Mountain West Conference: A Solid Season and a Glimpse into Next Year

A Solid Season

Critics of the Mountain West Conference thought that it had peaked in 2008-2009 season. These claims, stemming from Utah solidly defeating Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and having three teams in the top 25, were accomplishments that many thought, would never happen for the MWC.  To these detractors’s demise, the 2009-2010 season has been solid. Not only does the MWC have TCU playing in a BCS bowl and three teams finishing in the top 25, and finished 4-1 in bowl play. Congrats to the Broncos for showing up. Their case for MWC inclusion was just solidified if there were any doubts. 

Looking Forward

The outlook for the 2010-2011 should look even brighter. TCU should still be very strong with Andy Dalton returning for his senior year. Max Hall will be gone, but as long a Harvey Unga realizes that he should play his senior year, BYU will be fine. Utah loses their defensive leadership but they have shown that they have good depth and shouldn’t be counted out. Hopefully TCU can find a BCS school to fill the scheduling void when Texas Tech backing backed out. 

Wyoming, probably the biggest surprise of the MWC, should improve after one full year with head coach Dave Christensen. Christensen admitted needing to tweak the system he had used at Missouri to fit the players at Wyoming. Air Force, which almost always has a solid team in the MWC, now has a passing threat for teams to prepare for on top of worrying about the triple-option. 

The Mountain West Conference added the Independence Bowl to its’ contingent beginning with the 2010-2011 season. The MWC vs. the ACC was disrupted after just one season when the Emerald Bowl replaced the MWC with the Pac-10 after the 2005-2006 season. For the moment, that means the MWC is expected to play at least three BCS teams during the bowl season. 

The MWC enigmas need to win

The current knock floating around as a reason why the MWC should not be able to get an AQ auto bid is that the lower half of the conference is very weak. It is time for these teams to at least show up during the non-conference games, particularly against BCS teams. Wyoming showed that this could be done a couple of years ago by beating Tennessee and they played Texas close this year. UNLV did beat Arizona St. two years ago, but fell off this year. To UNLV’s credit, they scheduled a 13th game with West Virginia instead of settling for a FCS team. Because they scheduled Hawaii, they will have to win seven games to become bowl eligible. We will have to see what head coach Bobby Hauck can bring to the Rebel table. 

Colorado State has shown signs of competitiveness (e.g. Colorado St. defeating Colorado) but need to have consistency. San Diego St. at least showed some improvement this year over last year, though I think expectations will be even higher on head coach Brady Hoke to bring his team out of the doldrums of mediocrity. New Mexico did beat Mike Stoop’s Arizona Wildcats in 2008 but they are under new management.

New Mexico… let’s see… hmm… New Mexico just needs to have a lengthy bro hug and put their differences behind them. 

Must win non-conference games in 2010 to showcase the MWC

UNLV vs. Wisconsin

BYU @ Washington

TCU vs. Oregon St.

New Mexico @ Oregon

Colorado St. vs. Colorado (Invesco Field, Denver)

Wyoming @ Texas

Utah vs. Pittsburgh

New Mexico vs. Texas Tech

Air Force @ Oklahoma

BYU @ Florida St.

San Diego St. @ Missouri

Wyoming vs. Boise St.

Air Force vs. Navy

UNLV @ West Virginia

Utah @ Notre Dame

All-time MWC bowl history vs. other conference opponents

For the 2009-2010 bowl season, there were 7 bowls where a BCS school played a non-BCS school. Unfortunately, conferences outside the Mountain West lived up to the mediocre stereotype. Non-BCS schools went 3-4, with the MWC leading the way with two wins and Navy as an Independent with the only other win. To East Carolina’s credit, they played Arkansas close and would have been the signature BCS win of the season if they could have pulled it off. Below are the all-time bowl records between the Mountain West and other conferences. The MWC has never played the Big 10 in a bowl game, but owns a winning record against every other conference except the Big East and Navy (independent); the MWC is tied with the MAC.

MWC vs. ACC 1-0

MWC vs. Big 12 1-0

MWC vs. Big East 1-2

MWC vs. C-USA 5-4

MWC vs. MAC 1-1

MWC vs. Pac-10 6-5

MWC vs. SEC 2-0

MWC vs. Sun Belt 1-0

MWC vs. WAC 6-2

MWC vs. Independents 1-2

Overall Bowl Game Record:  25-16 (61%)

*Conference memberships are based on conference

alignments during season in which games were played.