We are back for another week discussing bowl teams. Our team at Mountain West Connection will be releasing our bowl projections each week. This week’s round of projections can be seen below and will likely
change as the season progresses. Read our projections below and leave your own in the comments.
Mike
Los Angeles Bowl: UNLV
Hawaii Bowl: Hawaii
Potato Bowl: Fresno State
New Mexico Bowl: New Mexico
Arizona Bowl: Utah State
Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Boise State
College Football Playoff: N/A
Other Bowl (TBD): San Diego State
Some minor changes this week. I flipped Fresno State and New Mexico following the expected win of the Bulldogs and the pretty surprising loss the Lobos had to the Spartans. Also, I’m adding in San Diego State this week after they picked up their fourth win of the season. The Aztecs may not be a top team in the Mountain West, but they continue to plug along and are having a pretty nice season.
Zach
Los Angeles Bowl: Boise State
Hawaii Bowl: Hawaii
Potato Bowl: Utah State
New Mexico Bowl: New Mexico
Arizona Bowl: Fresno State
Guaranteed Rate Bowl: UNLV
College Football Playoff: N/A
Other Bowl (TBD): San Diego State
I think there are four teams that have a realistic chance to win the conference title (Boise State, Fresno State, Utah State, and UNLV). San Diego State has entered the bowl picture with a 4-1 record. But I still like the Broncos to beat UNLV and Fresno State at home to host and win the conference championship.
Jeff
Los Angeles Bowl: UNLV
Hawaii Bowl: Fresno State
Potato Bowl: New Mexico
New Mexico Bowl: San Diego State
Arizona Bowl: San Jose State
Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Boise State
College Football Playoff: N/A
Other Bowl (TBD): N/A
In a week that kicked off the conference openers, the top teams won to jump out front. I don’t believe the MWC will get the playoff spot even though UNLV is playing well. The Aztecs, Lobos, and Spartans fill in spots 4-6 behind Boise, UNLV, and Fresno.
Chase
Los Angeles Bowl: Fresno State
Hawaii Bowl: Hawaii
Potato Bowl: New Mexico
New Mexico Bowl: San Diego State
Arizona Bowl: San Jose State
Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Boise State
College Football Playoff: N/A
Other Bowl (TBD): UNLV
Fresno State and UNLV are near-locks for bowls at this point. I think the Bulldogs will be chosen for the short trip to Sofi for the LA Bowl, while I think UNLV will be tabbed for a bigger bowl game than what the Mountain West tie-ins provide (say the Holiday or Sun Bowls). Despite being 3-2, Utah State has an absurdly tough MWC slate coming up, facing all of the conference’s top teams with the exception of SDSU, and their other road games at Hawaii and New Mexico are not gimmes. Even Nevada looks tougher with their performance against Fresno State. I think Utah State will struggle down the stretch and miss out on a bowl. The other projections here just make sense historically, in my humble opinion.
Graham
Los Angeles Bowl: Boise State
Hawaii Bowl: Fresno State
Potato Bowl: San Diego State
New Mexico Bowl: New Mexico
Arizona Bowl: UNLV
Guaranteed Rate Bowl: San Jose State
College Football Playoff: N/A
Other Bowl (TBD): UNLV
