While Athlon Sports does not publish their magazine online for all to see, fans can find WAC team previews for the upcoming season in the 2008 college football preview from College Sports Fans.

- Boise State NCAA Tournament preview
- Louisville NCAA Tournament preview

Carroll poured in 21 points on Saturday, hitting 8 of 14 shots, and kept up his hot 3-point shooting by going 3 of 4 from behind the line. Carroll also hit both of his free throw attempts, taking his percentage for the season up to 93.6% (73 of 78).

Carroll ranks in the top 10 in the country in both free throw and three-point percentage, and is in the top 20 in the country in points per game. He’s also surpassed the 2,000 point mark this season, and is currently at 2,147. Utah St. has 12 more regular-season games left, then the WAC tournament and (more than likely) some postseason tournament as well, so if Carroll can keep at his current clip, he’ll end up passing 2,500 career points as well.

Carroll declared for the NBA Draft last summer, but didn’t hire an agent, and wound up deciding to return to school. Looks like that’s worked out pretty well for him and the Aggies both.

The Warriors, who were going to lose their star QB and one of their three 1,000 yard receivers in the graduating Jason Rivers, lost the other two 1,000 yard receivers as well, as Davone Bess, then Ryan Grice-Mullen both decided to skip their senior seasons and enter the NFL Draft.

In the midst of it all, the man who led Hawaii’s move into prominence, decided that he’d had enough, and decided to take on another rebuilding project, as head coach June Jones resigned and took the head coaching position at SMU.

And, to top it off, after Jones’ resignation, athletic director Herman Frazier, was shown the door, as he was viewed as partly responsible for the lack of commitment and administrative issues that led to Jones’ disillusionment and decision to step down.

Things went from bad to tragic when red shirt freshman receiver Mitch Farney, who was planning to transfer to Weber State, died Tuesday night after collapsing during a pickup basketball game in Phoenix.

The New Year hasn’t been kind to the Hawaii football program, but there’s still 11 and a half months to go, so it can only go up from here.

In the past couple of days, the program has taken some pretty big hits off of the field.

On Friday, junior receiver Davone Bess, a three-year starter and Hawaii’s career leader in catches (293) and touchdowns (41), announced that he’ll be skipping his senior season and declaring for the NFL draft, after draft evaluators gave him a second-round grade.

Ryan Grice-Mullen, who will likely break Bess’ reception and touchdown marks next season, and along with those, surpass the other triplet, Jason Rivers, in career receiving yards, will not only have a new QB throwing it to him, with Brennan departing, but will have a new head coach as well.

June Jones, who built the Warriors’ program into a winner over the last several years, is resigning from his post due to a lack of commitment from the athletic department, and frustrations about how the athletic department was run, according to reports.

Jones took over at Hawaii following the 1998 season, when the Warriors went 0-12. He instantly turned the program around, as 1999 saw a 9-3 season, a tie for the WAC title, and a win in the Oahu Bowl.

In nine seasons, Jones went 75-41, led Hawaii to six bowls (four wins), and two WAC titles, including the Warriors’ first-ever outright conference title this season, when they went 12-1, were ranked in the top 10, and advanced to the Sugar Bowl, a 41-10 loss to Georgia in what turned out to be Jones’ last game with Hawaii.

His next destination appears to be SMU, as the school has reportedly offered him more than twice his salary at Hawaii to become their new head coach.

And, if his rebuilding job in Dallas is anywhere near as successful as it was on the island, SMU fans should be looking forward to the future.

As for Hawaii, well, if Jones did leave because of issues with the athletic department (turns out Colt Brennan wasn’t so wrong after all, eh?), then you know what they say…’you don’t know what you got until it’s gone.’

Hawaii inevitably got their 300+ yards passing, but it didn’t come until the end, when Georgia had the game well in hand, and Colt Brennan was on the sidelines, with backup Tyler Graunke in for the last several minutes after the Bulldogs had battered Brennan to the point of submission, sacking him eight times, with the last one by Geno Atkins early in the fourth signaling the end of Brennan’s night and collegiate career, as June Jones smartly sat him for the final 13 minutes with the result beyond doubt.

