Weak WAC good news for Bulldogs

If you didn’t know any better, you would think the new-look Western Athletic Conference (or Sun Belt West) was assembled just so Pat Hill could finally capture an outright WAC championship.

Fresno State travels to face lowly New Mexico State Saturday in the opening frame of a conference schedule that reads like a Who’s Who of western rejects—New Mexico State, Utah State and Idaho.

For the next three weeks, the Bulldogs will toy with the schools the WAC reluctantly stole from Sun Belt after losing four programs to Conference USA this summer.

For years, fans have grumbled about the lackluster conference in which Fresno State resides.

However, after watching the inferior-level play the newcomers bring to the field, fans would welcome back Rice, Tulsa, UTEP and SMU with open arms (well, maybe not SMU).

The Bulldogs’ first conference foe, New Mexico, enters this weekend with a 0-5 record (0-1 WAC) and has served as an escort for opposing offenses—quickly and efficiently ushering them into the endzone.

Then Fresno State welcomes Utah State (1-2, 0-1) to Bulldog Stadium before taking on Idaho (1-4, 1-1), the WAC’s newest member and the only newcomer with a conference win.

It will be Oct. 29 when the Bulldogs travel to the islands against Hawaii. Meaning Fresno State will be nearly halfway through the conference schedule before breaking a sweat.

And the last half of the season is where Hill’s teams have dominated with a 20-2 record in the months of November and December since 2001. By the time Fresno State finds itself matched against visiting Boise State, the Bulldogs should be stacked with confidence and a victory would all but clinch a conference title.

Which is Hill’s and the Bulldogs’ main focus since losing any chance at making a run at a Bowl Championship series appearance.

You can bet Hill—despite all the success he has had during recent years—would rest more comfortably if he could secure the outright conference title. In eight years as head coach, he has yet to earn that distinction. Nearly doing so in 1999 when his Bulldogs won a share of the WAC title.

“If you take away our four losses to Boise,” Hill said. “That’s been our only blemish. If we win the WAC, everything else will follow.”

With the benevolent scheduling the WAC has blessed Fresno State with this season, Hill should be signing those thank you cards, “Thanks for all your help.” And the WAC should be receiving them in 2-3 business days.

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