MWC must get stronger in the middle

Tell that beholder fellow not everyone should judge the new-look Mountain West Conference the same when it comes to football in 2012.

There might not be the level of beauty once associated with the league’s major sport, but you can make the argument things could become a whole lot better for those who annually pull up the rear.

Did someone mention UNLV?

Bobby Hauck is recruiting like mad. He is scouring areas and high schools and homes for players good enough to help the Rebels climb out of their eternal vat of losing. He is doing what you do when your first season at UNLV finishes with a 2-11 record — work tirelessly to improve.

“No question,” Hauck said, “you could look at us taking the field against some of the folks in our conference this year like TCU and say we have a ways to go to catch up. But that’s the thing about building something and working hard to do it — it’s going to be a very rewarding feeling around here in the future. It’s a worthwhile endeavor any time you can overcome deficiencies and build something from scratch.”

Here’s the thing: I don’t know if by the time the Mountain West shake-up is complete in 2012 — Brigham Young, Utah, Texas Christian out and Boise State, UNR, Fresno State, Hawaii and perhaps others in — the league will be any closer to automatic qualifying status for the Bowl Championship Series.

Cartels are difficult to crack, proven again by the fact another undefeated non-BCS team (TCU) didn’t receive a chance to play for the national championship this year.

I know this: It’s not about what is arriving that could keep the Mountain West from reaching its dream state of owning an automatic bid. It’s about some who have been around and not held up their end of the bargain.

Boise State’s excellence is unquestioned. In the last five seasons, though, UNR, Fresno State and Hawaii have combined for 123 wins and 13 bowl appearances, including a BCS game.

These are also very good programs, and yet not so powerful that a team such as UNLV couldn’t improve enough over time to compete with them annually. San Diego State reached that point in just the last two seasons. It can be done.

It’s on the Rebels and New Mexico and Colorado State and Wyoming to do so. It’s on the teams that haven’t been near good enough to get better.

One of the three criteria for a conference to gain automatic inclusion is overall strength, where all teams sit in the final regular-season power ratings.

This year, the MWC’s bottom four ranked Nos. 104 or worse among 120 teams. The Rebels were No. 108. New Mexico was 118. The bad Mountain West teams were awful.

This is what holds the MWC down and could cost it an automatic bid, not those programs soon to arrive. UNR and Fresno State and Hawaii are not TCU or Utah of recent seasons, but they’re going to hold their own when it comes to power rankings.

“I think it’s going to be a pretty good football conference (in 2012),” Hauck said. “You obviously want a conference that is good from top to bottom. I don’t know that much about everything that goes into getting an automatic bid and never paid much attention to it, but in listening to (MWC commissioner Craig Thompson), the league wants parity and different teams at the top every year.

“It’s healthy when fresh faces can challenge year in and year out. Our (coaching staff) has been at places where when you are on top, you’d prefer a few breathers on the schedule. But it’s also good when every game on a Saturday in your conference can go either way.”

UNLV has more than just a ways to go. The Rebels lost six conference games by an average score of 45-11 this season. They gave up more than 40 points eight times. They have a ways to go and hundreds of miles beyond that.

But you can glance to 2012 and see a glimmer of hope. The league might be stronger in the middle then, but not so much that bad teams today can’t envision being part of the annual postseason bowl mix.

This includes UNLV. If there is a challenge for anyone, it’s for teams such as the Rebels to begin holding their own. The BCS formula for automatic qualification demands it.

Bobby Hauck is recruiting like mad.

It’s the only place way to start.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday and Thursday on “Monsters of the Midday,” FOX Sports Radio 920 AM.