Mountain West Conference Preview/Power Rankings: TCU To Reach the Summit

2008 was a historic year for the Mountain West, as three schools won 10-plus games, and the Utah Utes went undefeated, and stunned everyone when they defeated Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. The win made them the only team to go undefeated in ’08, although Florida took home the National Title with one loss.

Many saw it as another case of the Mountain West being held down and overlooked.

This year, the Mountain West looks to make national noise once again, and some teams may disrupt the BCS once again.

This 2009 season preview has been formulated using a few different sources. First, I used whatifsports.com’s amazing preseason power rankings, as they seem to be extremely accurate. They simulated every possible matchup in FBS 100 times, and came up with the “best possible ranking of how every team compares to every other team.”

It considers strength-of-schedule, 2008 player rankings, and modifications based on what changes occurred for each team coming into 2009. The number following the team’s name is their ranking overall according to whatifsports.com.

Also, I’ve gathered my own information surrounding each team, and combined all of it to come up with this 2009 Mountain West Conference preview.

1. TCU Horned Frogs (17) TCU Horned Frogs Examiner—TCU ended 11-2 with their Poinsettia Bowl win, and it was the third time in four years they have won that many games. This year, their schedule is even more favorable than last years, and they will likely win even more games, and have a chance to go undefeated.

Virginia and Clemson are their toughest out of conference games, and Utah and BYU should be the hardest to beat in the Mountain West. Jerry Hughes and his 15 sacks last year will help TCU win games on the defensive end once again, and they are predicted to only allow 12.3 points per game.

TCU is the best team of in the MWC this year, although they will be chased closely by BYU and Utah.

2. Utah Utes (20) Utah Utes Examiner—Utah, like I said above, was one of if not the best team in the country last year. Some believe they were robbed of the National Championship, and so the BCS debates drag on every year.

However, it is quite unlikely they will go undefeated again, especially after losing Brian Johnson, Utah’s winningest QB at 26-7. Junior Terrance Cain looks to step into the starting role, as he is the only QB on the roster that isn’t a freshman. Louisville and Oregon are tough out of conference opponents, and Utah will likely lose at least one of the two. Also, they will likely lose at TCU on Nov. 14.

Still, the Utes will have a great defense, as they look to only give up 13.6 points per game, and will likely win around 10 games in ’09.

3. BYU Cougars (24) BYU Cougars Examiner—The Cougars were the third team to win over 10 games from the MWC in 2008, but lost their Las Vegas Bowl game 31-21 against Arizona. The biggest factor that leads me to putting BYU in third for 2009 is their extremely tough schedule, easily the hardest in the MWC this year.

They start the season against No. 3 Oklahoma in new Cowboys Stadium, and also play Florida State before playing against the MWC.

But, BYU returns their starting QB from 2008, Senior Max Hall, who was Second Team All-MWC, No. 7 overall in total passing yards (3,957), and set a MWC single-season record with 35 touchdowns—and he will win games by himself. Look for the Cougars to win somewhere between 8-10 games this season.

4. Air Force Falcons (44) Air Force Falcons Examiner—The Falcons were soaring pretty high in 2008, as they went 8-4 and played Houston in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, and won 34-28.

All-MWC Receiver Rashaun Greer (7) leads the Rams onto the field

The strength of this team is in their ground attack, as Asher Clark went over 500 yards in his freshman year last season, and looks to improve on that this year.

They will compete, but don’t have enough to win the conference in 2009.

5. Colorado State Rams (68) Colorado State Rams Examiner—The Rams are coming of a big year in Fort Collins, the Steve Fairchild regime began in 2008. After dropping attendance and a 17-30 record from 2005-07, long-time head coach Sonny Lubick was let go in favor of the ex-Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Fairchild.

Fairchild made his presence felt early, as the Rams went from 3-7 in ’07, to 7-6 and a New Mexico Bowl win over Fresno State. The dramatic turn around was unexpected, but CSU looks to improve once again in 2009.

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