It's 'put up or shut up' time for MWC

Mountain West football coaches believe their teams can compete with anybody.

They say the league is up-and-coming and will receive even more attention this year now that DirecTV is onboard with television coverage.

But feeling that way and being seen in that light are two different issues that shackle this non-BCS football conference.

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham put it best: It doesn't matter how much progress the league is making if its teams don't win against nonleague foes.

Like the game he has at Michigan in the Big House televised nationally on ABC.

It's a stage with a great script. It catapulted Appalachian State last year, sunk Michigan and led to a coaching change at Ann Arbor.

Those kinds of games, Whittingham says, get respect and attention. The rest is idle chit-chat.

The favored Cougars have Pac-10 games with Washington and UCLA; Colorado State opens up with Colorado at Invesco Field atMile High and then plays at Cal. New Mexico sees Texas A&M and Arizona early; SDSU plays at Notre Dame; TCU takes on Stanford and plays at Oklahoma; UNLV gets ASU and Iowa State while the Utes get a rematch with Oregon State at home.

They're all statement games. The league edict is clear in the respect folder. Put up or shut up.

Whittingham believes the MWC could have three teams in the Top 25 when all is said and done. "It's improving each and every year. Maybe we'll have three teams in the Top 25; we'll have to see how it shakes out. It's a long and arduous process."

TCU's Gary Patterson says BYU and Utah could be ranked most of the season.

"There is potential to have three. BYU and Utah have shown they are capable. I am one of the voters, and I'll lean that direction. I wouldn't put us there yet. We're an unknown commodity right now," Patterson said. "We have to see how we get out of two-a-days and how our young guys react. We don't have a week off until the last game of the season with Air Force and we have Oklahoma and Stanford."

Other MWC coaches with votes are Joe Glenn (Wyoming), Mike Sanford (UNLV) and Rocky Long (New Mexico).

The addition of DirecTV, however, will help, according to Long.