Nov. 16, 1999

FORT COLLINS - Owning the tiebreaker if the Mountain West Conference ends in a four-way deadlock probably won't get Colorado State to the Liberty Bowl on Dec. 31 as the inaugural conference champion.

"It doesn't matter who wins the tiebreaker,'' MWC commissioner Craig Thompson said Monday.

In other words, CSU fans will have a better chance of seeing Elvis at a Fort Collins Burger King than holding a seance with his ghost at Graceland. It is believed the Liberty Bowl wants BYU, which can wrap it up outright Saturday with a win over archrival Utah.

While the tiebreakers are helpful for tournament seeding purposes in other sports, Thompson said the language of the contracts with the Liberty Bowl and Las Vegas Bowl for conference runnerup gives the bowls leeway in their choice.

"All we can do is play. I guess you cross that threshold when it comes up,'' Rams coach Sonny Lubick said. "For us as coaches, we don't even talk about it. I think the players probably feel pretty strongly that if they can win - and that's our huge project, winning the next two football games - then after that (if CSU is not picked), you'll hear some screaming and gnashing of teeth if things don't work out.''

CSU isn't going anywhere if the Rams don't beat Air Force on Thursday (6 p.m. ESPN) and UNLV on Nov. 27. A Utah (7-3, 4-2) victory over BYU (8-2, 5-1) combined with sweeps by CSU (6-3, 3-2) and Wyoming (6-3, 3-2) would create a four-way tie. Air Force (6-3, 2-3) would move into Las Vegas Bowl consideration with a win over the Rams.

In the case of the Liberty Bowl, other factors include the BCS ranking, overall record and other unspecified criteria for the pairing with the Conference USA champion, which at this point likely is Southern Mississippi. The Las Vegas Bowl is primarily driven by ticket sales and size of traveling parties.

CSU athletic director Tim Weiser went to Lubick's weekly press conference with a foot-high stack of pledges from CSU fans to purchases bowl tickets. He plans to hand over the pile of nearly 4,000 Web site responses to Las Vegas Bowl committee representatives coming in for Thursday's game. Given CSU's alumni base of an estimated 7,500 in the Southern California-Arizona-Nevada region, the Rams are pointing to the Las Vegas Bowl.

Weiser was unsure as of Monday if the Liberty Bowl would send anyone to the Air Force game. AFA preparations

The Rams took advantage of the bye week by practicing most of last week, as well as Sunday. Lubick said the short week for Air Force "doesn't mean anything because they play the same all the time. Because the wishbone is unique, it's nicer to have an extra day or two to prepare. Last year we had three days of practice and were up 17-0 like we had 300 practices. In the second half we don't make a first down.''

CSU lost on a late field goal.

CSU is near full strength. Running back Kevin McDougal, with his laundry list of aches requiring massive amounts of tape, said, "My being reasonably healthy means most people would be on crutches.''