RENO - Undisputed WAC champions, yes.

BCS busters, almost certainly not.

The No. 9 Boise State football team clinched the outright WAC title Saturday afternoon at Mackay Stadium - holding off the determined Nevada Wolf Pack for a 41-34 victory. It is the Broncos' sixth WAC title in seven years.

In Salt Lake City, however, No. 8 Utah clinched the only Bowl Championship Series spot guaranteed to teams in the non-BCS conferences - beating No. 16 BYU 48-24.

The Broncos (11-0 overall, 7-0 WAC), who wrap up the regular season Friday at Bronco Stadium against Fresno State, now must wait to find out if they will play in the Poinsettia Bowl on Dec. 23 in San Diego against a ranked opponent from the Mountain West Conference or the Humanitarian Bowl on Dec. 30 in Boise against the eighth choice from the Atlantic Coast Conference. They also are still technically in contention for a BCS at-large berth.

"We're never going to worry about things we have no control over," Boise State coach Chris Petersen said. " I just feel like we'll go somewhere good if we continue to take care of business and play a really good team and have a good experience."

The Broncos have little say in the bowl decisions.

That's why Petersen and his players steadfastly avoided any big-picture talk until they took care of their primary goal - reclaiming the WAC. BSU won the title five straight years from 2002 to 2006, but lost it to Hawaii in the regular-season finale last year.

That disappointment drove the Broncos throughout winter conditioning, spring practices, summer conditioning, fall camp and the first 10 games. It drove them again Saturday, when a 31-10 third-quarter lead nearly vanished.

"Win the WAC, period, is what our goal was," sophomore wide receiver Austin Pettis said. "That's the main goal on our pyramid. We've been talking about that for a long time - since (the Hawaii Bowl against East Carolina). I mean, 11 months. It felt good to be able to get it done. I don't care if it was by a half a point, as long as we got it."

Nevada (6-5, 4-3) made the Broncos work for it. The Wolf Pack returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the third quarter, recovered an onside kick in the fourth quarter and reached the Broncos' 26-yard line in the closing seconds. BSU led 24-3 at halftime.

"There was a point where we could have just sulked and gave up on ourselves, but it was good that we were able to stand strong, because they were making plays out there," Pettis said. "It was just good that we were able to come through and finish out on top."

The Broncos dominated the first half with explosive passing and feisty defense.

Quarterback Kellen Moore threw for 319 yards and two TDs in the half as the Broncos avoided the Wolf Pack's No. 2-ranked run defense. The defense, torched by quarterback Colin Kaepernick and the Nevada option run game last year, limited the Pack to 118 total yards in the half.

"When we went into the locker room at halftime we said, 'They're going to come out firing at us. Be ready for anything.' Luckily, we withstood their charge," defensive end Mike T. Williams said.

The Pack's attack was fueled by three third-quarter interceptions of Moore, who only threw six picks in the first 10 games and never threw more than one in a game. Two of the picks came on high throws that deflected off receivers' hands.

The first one, by cornerback Antoine Thompson, proved painless.

The second one, by linebacker Jerome Johnson, was returned 28 yards for a score.

The third one, by linebacker Joshua Mauga, was returned 46 yards for a score.

Combining those plays with a 31-yard touchdown run by Vai Taua, the Wolf Pack surged within 31-24 with 5 minutes, 14 seconds left in the third quarter.

"They adjusted well and gave us a run for our money in the second half," said senior wide receiver Vinny Perretta, who had five catches for 126 yards. "They never quit."

The Broncos pulled away again in the fourth quarter. Cornerback Kyle Wilson returned a punt 39 yards to set up a 10-yard diving touchdown catch by Pettis and tailback Ian Johnson forced a shanked punt to set up a 50-yard field goal by Kyle Brotzman. That gave Boise State a seemingly invincible 41-24 lead with 7:20 to play.

Nevada, which fought the Broncos for 4 hours in a four-overtime loss last year in Boise, didn't wilt.

The Wolf Pack marched 80 yards and scored on a 9-yard touchdown catch by Marko Mitchell on fourth-and-5, recovered an onside kick and added a 25-yard field goal by Brett Jaekle.

The Broncos recovered the next onside kick, but Brotzman missed a 48-yard field goal that would have sealed the win. The Pack nearly took advantage - driving to the BSU 26 before a delay-of-game penalty and three incompletions set up fourth-and-15 at the 31 with 3 seconds left.

Kaepernick scrambled to his left and lofted a Hail Mary into the corner of the end zone. Safety Ellis Powers batted it down.

"It's fun now looking back on it that it was a close game, because we won, but for a while there it was scary," Perretta said.

The Broncos defense held Nevada's top-ranked rushing attack to 144 yards (the Pack averaged 325). They held the Pack offense to 385 total yards (they averaged a WAC-best 524.2).

The Broncos took the run away from Kaepernick, who was 19-of-50 passing for 241 yards and one touchdown.

Moore was 29-of-48 for 414 yards and three touchdowns with the three picks.

"Our defense kept us in the game, without question," Nevada coach Chris Ault said, "but I am disappointed in our offense. We knew we had to throw the ball. We had people open and didn't get it to them."

The Broncos, who will wait until Friday to collect their WAC trophy, took a victory lap around Mackay Stadium to celebrate with the roughly 7,500 blue-and-orange-clad fans who made the trip to Reno.