Mountain West Football Bowl Projections After Week 6
Bowl season is going to be fun for the Mountain West
Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire
San Jose State going bowling?
Who would have thought that San Jose State would not only get three wins but have that number of victories weeks before Halloween? The 3-2 record is halfway to bowl eligibility and before we take a sneak peek at FPI the Spartans have a chance to get three more victories.
They play Nevada, UNLV, Hawaii, and Army, all of those are in the realm of possibility for the Spartans to win. The one big problem is that all four of those games are on the road. If the Spartans can shore up the run defense then that long road trip to New York to face Army could be a key game in getting to six victories.
FPI projects two more wins for the Spartans, so if that happens and then who knows in a few other games and San Jose State could be bowl eligible.
This seems unlikely they will get to six wins but this also shows how far San Jose State has come where two wins was seen as progression.
As for the teams we project that will go bowling it is going to be the same group of last week in Air Force, Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Wyoming, San Diego State, an Utah State.
Also, just because some of these games can get stale, we are moving Hawaii out of its own stadium for a bowl game. That seems not all that likely but it is a possibility since the AAC and BYU are involved in the Hawaii 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.
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
Cotton Bowl
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
At-large vs. At-large
Projection: Boise State vs. Wisconsin
Gildan New Mexico Bowl
Branch Field at Dreamstyle Stadium, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Conference USA vs. Mountain West
Projection: Fresno State vs. Louisiana Tech
Las Vegas Bowl
Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada
Mountain West vs. Pac-12
Projection: Hawaii vs. Washington State
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Albertsons Stadium, Boise, Idaho
MAC vs. Mountain West
Projection: San Diego State vs. Western Michigan
NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl
Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Arizona
Sun Belt vs. Mountain West
Projection: Wyoming vs. Georgia Southern
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Amon G. Carter Stadium; Fort Worth, Texas
Big Ten vs. Mountain West
Projection: Air Force vs. Maryland
Cheeze-It Bowl
Chase Field; Phoenix, Arizona
Big 12 vs. Pac-12 (or Mountain West)
Projection: Utah State vs. Colorado
