FAVORITE TEAMS

The Mountain West had some interesting surprises within their own conference. Let’s start with the bottom 6.

San Jose State and New Mexico were bottom feeders. Air Force, UNLV, and Colorado State went backwards and/or failed to improve, but each got an upset win throughout the season. Wyoming won 6 games, but the quality of their schedule wasn’t enough to make them bowl-eligible.

Now for the Top 6.

Hawai’i was the most entertaining team under quarterback Cole McDonald. Utah State was the surprising team in college football with a high-octane offense that nearly upset #11 Michigan State. Nevada flourished with their high-scoring offense with quarterback Ty Gangi and a group of young running backs and receivers under head coach Jay Norvell. San Diego State took a step back in November and December. Before that, they won 3 straight games against bowl-eligible opponents (Arizona State, Eastern Michigan, Boise State). Boise State’s New Year’s Six Bowl opportunity vanished after San Diego State and Fresno State threw a wrench into their plans.

Boise State was the heavy favorite to win the Mountain West, go undefeated, and possibly go to a New Year’s Six Bowl, and their schedule was favorable! But losses to Oklahoma State (9th in Big 12), San Diego State (with a questionable offense), and Fresno State (that hasn’t won at Boise in 34 seasons) was really disappointing. They returned nearly everybody except Dallas Cowboy linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, but the team were inconsistent at times. Losing Riley Whimpey in November hurt Boise’s chances of winning the Mountain West. They still came away with 10 wins, but they’ll lose a lot of experience in the backfield and the defensive front going into 2019.

UNLV was a risky pick and it was unpleasant to watch. Their defense got worse averaging from allowing 31.8 points per game to allowing 37.3 points per game. Quarterback Armani Rogers IS UNLV’s quarterback, but he needs to improve on his play and stay healthy. The offense played about the same with running back Lexington Thomas carrying the load with 215 attempts for around 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns. The receivers couldn’t do much without better quarterback consistency. The positive of their 2018 season was upsetting San Diego State and Nevada for the Fremont Cannon in two of the last three weeks of their season.