Remember the days when the pace and scoring in a WAC football game looked like something you'd see on a basketball court? Remember that 52-52 tie between Brigham Young and San Diego State that decided the 1991 conference title?

Well, the Cougars and Aztecs are among the teams to move on, but one thing stays the same. In the WAC, it's all about offense.

Last season, Boise State and Hawaii ranked 1-2 in the nation in yards per game, and the quarterbacks from Hawaii, Louisiana Tech and Nevada were all among Division I-A's top seven individual performers in that category.

	Inside the WAC
	Can Boise State's O-line hold up? Can Hawaii's offense be any better? How will Rice fare with eight new starters on defense? Find out in the WAC team-by-team story lines.

Tech's Luke McCown should finish this season as one of the top passers in NCAA history, and Hawaii's Timmy Chang projects to jump him on the charts the following season. In spite of that, Boise State's Ryan Dinwiddie might actually be the most talented QB in the league.

B-Y-who? Looks like they can still sling it around in the WAC.

And unlike the days when LaVell Edwards' boys were always hogging the hardware, the conference race is now typically tough to call. In the four seasons since the Mountain West crew broke away, six different schools have won or shared the WAC title, and that sort of parity is reflected in the preseason predictions for 2003.

From the 25-member media panel, 12 picked Hawaii to win the championship, nine chose Boise State and four took Fresno State. The overall point totals were extremely close between those three teams, just as the battle on the field is likely to be this season.

The advantage goes to the Warriors, however, because Fresno and Boise must both make the trip to the islands. Jetlag aside, Honolulu usually provides a nice home-field advantage, although UH did look quite vulnerable there in the final four games of last year.

And while conference play should be quite interesting in the WAC this season, the non-conference slate has the potential to be even more memorable. On the flip side, it could also be worth forgetting.

Pat Hill has always been willing to play anyone, anytime, anywhere; but this season, Fresno State has taken that approach to another level. The Bulldogs open the schedule with trips to Tennessee and Oklahoma sandwiched around a game with Oregon State. If that's not enough, they also travel to Colorado State the week before their trip to Hawaii.

June Jones has also opened up the schedule to see how his team stacks up. The Warriors are heading to Southern California in September and will get another late-season visit from Alabama.

The rest of the conference has a lineup that includes Miami, Texas, Washington, LSU, Florida, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Minnesota, Arkansas and Michigan State, so there will be plenty of opportunities for the WAC to make a name for itself in 2003.

Game of the Year
Boise State at Fresno State, Nov. 21. For the third straight year, this is a Friday night ESPN2 game, and the Bulldogs have every reason to be licking their chops for it. In 2001, the Broncos went into the San Joaquin Valley and ended Fresno's magical run toward an undefeated season. Last year, Boise pounded them into the blue carpet with a 67-21 humiliation. This one figures to be a war.

Offensive Player of the Year
Rodney Davis, RB, Fresno State. OK, so much for all the talk about quarterbacks in the WAC. Even though the Bulldogs have a good QB of their own and also bring back star WR Bernard Berrian from injury, the heart and soul of that offense will be Davis, who rushed for almost 1,600 yards last year. Dinwiddie (BSU) and Chang (UH) will also be good, but Davis will be better.

Defensive Player of the Year
Isaac Sopoaga, DT, Hawaii. Has an amazing motor for a big man and covers a lot of ground. He was in on 72 tackles from his interior line spot a year ago -- his first season of Division I-A football. With that experience under his belt, expect him to be a dominant force in opposing backfields and show more of the talent that helped him make 31 sacks in his final season of junior college.

Brad Edwards is a researcher for ESPN.