Mountain West 2013: What a 12-team league will look like

The Boise St. Broncos officially back in the Mountain West, it is now time to take an educated guess as to what the league will look like in 2013. This exercise will include a 12th team, or more, divisions as well as the logistics of a title game; spoiler alert: home stadium of best team.

The Mountain West will more than likely have a 12 team league in 2012 with the San Diego St. Aztecs being the 12th team. So, lets start there. As mentioned above the title game should be at the home of the higher seed to assure a sellout, I could possibly see Las Vegas or San Diego, but the higher seeded home team will host this game.

The conference schedule will be an eight-game slate, mainly to help out Air Force who wants some flexibility since they face Army and Navy every year. Also, the divisions will be split geographically.

East or Mountain division:
Air Force
Wyoming
Colorado State
New Mexico
Boise State
Utah State

West or Pacific division:
UNLV
Nevada
San Jose State
San Diego State
Hawaii
Fresno State

These divisions seems fairly even, and most rivals stay intact, so there may be no need for a permanent cross-division rival. So, just for fun are some ideas for permanent cross-division rivals.

Air Force vs. UNLV
Boise State vs. Fresno State
San Jose State vs. Utah State
New Mexico vs. San Diego State
Hawaii vs. Colorado State
Wyoming vs. Nevada

The only matchups that look out of place are Hawaii vs. Colorado State and Wyoming vs. Nevada. At least Colorado State vs. Hawaii brings back old WAC rivals, but Wyoming vs. Nevada is obviously a forced game. Then again, a permanent rival is not necessary, because the only must see game is Boise State vs. Nevada or Fresno State. None of the other matchups really carry a ton of excitement or weight.

It likely would be better to just play five division games, three cross-division games, and keep those cross-division opponents on the schedule for two years so a home-and-home can be completed.