What to watch for during spring practice from some of the non-BCS conference teams:

MOUNTAIN WEST

Air Force (8-5)

Practice starts: March 2.

Spring game: None. Practice concludes April 4.

All eyes on: Falcons coach Troy Calhoun, who's taken a struggling program and turned it into a consistent winner. Air Force is 17-9 in two seasons since Calhoun took over for longtime coach Fisher DeBerry. Calhoun's finest coaching job may have been last season when he directed a youthful squad to a second straight bowl berth. So when will the bigger schools come calling? The Falcons delivered a pre-emptive strike, signing Calhoun to a new five-year deal that runs through 2013.

BYU (10-3)

Practice starts: March 16.

Spring game: April 11.

All eyes on: QB Max Hall returns for his senior year after passing for 3,957 yards and 35 touchdowns in 2008, but will be playing behind a new offensive line and without top receiver Austin Collie, who left early for the NFL. Collie had 100 yards receiving in the final 11 games and caught 15 TD passes.

New Mexico (4-8)

Practice starts: March 24.

Spring game: April 18.

All eyes on: Mike Locksley, billed as a recruiting wizard during his days as an assistant at Illinois, Florida and Maryland, starts his first head coaching job. Rocky Long, who guided the Lobos to five bowl trips over the last seven years, surprisingly stepped down three days after last season ended. Locksley feels the program is in solid shape and talks of building the Lobos into a Utah-style BCS buster. He will install a spread offense under coordinator Darrell Dickey, the former North Texas coach.

TCU (11-2)

Practice started: February 28.

Spring game: April 4.

All eyes on: With quarterback Andy Dalton back for his third season as the starter, and six of the top seven rushers returning, the focus this spring is on filling defensive gaps. National sacks leader Jerry Hughes (15 sacks) is back at DE, but six key starters are gone, including DE Matt Panfil and All-MWC linebackers Robert Henson and Jason Phillips.

Utah (13-0)

Practice starts: March 10.

Spring game: April 18.

All eyes on: Who replaces three-year starting QB Brian Johnson? Junior Corbin Louks is the leader. He's a speedy runner, but has thrown only 15 passes in college and will still have to compete for the job. Junior college transfer Terrance Cain, freshman Jordan Wynn, who graduated high school early so he could enroll in time for spring practice, and redshirt freshman DeVonte Christopher are the other candidates. Coach Kyle Whittingham also has new coordinators on both offense and defense after losing three assistants in the offseason.

WESTERN ATHLETIC

WAC

Boise State: (12-1)

Practice starts: March 9.

Spring game: April 17.

All eyes on: Can QB Kellen Moore can improve on his impressive freshman season? The lefty struggled in the Broncos' Poinsettia Bowl loss to TCU, but it was the only blemish in a season in which he threw for 3,486 yards and 25 TDs in helping Boise State win its sixth WAC title in seven years. Moore will have to find a new target to replace receiver Jeremy Childs, who left early for the pros.

New Mexico State (3-9)

Practice starts: March 30.

Spring game: April 25.

All eyes on: New coach DeWayne Walker replaced Hal Mumme, fired after four losing seasons. Walker, after three years as UCLA's defensive coordinator, inherited a New Mexico State team that lost seven straight to end last season. He has proposed a culture change for a program that has had just four winning seasons in the last 42 years and gone longer than any other team in the nation since its last postseason appearance in the 1960 Sun Bowl.

MID-AMERICAN

Buffalo (8-6)

Practice starts: March 14.

Spring game: April 18.

All eyes on: Who will replace QB Drew Willy, who rewrote the Bulls' record book and capped a four-year run as starter by leading Buffalo to its first winning record at the Division I level, first Mid-American Conference title and first bowl appearance (38-20 loss to UConn in International Bowl). Candidates to take over are Zach Maynard and redshirt freshman Jerry Davis in offense that returns star RB James Starks and leading receiver Naaman Roosevelt. Another issue is whether defense can improve under new coordinator Fred Reed, who took over after Jimmy Williams was fired.

Conference USA

Southern Miss (7-6)

Practice starts: March 9.

Spring game: April 18.

All eyes on: Injuries gave MLB Gerald McRath a sixth season of eligibility, but he chose go to the NFL. So Southern Miss will be looking to replace Conference USA's top tackler. The Golden Eagles also will be looking for right tackle Ryan McKee's replacement and a little depth at wide receiver where DeAndre Brown, the nation's top freshman last season, is out recovering from a broken leg.

Tulsa (11-3)

Practice starts: March 10.

Spring game: April 18.

All eyes on: For the second straight season, Tulsa will be seeking a new starting quarterback to lead the nation's top offense. With David Johnson gone, a competition between Jacob Bower, G.J. Kinne and freshman Shavodrick Beaver will be held to determine who'll be the next in line to take the snaps in an offense that averaged nearly 570 yards last season. The offense also lost coordinator Gus Malzahn, who moved on to Auburn.

Independent

Notre Dame (7-6)

Practice starts: March 20.

Spring game: April 18.

All eyes on: With new assistant coaches guiding the offensive and defensive lines, battles up front will be key. The Fighting Irish have had three of their worst rushing seasons ever under coach Charlie Weis, so he made new offensive line coach Frank Verducci the running-game coordinator. Defensively, the Irish ranked 45th in the nation against the run and haven't been in the top 25 in total defense since 2002. Weis is hoping graduate assistant Bryant Young, who played 14 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, can provide inspiration.