Mountain West Football Bowl Projections After Week 2
Not much changed after two games.
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Power 5s are falling to the MW.
The Mountain West is playing above its national perception by knocking off a few more Power 5 teams from Week 2 with Hawaii topping Oregon State and San Diego State upsetting UCLA for its first win ever over the Bruins.
These wins are adding up and making the bowl scenario quite interesting for the Mountain West. It is just two weeks in but it is looking like the conference could be fighting for more bowl spots than the league has.
We projected seven Mountain West teams going to a bowl game for the second-straight week. The teams in the fold are Boise State, Air Force, San Diego State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Wyoming and Utah State.
A few notes about the bowl lineups. BYU is going to be in the Hawaii Bowl, if bowl eligible or not in a New Year’s Six game, and will play Hawaii, also if bowl eligible. If BYU is not in the game then it will be an American team. The Warriors have a 13-game schedule and must have seven wins to secure a bowl berth.
There is a new bowl this year and it’s a Power Five opponent from the Big Ten in the Armed Forces Bowl.
Overall, the league has six guaranteed bowl berths and is a backup for the Cheez-It Bowl if the Pac-12 or Big 12 does not have enough teams eligible. As always, there can be trades for the best matchups.
Finally, if the Mountain West is the highest rated team in the College Football Playoff then a New Year’s Six Bowl game is an option at either the Cotton or Orange Bowl.
1. Las Vegas vs. Pac-12
– Famous Idaho Potato Bowl vs. MAC
– Gildan New Mexico Bowl vs. Conference USA
– Hawai’i Bowl vs. BYU or American
– NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl vs. Sun Belt
– Lockhead Martin Armed Forces Bowl vs. Big Ten
– Cheez-It Bowl Conditional for MW if bowl can’t fill a spot.
