss) and Arizona State (a 35-14 loss).
The ASU game served as a reunion for former Ute players and coaches from the late 1960s. Among those returning were Nosworthy, his longtime friend Jim Hanifan, who coached the Utah tight ends at the time, assistants Jim Criner and Chuck Banker, and Manny Fernandez, who played defensive tackle at Utah, and was a member of the Miami Dolphins' perfect season in 1973.
Fernandez was a senior along with Norm Chow, who was an offensive guard then, and is now the Utes' offensive coordinator, when Nosworthy was a freshman at Utah.
"They invited everybody back that played in the Norm Chow era," Nosworthy said.
Criner, who later went on coach at Boise State, had recently won a fly fishing championship in Jackson, Wyo. Nosworthy said Criner was considering returning to football, coaching in France.
Utah’s move up from the Mountain West has been a bit rocky — the Utes have lost all three Pac-12 games — including a 23-14 setback at USC in its conference opener. The Utes’ 26-14 victory at Pitt on Saturday squared their record at 3-3. Utah plays at Washington State on Nov. 19.
“We just need to recruit a little bit more,” said Nosworthy. “They need a couple of really good Pac-12 (quality) recruiting years. If they can keep Norm around for 4-5 years, I think they can recruit some offensive players.”
He said the Ute coaches are confident they will happen, saying they are attracting interest from players they might not have before, because they are now in the Pac-12.
Utah has had a couple of unbeaten seasons (2004 and ’08) in the past decade, and I asked Nos how either of those teams would have fared in the Pac-10 at the time.
He said the ’04 team, in particular, would have fared just fine.
“The Alex Smith team would have been good,” he said. “The ’04 team was dominant.”
So it can happen in Salt Lake City. It might just take a while.
BACK TO Boise State. Seems like the Broncos would be advised to wait for a better offer than the Big East.
The conference they are in today, the Mountain West, announced a merger with Conference USA to form a 22-team conference, though they didn’t say when (their motto: “We’re Boise State — plus a couple dozen mediocre programs!).
Maybe if the Broncos stay in the Mountain Conference USA West, they can automatically qualify for a BCS game that way. Of course, maybe if you throw enough mud against the wall, some of it will stick.
Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com.