We'll Trade Stanford for Boise State, Okay?

If I got to have my say in how NCAA conferences were run, Boise State would be playing football in the Pac-10 next year. In fact, so would Mountain West champions BYU.

It's part of my strategy of keeping the good teams playing the good teams. I've discussed it before, but I've modified it as a more reasonable beginning. I like to think of it as a Unified Western Conference, consisting of the Pacific 10, Western Athletic, and Mountain West conferences.

Sport by sport, the champions of the WAC and MWC would play in the Pac-10, starting the next year. The lowest two in the Pac-10 in each sport would get bumped down to make room.

For football, this means that Stanford and Washington would be in the WAC next year. Louisiana Tech would move from the WAC to the MWC to keep them even at nine apiece.

But don't worry, Husky fans. I'm sure the UW can whollop all the lowly WAC teams and rejoin the Pac-10 in 2008. After all, two of Washington's five wins were against WAC opponents this season. . .