Hope may float 'Dogs into bowl

By Eddie Hughes

The Fresno State football team knows exactly what it has to do now to be invited to a bowl game—hope.

The Bulldogs can hope for a lot of things. But thanks to a 31-17 loss to No. 20 Boise State, hoping is the only thing they can do.

A win over Boise State Friday night on national television would have allowed the Bulldogs to control their own destiny. Now, everyone but the Bulldogs controls those postseason hopes.

The Western Athletic Conference has automatic tie-ins with three bowl games. Boise State (10-1, 6-0 WAC) can wrap up a berth to its hometown Humanitarian Bowl with a win against Nevada this week or at Hawaii in two weeks.

Surprising Tulsa (8-4, 6-2) can finish no less than second place in the WAC—guaranteeing itself a bowl berth. What bowl? It all depends.

Hawaii (7-4, 5-2) beat Army Saturday to become bowl eligible and all but lock up a trip to its hometown Hawaii Bowl. The Hawaii Bowl can choose Hawaii in any season that the Warriors are eligible.

That could leave Fresno State as the odd team out. The Bulldogs (7-5, 5-2) can finish in a second-place tie with Tulsa by beating UTEP this week. In a tie, since Fresno State and Tulsa don’t play this season, the tiebreaker becomes the team’s record against the next highest-ranked team—likely Hawaii. Tulsa beat Hawaii, Fresno State didn’t.

That situation puts Tulsa in the San Jose-based Silicon Valley Football Classic (which could be more aptly called the Fresno State Invitational). This scenario leaves the Bulldogs with little hope of a postseason bowl game and the Silicon Valley bowl with little hope of a decent-sized crowd.

“ That’s part of our fate right now,” Bulldogs quarterback Paul Pinegar said. “We could have taken care of our destiny.”

WAC officials are hoping to find an opening for Tulsa in a midwestern bowl, said Dave Chaffin, WAC assistant commissioner for media relations. Chaffin said this scenario can only happen if some other conferences can’t fill their bowl slots. Otherwise, Tulsa will most likely go to the Silicon Valley bowl, he said.

Fresno State has been to four-straight bowl games, including three-straight trips to the Silicon Valley Bowl. But now that streak is in doubt.

And there’s nothing Fresno State can do about it but hope. Hope that some other bowl finds Tulsa attractive so Fresno State can travel to San Jose again.

Or hope Nevada can beat Boise State and Boise State wins at Hawaii. Then, if Fresno State beats UTEP, Tulsa wouldn’t win the tiebreaker because of its loss to Nevada—a team the Bulldogs beat.

There still are many possibilities. But all the Bulldogs can do now is hope.