Is the race for the Western Athletic Conference football championship over but the conference office just hasn't gotten around to awarding the trophy yet?

You might wonder listening to commentators these days.

When Boise State thumped Fresno State, 51-34, last week on ESPN, it touched off an avalanche of concurring opinion about how the Broncos had passed their "toughest remaining test" on the presumptive road to an unbeaten regular season and BCS date.

The view, apparently widely held, is that nobody on the Broncos' schedule, outside of previous victims Oregon and Fresno State, had a prayer of upsetting Boise State. Conventional wisdom is nobody in the WAC is going to lay a hand on the Broncos, much less threaten their reign.

But glancing at Boise State's schedule a couple of potential trapdoor games, both road tests, jump out at you: Oct 24 at Aloha Stadium and Nov. 6 at Louisiana Tech. They are challenges that should be at least as stern as that of Fresno State.

To be sure, barring a flu epidemic or head coach Chris Petersen's sudden abduction by aliens, the No. 8 Broncos will be betting favorites in their 10 remaining games, including Bowling Green tomorrow, where they are 17-point picks.

And based upon their track record — having won or shared six of the last seven WAC titles — the only surprise this season will be if the Broncos don't win the thing again.

But as for the Broncos having their toughest tests behind them, well, not so fast. Let's remember that Fresno State hasn't beaten Boise State in four years, a period during which the Broncos' average margin of victory has been 26 points.

UH and Tech have the potential to do better. So much so that you can bet the Broncos will be watching Wednesday's ESPN matchup of the two from Ruston, La. with interest.

Both teams are capable of putting up points, which is what any team that has designs on knocking off Boise State will have to do to make things interesting. UH has the quick-strike capability and Tech has the wherewithal to mount long drives.

What both have lacked is offensive consistency and defensive staying power. The good news is they have several weeks to find it before Boise comes to town.

By then we'll know if the WAC should start engraving that trophy.