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Finally we come to the end of a stacked list of weekend previews. Whether intentionally or because of crappy tv deals, 8 of the 9 MWC teams play on Saturday (Utah was last night, obviously). We have a mix of games where MWC teams should dominate, competitive games, and at least one that probably will not [...] The Mountain West Conference has been rocked by realignment in the last six months, both coming and going. Boise State joined up and, for a brief moment, it seemed like a BCS autobid might be in the cards. Then Utah bowed out, heading to join the Pac-Whatever with Colorado. Now, being formally announced as I write this, BYU has made it official that they will be independent next year. We know that Fresno State & Nevada are coming along shortly as well, but they certainly aren’t BYU & Utah. The MWC is now at a somewhat clunky 10 teams, so the question is whether or not they’ll move to find two more or adopt a nine game schedule. For 2010, however, everybody’s still hunting for the last MWC championship in the BYU/Utah Era. TCU has the target on its back, after sweeping the league last year and earning an invite to the Fiesta Bowl. They’re stacked again this year and the consensus league favorite. Highly rated Utah will be challenger #1, and all eyes will be on their stadium when TCU visits on November 6. BYU can never be counted out, but a rebuilding process looks to have them a step below the top two this year. Air Force has lost a lot of players, but the skill guys are back and they’re looking to supplant BYU in the top echelon. Read PostFootball on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order. The Colorado State Rams performed the most spectacular swan dive of the season in 2009, opening with wins over Colorado and Nevada, before completely falling apart and losing their last nine games, the last two by a combined three points. 2010 opens with big question marks for the Rams- their QB position is up in the air and only four starters are back on offense in total. They are almost ridiculously stacked at RB, but only one starting lineman to get the running game started. The defense is in much better shape, with 10 players returning from the MWC’s #6 defense in 2009 (ok, sixth isn’t spectacular, but it’s better than their 0-8 conference record suggests). If 2009 had given any reason for confidence in the Rams, then one might argue that the schedule looks favorable, but there would have to be a big turnaround to capitalize on it. The 2008 Season was a difficult one to top for the Mountain West, but they are poised to do so as the bowl season arrives. TCU has climbed to never-before-seen heights for a non-BCS school in the modern era, while Utah and BYU have once again put together very good seasons. Wyoming and UNLV made modest turnarounds, and even teams that struggled can find a highlight or two from the season to try and build on. So here, in reverse order of my final regular season power ranking, is a look at the 2009 Mountain West season. 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). Read Post The Mid-Season Report Cards are a subjective look using objective numbers with a look toward the remainder of the season as well. Teams are being reviewed in random order once they reach 6 games. Colorado State stormed to a 3-0 start, dispatching Colorado and Nevada along the way. They looked like one of the best non-BCS teams in the country, and might have even challenged for a top 3 slot in the Mountain West. Since then, they’ve fallen away badly, dropping 3 in a row against BYU, Idaho, and Utah. These losses are understandable, as all 3 are excellent teams. Together, they have a combined record of 14-3. Nonetheless, the Rams had hoped to be among those schools at the top, but it appears they are still about one level below.
With fairly light schedules consisting of mostly conference games, I’m going to consolidate the wrapups for a couple weeks at least. The main reason is that starting tomorrow, I’m launching Mid-Season Report Cards for every single non-BCS conference teams, which should be fun. We also have a very busy week of night games, so there’s a lot to look forward to all week long. Another eventful Saturday across the college football landscape. The top 25 got blown apart, but we had fewer upsets overall on the non-BCS side. A handful of quick hits on the day that was, with more thoughtful recaps to come this week: Read Post The MWC jumps into conference play this weekend with some really big games, and the non-conference games see MWC teams facing some big names from back east. Let’s look at the final conference of the week before we settle in for a big weekend of games: Once again, congratulations go out to all the players of the week and their teams: |
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