Mountain West Football Bowl Projections After Week 9
More teams become more bowl eligible
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Welcome back Fresno State
The latest bowl projections this week bring back Fresno State. Yes, the Bulldogs lost this past week to Colorado State but using ESPN’s FPI they are projected to have six wins.
The team they beat out is Nevada which is not projected to get to six wins per the same metrics, but there is a path for the Wolf Pack but not yet.
Heading into Week 10 the lineups are getting more solidified so the opponents and games are not changing a lot, but with still a month of football to play a lot can happen. That includes Boise State possibly getting back into the New Year’s Six conversation.
With more games and the big picture getting more focused means that there are conferences that might not fill out their spots. That is how Fresno State gets into the mix and they are projected in the First Responders Bowl, but let’s hope that the game is not canceled like last year.
A few notes about the bowl lineups. Starting with the Hawaii Bowl. The game has a vaguely worded tie-in which is a combination between BYU, Hawaii or an AAC 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.
Previous projections: Preseason | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8
