Week 13 Wrapup: Mountain West Conference

We conclude our look at the college football’s penultimate weekend with the MWC (it only took me 12 weeks to figure out that putting up WAC/MWC posts while they were still sleeping was a dumb idea).  TCU has completed its march to the BCS, with enough ground over Boise State to know they have the automatic bid for well placed non-BCS teams sealed.  The Holy War went to overtime, and the Border War ended with a bowl bid for the winner.

The MWC is the only non-BCS league that is actually finished for the regular season.  They’re also the only league in America to have their league table sort out perfectly- every team beat each team below them on the standings (except CSU, who beat nobody), and every team lost to each team above them (except unbeaten TCU, obviously).

Mountain West Standings

Week 13 Results

Wyoming 17, Colorado State 16- A back and forth game with postseason hopes on the line for Wyoming came down to a field goal that sailed through with less than 90 seconds left to play.  Wyoming is bowl eligible for the first time since 2006, and since the MWC has more than enough bowls to go around, they’ll play on.

TCU 51, New Mexico 10- The power of Tony Dungy’s mentoring couldn’t help New Mexico against the juggernaut that is the Horned Frogs.  TCU picks up its first undefeated season in decades, after making undefeated runs deep into several seasons recently only to come up short.  The only question now is where will they play in January, and if Nebraska shocks the Longhorns, could they get into the title game against the SEC winner?

BYU 26, Utah 23- 60 minutes wasn’t enough, as the 17-17 tie sent the Holy War into overtime.  Utah started things with a field goal, but BYU responded with a touchdown to seal second place in the MWC and a ten win season.  And, should Boise stumble this weekend, BYU could actually get consideration for a BCS bowl of their own- not likely, but it’s on the table.

UNLV 28, San Diego State 24- UNLV sends their non-renewed coach out with a win.  Their 5-7 record is not what they hoped for, but UNLV is coming off a string of four straight two-win seasons, so it still represents progress and an improving situation a new coach might improve on.

MWC Power Rankings

Thanks to their handy order of finish…exactly like the standings.  Could shuffle during bowl season though.

1. TCU
2. BYU
3. Utah
4. Air Force
5. Wyoming
6. UNLV
7. San Diego State
8. New Mexico
9. Colorado State

The MWC is done for the year, so they’ll be the guinea pigs for my first regular season review attempt after the bowl bids come out.