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The Mountain West might have had the best weekend of the five Fringe conferences (although the WAC has a claim too), picking up two wins against ranked BCS conference teams. On the flip side, they have New Mexico.
Colorado 24, Colorado State 3- Not the way CSU wanted to begin a season that needs a turnaround. The Rams got behind early and never made a game of it (Prediction: CSU to keep it closer. 0-1). Next Week: Colorado State at Nevada
Air Force 65, Northwestern State 21- I don’t like to see FCS teams scoring 21 in the first half- that’s bad, even if your team is ahead. Air Force put the clamps on in the second half, but they’re going to need a complete game to compete this week. Next Week: BYU at Air Force
Oregon 72, New Mexico 0- Oregon could have easily gone over 100 but put the brakes on after halftime. Can Locksley survive the season? Will he punch someone after another losing streak to start a season? (Prediction: Oregon State by plenty. 1-1) Next Week: Texas Tech at New Mexico
BYU 23, Washington 17- Here the news gets better for the MWC. Washington led into the fourth quarter, but 10 unanswered points from the Cougars put them ahead. BYU’s dual-quarterback system seems to be working (Prediction: Washington to win outright. 1-2). Next Week: BYU at Air Force
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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.
Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
The UNLV Rebels followed four straight 2 win seasons with a pair of 5 win seasons, but that wasn’t enough to keep Mike Sanford employed. UNLV was tabbed as a team that could surprise in 2009, but a string of blowout losses through the middle of the season doomed their bowl hopes.
And yet, UNLV will again be a team with a chance to improve their league status under new coach Bobby Hauck. The starting QB and RB are among 8 returning offensive starters, while 7 teammates return on the defensive side. That experience will be tested early and often, as the Rebels will have to get to 7 wins since they’re using the 13 game rule (teams that play at Hawaii are free to schedule a 13th game, but must win 7 to be bowl eligible).
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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.
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A quick look at coaching statuses around the non-BCS Universe. At the moment, we’re at six openings, with Marshall’s coach resigning yesterday and Akron sneaking one past me over the holiday weekend. Perhaps more importantly, though, is that the axes are falling fast and furious at the big schools, which usually sets off a chain reaction [...]
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.
UNLV came into the season with high expectations, with a lot of people picking them 4th or 5th in the MWC and bowl bound. Unfortunately, those expectations haven’t turned into wins, although the Rebels’ schedule has been pretty front-loaded so far. Things started well, sitting at 2-1 after beating Hawaii, but since then they’ve dropped 3 in a row, including games at Wyoming and to in-state rival Nevada.
- Wins: D+. Two of the losses, Oregon State and BYU, were practically a given, and a split between Hawaii and Nevada isn’t the worst possible outcome either. It’s the loss to Wyoming that hurts the most, to a conference team that looked inferior prior to the season. Read Post
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.
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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
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