Mountain West and their Road to the BCS

With the first BCS standings out this week, now is a very good time to feature games of interest that will affect the possibility of the Mountain West getting into the BCS this year.  These games will not include all the teams ahead of any MWC team, but will be games that the higher ranked team may lose and thus drop in the rankings, which is why L'Ville at Cincy is not on the list this week even though they are using a backup quarterback.  All rankings listed are from the BCS.

As always absolute chaos is my goal in an effort to promote change.

This game should easily go in the hands of Boise, but with the flu spreading around Boise, and going to Hawai'i there is a small chance of an upset.  This is game needs to be a blowout if Boise wants to keep pace and stay in the top five of the BCS.

MWC rooting interest: Hawai'i, that will make room for TCU.

#6 Iowa at Michigan State 7:00 ET Big Ten Network

This one is interesting, because Iowa is trying to make a run at the BCS title, however even though Michigan State is unranked, but a win by the Spartans would move them into a tie at the top of the Big 10. 

MWC rooting interest: Iowa, because if the non-BCS schools want to get two teams then the AQ conference champs must be in the top 12.

#13 Penn State at Michigan 3:30 ET ABC

This game is very similar to the Iowa/Michigan State tilt.  A Penn State win will tie them with Iowa, but the tiebreaker goes to the Hawkeyes-- if they can stay unbeaten.

MWC rooting interest:  Michigan, seam reason as above.

#3 Texas at Missouri 8:00 ET ABC/ESPN360

Texas should win this easily but it is a road game and Missouri is decent.  Plus, Texas has not been as dominant as last year, so there could be a little intrigue early on.

MWC rooting interest:  Missouri, and the only reason is that it could possibly help TCU if they go undefeated somehow reach the BCS title game (a long shot I know).

#8 TCU at #16 BYU 7:30 ET Versus HD

The MWC and national game of the week, and this game could either push TCU much close to Boise State before an inevitable pass, or it could get BYU in position for a BCS berth.  The BYU berth could be guaranteed if Boise loses, or a potential at large if things fall right.

MWC rooting interest:  TCU, an undefeated team again is what the league needs and TCU to date looks to be the strongest of the MWC teams.

Air Force at #18 Utah 4:00 ET Versus HD

The Utes are in the same position as BYU, they need to win and get help.  This game is always close, because of the Falcon pesky triple option.  This will be a big test for the Utah run defense, and the AFA quarterback position is still up in the air.

MWC rooting interest: Utah, getting more teams from the league in the top 15 of the BCS standings is going to help strengthen the cause of an auto bid in the future.  The Utes are a long shot to make a BCS but they could have implications if they keep winning and moving up the rankings; which could help either TCU or BYU if they beat Utah.

SMU @ #17 Houston 7:30PM ET CBS College

SMU's June Jones has improved the Mustangs, but Houston does not lose at home.  Technically Houston has a shot of an at-large, because they are only a few upsets away from being near the top 12 if they keep winning.

MWC rooting interest:  SMU , but it does not really matter because the MWC champ will be ahead of Houston thus keeping the Coougars outside of the BCS.