With a #18 pre-season ranking and perhaps the fastest defense in his coaching tenure, Horned Frog Head Coach, Gary Patterson, has a target on his back for the 2009 football campaign courtesy of the MWC media.  As for the Cowboys?  Wyoming fans won’t like it.

Members of the MWC media awarded TCU 15 first-place votes which added to a total of 207 overall points to claim the top spot in their pre-season prognostications.  The Frogs went 11-2 a year ago, losing to Oklahoma and Utah and knocking off previously undefeated Boise State in the post-season.
Right behind the purple reptiles are the BYU Cougars and their record-setting quarterback, Max Hall.  The 24 media members contributing to the poll picked BYU second, with 190 points. Despite losing a large number to graduation, the mythical national champion Utah Utes garnered 178 points to claim third.

The rest of the breakdown went as follows: Air Force, UNLV, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State and Wyoming.

The Cowboys, who finished last in the nation in offensive efficiency are likely to take the ninth place prediction personally with new head coach Dave Christensen.  In fact, the three new head coaches are picked to finish in the bottom three of the standings. Coach Christensen, who’s Missouri Tigers were in the top-ten offenses nationally all eight seasons he served as their offensive coordinator, inherits eight returning starters from a defense that ranked 29th nationally despite a woeful offensive output.

Wyoming opens their season on September 5, as they host the Weber State Wildcats before hosting Colt McCoy and the Texas Longhorns on September 12.

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