2019 Mountain West Bowl Projections
Now that spring football is completed lets review the bowl situation.
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Still a way-too-early look at bowl projections
Spring football is in the books and that means we get to take a look at the bowl situation. Yes, we did extremely early bowl projections shortly after the 2018 season ended, so this post-spring projection is still a way-too-early look.
Our staff already did early preseason projections for 2019 and will base the bowl projections partially off of these, but this time are taking into account other publications which created top 25 rankings now that spring is completed.
As for the pecking order, there is a slight change for 2019 which has BYU guaranteed to play a Mountain West team in the Hawaii Bowl, if eligible, or it will be an AAC team. Also, it will be the Hawaii Warriors from the Mountain West if eligible.
There is a new bowl this year and a Power Five opponent as well as the Big Ten will be the Mountain West’s opponents in the Armed Forces Bowl.
Overall, the league has five 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.
Also, 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.
In these latest projections, there will not be a Mountain West team in the New Year’s Six game because most prognosticators out there have UCF heading to their third-straight big time bowl game. However, Fresno State is getting some consideration as the best Group of Five team as is Cincinnati.
The Six teams that are likely to get into the bowl scene from the Mountain West will (likely) be San Diego State, Hawaii, Utah State, Boise State, Fresno State, and Nevada.
Hawaii, Wyoming, and Air Force have a good shot to get to the required six wins to become bowl eligible. There is also that Cheez-It Bowl which could be a spot for a sixth Mountain West team — or seventh if a New Year’s Six game is a reality.
Gildan New Mexico Bowl
Branch Field at Dreamstyle Stadium, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Conference USA vs. Mountain West
Projection: Boise State vs. Florida International
Las Vegas Bowl
Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada
Mountain West vs. Pac-12
Projection: Fresno State vs. UCLA
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Albertsons Stadium, Boise, Idaho
MAC vs. Mountain West
Projection: Utah State vs. Northern Illinois
Hawai’i Bowl
BYU or AAC vs. Mountain West
Projection: Hawaii vs. BYU
NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl
Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Arizona
Sun Belt vs. Mountain West
Projection: San Diego State vs. Troy
Lockhead Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Big Ten vs. Mountain West
Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas
Projection: Nevada vs. Northwestern
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