Mountain West Football Bowl Projections After Week 8
New Year’s Six Bowl is less likely, for now.
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Boise State’s loss changes things this week.
The goal for eight bowl teams from the Mountain West might be in jeopardy after Boise State’s loss to BYU. That defeated knocked the Broncos out of the Group of Five spot for a New Year’s Six bowl game.
All is not lost for Boise State as they are still in contention, there will be more on that later this week on the website.
This just means there are six, maybe seven, bowl spots to be filled if a New Year’s Six bowl is not an option. The Cheeze-It Bowl seems to be slipping away due the Big 12 and Pac-12 might not be getting a second team in a New Year’s Six game.
The team that misses the cut this week from last is Nevada and Fresno State. The Bulldogs should get to six wins but they would be have the fewest wins amongst Mountain West bowl eligible teams.
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
Gildan New Mexico Bowl
Branch Field at Dreamstyle Stadium, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Conference USA vs. Mountain West
Projection: Utah State vs. Louisiana Tech
Las Vegas Bowl
Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada
Mountain West vs. Pac-12
Projection: Boise State vs. Washington State
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Albertsons Stadium, Boise, Idaho
MAC vs. Mountain West
Projection: San Diego State vs. Central Michigan
Hawai’i Bowl
Aloha Stadium; Honolulu, Hawaii
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: Wyoming vs. Louisiana-Monroe
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Amon G. Carter Stadium; Fort Worth, Texas
Big Ten vs. Mountain West
Projection: Air Force vs. Florida International (Big Ten will not have enough teams)
