Final Mountain West Football Bowl Projections
No New Year’s Six Bowl for the Mountain West
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Boise State to Las Vegas
The New Year’s Six drought continues for the Mountain West after Memphis narrowly took care of business against Cincinatti in the AAC title claim and will be going to the Cotton Bowl over Boise State.
There is no debate between the Broncos and Bearcats had the former was victorious.
Now, we go forward and make one final prediction for the Mountain West bowl games. The big intrigue is the Las Vegas Bowl. It will be Boise State but the opponent is very much up in the air. The Broncos would like to see Utah not go to the Cotton Bowl so that the bowl teams do not move up a peg which would feature teams with worse records.
The most ideal matchup would pit Boise State vs. a 7-5 Washington team with former Broncos head coach Chris Petersen in his last game as the Huskies head coach. If the Utes do go to the Cotton Bowl then a 6-6 team like Cal could be in the Las Vegas Bowl. Playing former Broncos assistant Justin Wilcox would be nice but a game vs. Coach Pete would be more fun.
ESPN can step in and make some bowl trades similarly to what they did a few years ago to have a solid San Diego State vs. Houston matchup in the Las Vegas Bowl.
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. Technically, BYU takes the Mountain West spot but a Cougars vs. Warriors matchup would be a classic WAC rivalry renewal.
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 the Cotton 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 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 14
Gildan New Mexico Bowl
Branch Field at Dreamstyle Stadium, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Conference USA vs. Mountain West
Projection: San Diego State vs. UAB
Las Vegas Bowl
Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada
Mountain West vs. Pac-12
Projection: Boise State vs. Washington
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Albertsons Stadium, Boise, Idaho
MAC vs. Mountain West
Projection: Wyoming vs. Central Michigan
Hawaii Bowl
Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii
BYU or AAC vs. Mountain West
Projection: Hawaii vs. BYU (Accepted invite)
NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl
Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Arizona
Sun Belt vs. Mountain West
Projection: Utah State vs. Georgia Southern
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Amon G. Carter Stadium; Fort Worth, Texas
Big Ten vs. Mountain West
Projection: Nevada vs. Western Kentucky
Cheeze-It Bowl
Chase Field; Tempe, Arizona
Big 12 vs. Pac-12
Projection: Air Force vs. Washington State