Hawaii turned the ball over six times, which is a record for a BCS game, surpassing the five by Oklahoma in the 2005 Orange Bowl and Miami in the ‘03 Fiesta Bowl.

Tonight was Hawaii’s chance to prove that they belonged on the national stage, but in the end, Georgia was the team that did the proving.

But, despite the way the night turned out, it was a great season for Hawaii, and for Brennan, who had a rough night against Georgia (22 of 38, 169 yards, 3 INT), but it was one of very few in the last few seasons.

Where does Hawaii go from here? Well, Graunke likely takes the reins for the 2008 season, and he and the Warriors will have quite the season-opening test, as they’ll be going to Gainesville to take on Heisman winner Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators at the Swamp.

Graunke shouldn’t be too fazed by the atmosphere, as he started at USC in 2005, and he’s also had three other starts in his career. Jason Rivers is done, but Graunke will have Ryan Grice-Mullen and Davone Bess to throw to, and he’s sure to have other reliable targets as well. Besides those guys, the Warriors will return several more key players on both sides of the ball, and they‘ll have an excellent chance to repeat as WAC champions.

So, this may just be the beginning for Hawaii, so even though they came out on the short end tonight, maybe things will go much, much better the next time, which could be in the not-so-distant future.

Georgia has had their way on both sides of the ball, and Hawaii has helped them out with several mistakes (turnovers and penalties).

The Bulldogs just capitalized on Brennan’s third interception, scoring on Thomas Brown’s second touchdown run of the night to go up 38-3 with less than two minutes to go in the third.

The deficit may be too big for the Warriors to overcome now, but hopefully they’ll at least make the score respectable and put their best foot forward for the last 16+ minutes, so that they can go out with their heads held high. They got a big kick return into Georgia territory, so that’s a start.

Find Hawaii Warriors clothing & apparel online at DFN Sports sites.

Ben Hartman’s 34-yard field goal on the last play of the game won it for East Carolina and capped off a dramatic final two minutes, when the Pirates appeared to have it all but sewn up, but wound up needing Hartman’s heroics.

Boise St.’s offense got off to a slow start, due in part to star running back Ian Johnson being limited by injury, and their only highlight of the first quarter-plus was Austin Smith’s 89-yard kickoff return that gave them a 7-3 lead, which would turn out to be their only lead of the night.

In the meantime, East Carolina produced fireworks upon fireworks in the first half, with their own Johnson having a big first half. Chris Johnson ran for a 68-yard touchdown to put the Pirates up 10-7 in the first quarter, and then in the second quarter had a 46-yard run to step up his own 18-yard touchdown reception, which put ECU up 24-7.

After the Broncos pulled within 24-14, a fumble by Ian Johnson late in the quarter resulted in another ECU touchdown and a 31-14 halftime lead.

But, the Broncos put that tough first half behind them and made a comeback in the final 30 minutes, giving themselves a chance at overtime.

The second half didn’t get off to a great start, as ECU picked up where they left off in the first half and scored on their opening drive to go up 38-14.

But, the Broncos made it 38-31 with seven minutes to go on D.J. Harper’s 1-yard touchdown run, and after forcing a three-and-out, marched down the field towards a potential tying score.

However, on 3rd and 9 from the Pirates’ 23, Titus Young fumbled on a reception, turning it over to the Pirates, and seemingly sealing the deal, with less than two minutes left on the clock.

But, on second down, Chris Johnson fumbled, and Marty Tadman returned it 48 yards for a game-tying touchdown.

But, the Broncos’ heroics from last season’s Fiesta Bowl weren’t going to be repeated.

Johnson atoned for his first fumble of the season by returning the kickoff 30 yards to the 39, and then, on 3rd and 8, Rob Kaas completed a 36-yard pass to Jamar Bryant to get ECU in position for the game-winning field goal, and Hartman connected to break Boise hearts.

Chris Johnson was named the game’s MVP, as a result of his 408 all-purpose yards (223 rushing, 32 receiving, 153 kickoff return) and two touchdowns.

Taylor Tharp threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns for the Broncos, who finished their season 10-3. East Carolina won their first bowl game since 2000, and finishes their season 8-5.