Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson
SALT LAKE CITY -- Welcome to Western Athletic Conference media days from Salt Lake City.
I arrived in SLC on Tuesday evening and I must admit it was quite a difference from spending the last three days in Las Vegas. One thing remains the same, though. The players have been easy to talk with and quite entertaining.
I ran into all the player representatives from Fresno State and Idaho and had a nice conversation with Nevada players Luke Lippincott and Mundrae Clifton. One of the first things Lippincott told me when I said I was from ESPN is that Nevada is going to be a lot better than people think.
I don't disagree. I think Fresno State, led by quarterback Tom Brandstater, is the team to beat in the WAC, but Nevada is a close second. I think we'll learn a lot about each of the teams during their nonconference seasons.
Fresno State opens the year at Rutgers (I'll be covering that), returns home to host Wisconsin and travels to UCLA in its final nonconference game. It's similar to the Bulldogs' 2003 nonconference schedule when it faced Tennessee, Oregon State and Oklahoma.
Nevada faces Texas Tech and Missouri in back-to-back weeks, which will test the junior-college heavy Wolf Pack secondary.
Today is a shortened day. Idaho, Fresno State and Nevada will be the only teams speaking in the morning. The afternoon will be spent golfing. I'm not golfing, but I might tag along to catch some good stories. It depends on my workload.
The other six teams will speak Thursday morning and afternoon. And once again, I'll have all the news, tidbits and features right here on the Independents and Others blog.
Here is a list of the student-athletes attending WAC media days this week:
Boise State -- RB Ian Johnson, and DE Mike T. Williams
Fresno State -- QB Tom Brandstater, TE Bear Pascoe
Hawaii -- LBs Adam Leonard and Solomon Elimimian
Idaho -- S Shiloh Keo, C Adam Korby
Louisiana Tech -- RB Patrick Jackson, DB Weldon Brown
Nevada -- RB Luke Lippincott, DL Mundrae Clifton
New Mexico State -- QB Chase Holbrook, DB Davon House
San Jose State -- DE Jarron Gilbert
Utah State -- LB Jake Hutton, OT Derek Hoke
Watson joined ESPN.com in 2008 after four seasons covering the Missouri Tigers and the Big 12 Conference for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She also covered college football recruiting for the Dallas Morning News.
