Yesterday a set of 10 questions were put up regarding the Mountain West and here are the answers.
Answers:
1. Air Force Academy: B and C are true.
A. The academy was not created until 1954; D. Tom Cruise is an actor and was never a cadet. The movie "Top Gun" was about naval aviation.
2. University of Utah: B, C and D are true.
A. The Wasatch Cup is actually the trophy given for the annaul rugby match between the Utah Utes and BYU Cougars. The "Holy War" refers to their annual football matchup.
3. University of New Mexico: A and D are true.
B. Lobogate was a recruiting scandal resulting from an FBI wiretap of a Lobo booster that recorded a conversation in which basketball head coach Norm Ellenberger arranged with assistant coach Manny Goldstein to transfer bogus school credits from a California junior college to the office of the UNM registrar. The investigation turned up phony seals from Mercer County Community College in New Jersey, blank transcripts and records of a previous forgery. The investigation eventually led to illegal gifts and favors to players and exposed a sports gambling network.
C. Lobo Day is every February 28, the founding date of the University in 1889.
4. San Diego State University: B, C and D are all true.
A. SDSU has been designated a "research university" with a high research activity by the Carnegie Foundation.
5. University of Wyoming: A, B and C are true.
D. Its not a cowboy boot at all. The Bronze Boot is a combat boot originally worn in Vietnam by a CSU graduate.
6. University of Nevada, Las Vegas: A and C are true.
B. Actually it was only Frank Sinatra, not the entire Rat Pack, who was used by Tarkanian to recruit. Sinatra did not work out recruiting wise, and apparently lost a recruit or two. One story comes from former recruit Jim Graziano, who claimed that when Sinatra called his home and identified himself, Graziano’s mother replied by saying, "I’m Ella Fitzgerald," and hung up. Graziano ended up at South Carolina.
D. The annual game between UNLV and UNR is called the "Battle for Nevada" and the trophy is the Freemont Cannon.
7. Colorado State University: A, C and D are all true.
B. Cam the Ram is not really a Rocky Mountain big horn sheep at all, but a Rambouillet sheep native to France.
8. Texas Christian University: B and D are true.
A. No one knows for the sure the origins of the iron skillet trophy.
C. The animal is neither a toad or a frog. The Texas Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum) is one of 14 North American species of spikey-bodied reptiles called horned lizards.
9. Brigham Young University: A, B, C and D are all true.
10. Mountain West Conference: A and D are true.
B. Jimmer Fredette is a fine player. But it has been the San Diego State Aztecs who has won the conference title more than any other team with four championships: 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2011.
C. Nice thought, but no. The motto "Above the rest," is because most member institutions are at more than 4,000 feet above sea level (although that will drop to 3,659 feet in 2011-12). The Mountain West's institutions have the highest average elevation in NCAA Division I sports with the University of Wyoming in the lead at 7,215 feet.