Ask College Football News. Peter Fiutak.

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Q. How do you feel the addition of New Mexico State, Utah State and Idaho (and the loss of UTEP, Tulsa, Rice and SMU) effects the WAC...Did a generally weak conference struggling for respect shoot itself in the foot (not that they really had a choice...)? What is the outlook for teams such as Boise, Fresno State and, Hawaii...after the recent re-alignment to they have a realistic chance to bail out to a better conference...or are they stuck? Does recruiting take a hit for these top teams? - HM

A: It’s not an upgrade, that’s for sure. That makes it all the more important for Boise State, Fresno State and Hawaii to win their good non-conference games. We’ll know if the Broncos are for real right away against Georgia, Oregon State and Bowling Green. Hawaii might be in for a bit of a down year, but Fresno State is loaded. If these three are to leave, it would likely be to the Mountain West as a move to the Pac 10 is too big a leap. Nothing against the WAC, but how great would it be to see a 12-team Mountain West with one division consisting of Boise State, Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Utah and Wyoming and the other with Fresno State, Hawaii, New Mexico, San Diego State, TCU and UNLV?

Unfortunately, all we can hope for is for those incoming teams to follow Boise's 5-year pattern of success.

While the regionality of the WAC made a lost of sense (as far as travel goes) for the departing SunBelt teams, they probably don't deserve to be playing with the likes of Boise, Hawaii, and Fresno. But then, does Nevada or San Jose?

I'll miss the SunBelt because it fit USU's situation (and Idaho's and NMSU's, for that matter). A conference of brothers struggling for national attention and recognition, while fending off attendance and budget issues.

Obviously, my signature let's everyone know my view on the underdogs of college football. I'll be cheering for the SunBelt every week! And every time Craig James on ABC opens his stupid mouth (about any non-BCS conf--the WAC and SunBelt especially), I'll be throwing things at the TV!