WAC rundown Week 2

***Note: Just to briefly float my own boat, let me point out our Week 1 predictions were right on the money (please excuse the bragging, but we might not be able to say that the rest of the year)

Fresno State (1-0) @ Wisconsin (1-0)
Saturday, 9 a.m., ESPN
Last week: Fresno State 51, UC Davis 0
Fans, players and coaches have grown accustomed to this being a close, tense, bruising battle. The Badgers lead the series 2-1. Last year Wisconsin knocked off the then-No. 21 'Dogs 13-10 in Fresno, and pulled out a 23-21 win in 2002 at Camp Randall. The Bulldogs have the biggest win in the series, 32-20 at Camp Randall in 2001 behind David Carr and Bernard Berrian. What's yet to be determined is how a reported flu outbreak will affect the Badgers' lineup.
Prediction: Fresno State

Idaho (1-0) @ Washington (0-1)
Saturday, 12:30 p.m., FSN-NW
Last week: Idaho 21, New Mexico State 6
Congrats to the Vandals for being 1-0 in the WAC, but it's just sad it took two-plus years for Robb Akey to get his first conference win as Idaho's coach -- and it came against a really bad team. The same result would be beyond shocking this week. Despite the Huskies being one of the Pac-10's weakest teams a year ago, they showed fight and a renewed spirit in a loss to LSU last week.
Prediction: Washington

Louisiana Tech (0-1) @ Navy (0-1)
Saturday, 12:30 p.m., CBS CS
Last week: Auburn 37, Louisiana Tech 13
The male Techsters showed well at Auburn for a half, but then crumbled as expected. La Tech has been the trendy sleeper pick in the WAC for many this year, and truly does have good athletes, but hasn't been a real threat since '01. On the road, it's hard to picture the Techsters outlasting a Navy team that nearly tied Ohio State on the road with a two-point conversion attempt with time running out.
Prediction: Navy

Hawaii (1-0) vs. Washington State (0-1)
Saturday, 4 p.m., FSN-NW
Last week: Hawaii 25, Central Arkansas 20
The game will be played at Qwest Field in Seattle -- basically a home game for the Cougars. That, trio-ed with Hawaii's historic struggles on the mainland and near-loss to lowly Central Arkansas make a Washington State win look quite possible. But the Cougars are the laughing stock of the Pac-10. It'll all come down to whether Hawaii can outsling Wazzu and provide some cushion for a young, retooled defense.
Prediction: Hawaii

Prairie View A&M @ New Mexico State (0-1)
Saturday, 5 p.m.
Last week: Idaho 21, New Mexico State 6
A game too ugly for any TV station to love, the Aggies can't afford to embarrass their conference and lose this one. New coach Dwayne Walker should at least be able to make enough of a difference to stop that from happening. Might it be the Aggies' only win of the year?
Prediction: New Mexico State

Miami (Ohio) @ No. 12 Boise State (1-0)
Saturday, 5 p.m.
Last week: Boise State 18, Oregon 6
Most of the Broncos avoided a punch to the chin in last week's big win over Oregon, and get rewarded with a tune-up game heading into next week's WAC opener at rival Fresno State. It's a really down year for Miami (Ohio) with the days of Big Ben long gone.
Prediction: Boise State

No. 17 Utah (1-0) @ San Jose State (0-1)
Saturday, 7:30 p.m., ESPNU
Last week: USC 56, San Jose State 3
Is it possible to say the Spartans are still plagued with bad offense and good defense after they gave up 56 points at USC last week? Well, the Spartans were up 3-0 after the first quarter. And despite the fact Utah State gave Utah a run for it last week, the Utes will be too much for San Jose State's offense to handle.
Prediction: Utah

Byes
Nevada (0-1): Wolf Pack lost 35-0 at Notre Dame, proving once again it can never win a big non-conference game. Thanks for making the WAC look bad on national TV Nevada. Your turn to start "play up"...
Utah State (0-1): Aggies did all they could to put WAC coaches on alert that they could be the up-and-coming team. Still, losing to Utah by a couple scores is not enough to make a difference on the ol' record.