After spending the offseason lobbying Congress for greater access to college football’s richest postseason games, the Mountain West Conference will have a chance to make its case on the field with a handful of showdowns against teams from leagues with automatic Bowl Championship Series bids beginning this weekend.

Brigham Young, 24th in the preseason USA TODAY Coaches’ Poll, takes on No. 3 Oklahoma on Saturday. Colorado State plays Colorado this week, while later in September, 17th-ranked Texas Christian visits Virginia and Clemson, and No. 18 Utah goes against 14th-ranked Oregon.
But even as the league girds for these early chances, league officials are downplaying the results in the larger context of the 2009 season.
“While it is extremely important to show well in September, you have to sustain it in October and November,” Commissioner Craig Thompson said. “Ask any of our nine coaches what their No. 1 goal is, and it’s to win the Mountain West Conference.
“I don’t think there is any greater or lesser pressure (on Mountain West schools) in these games. But (rankings) should be performance-based, and if you win these games, there should be greater recognition.”
The Mountain West is among the five major conferences without an automatic bid to one of the five biggest bowls. The league lobbied for greater access to these games and their roughly $18 million payday and for a playoff to determine the national champion in presentations made to subcommittees in the U.S. House and Senate last spring.
Last season Utah went 12-0 and then beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. But the Utes were never considered for the BCS title game.
“The critical aspect as far as getting to one of the BCS games is doing very well in your conference,” TCU athletics director Danny Morrison said. “Sometimes the priorities get reversed.”