Wyoming
Show Us Your Picks: Week 1
LARAMIE — It’s officially Wyoming football season.
Man, it will never get old writing those words.
The Cowboys open their 128th season Saturday night at Arizona State. Kickoff is slated for 8:30 p.m. Mountain Time and the game will be televised on FS1. These two teams, who used to be Western Athletic Conference rivals, haven’t met since 1977.
The Sun Devils hold a 9-6 advantage in the overall series.
It was a busy offseason on the high plains, beginning with the December retirement of Craig Bohl. Just minutes after his 10-year tenure came to a close, the university announced Jay Sawvel would be the 33rd head coach in program history after spending the previous four seasons as Bohl’s defensive coordinator.
Sawvel added new faces to his staff. He inked 38 newcomers on signing day. He added from the portal. That is already paying off. DJ Jones, who spent the previous four years at North Carolina, will be the starting running back in Tempe. Two-time All-American punter Jack Culbreath also comes to Laramie from the Virginia Military Institute.
The Cowboys, for the first time in more than a decade, will have last names on the back of their jerseys. There’s also a third uniform combination.
While the storylines are endless, one most have an eye on is under center. Evan Svoboda, a Mesa, Ariz., native, will start against the Sun Devils Saturday night. The 6-foot-5, 245-pound junior teased the fanbase with a solid showing at Texas last September. That night he completed 17-of-28 passes for 136 yards. Wyoming and the No. 4 team in the nation took a 10-10 tie into the fourth quarter.
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Now, let’s throw down some dollars …
Here’s this week’s matchups and betting odds:
Wyoming (+7) at Arizona State
Sacramento State (+3.5) at San Jose State
Colorado State (+32) at No. 4 Texas
Boise State (-13) at Georgia Southern
UNLV (+2.5) at Houston
Nevada (+9) at Troy
Fresno State (+20.5) at No. 9 Michigan
UCLA (-14) at Hawaii
New Mexico (+31) at No. 21 Arizona
No. 14 Clemson (+13.5) at No. 1 Georgia
No. 8 Penn State (-8) at West Virginia
No. 7 Notre Dame (+3) at No. 20 Texas A&M
Here’s our best bet this week and a great big thank you to former Wyoming football players Kirk Vanroekel and Mike Fitzgerald for joining us:
Jen Kost graphic
University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players
The rules are simple: What was the player’s impact while in Laramie? That means NFL stats, draft status or any other accolade earned outside of UW is irrelevant when it comes to this list.
This isn’t a one-man job. This task called for a panel of experts. Joining 7220’s Cody Tucker are Robert Gagliardi, Jared Newland, Ryan Thorburn, and Kevin McKinney.
We all compiled our own list of 50 and let computer averages do the work. Think BCS — only we hope this catalog is fairer.
Gallery Credit: 7220Sports.com
– University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players