Mountain West Football Bowl Projections After Week 4
Boise State is back in the New Year’s Six
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Seven teams are going bowling.
In this latest edition of bowl projections, there are some big moves with seven Mountain West teams going to the postseason. One spot opens up as Boise State is now sitting at the top of the Group of Five teams after UCF lost to Pitt.
The Broncos have a fairly big cushion between UCF which is the only other ranked team from the Group of Five. With Boise State in position for a New Year’s Six game, they are placed in the Cotton Bowl.
This allows for an extra Mountain West team and it came down to Wyoming and Nevada, so this week we flipped and picked the Cowboys over the Wolf Pack.
This could be a theme all year long as both are formidable teams but are going to very likely be one of the final picks for a bowl team.
There is an option for an eighth team which would be the Cheeze-It Bowl and that would require the Pac-12 or Big 12 not having enough teams to fill is bowl quota. Perhaps if the Big 12 or Pac-12 get a playoff team this year it could open up that spot.
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
– Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl vs. Big Ten
– Cheez-It Bowl Conditional for MW if bowl can’t fill a spot.
