What's The Second Half Outlook For Your Team Part 2: West Division

At the midway point of the season each team in the west division has played on the big stage against power 5 teams. Its now time for conference play and the race will get tight with the winner playing for the title against the mountain division champion. Here is your teams possible second half outlook in the West Division.

Fresno State - The Bulldogs had as brutal as a start you can get. Playing USC, Utah, and Nebraska each of their first three games. Each of those games they allowed 50 points or more and lost by at least 30 points as well. The team has since won three straight games and have raced to a quick 2-0 start in the league. Their most recent win was controversial due to officiating errors against San Diego State. The win gave them the inside track on the West division for now. They have a very challenging stretch where they will travel to Boise, but host both San Jose State and Wyoming. Also the bulldogs travel to Nevada who is a dark horse conference contender. My outlook is they will finish with an 7-5 record losing at Boise along with the road game to Nevada who at this time are better teams than the Bulldogs.

Hawaii - The Rainbow Warriors along with Fresno State had tough stretches to start the season. Two of those first three losses were by single digits to PAC 12 conference teams, granted they were mediocre PAC 12 teams the Rainbow Warriors weren't expected to compete. If it wasn't for turnovers and missed opportunities this Hawaii team could be 4-1 not the other way around. They're playing 13 games this year so they would need to win 6 out of 8 to go bowling could it happen? It could but its going to be tough because they're offensively challenged. My outlook is that they play spoiler for some teams in both divisions. They will upset Wyoming and will provide scares to Utah State, San Diego State and Nevada.

Nevada - The Wolfpack has quietly been one of the best teams in the conference this season. They upset a good Washington State team and nearly pulled off a huge upset against Arizona who is now hovering in the top 10. They nearly beat a good Boise State team which would have put every other conference opponent on notice. The Wolfpack lost that game 51-46 which was an offensive slug fest. A balenced offensively attack has powered them this season but it doesn't get any easier since they have Colorado State and San Diego State on the docket in the next couple weeks. My outlook is that they will finish with around 7-5 losing a couple close games along the way. They will win their rivalry game against UNLV winning the canon back.

San Diego State - The Aztecs have played well throughout the season. They nearly had the win against North Carolina losing a two touchdown lead giving the Tar Heels a second comeback win in consecutive weeks. They're always going to be in the race for the conference title and are more than capable of making it to the title game this season. My outlook is that after a tough controversial loss to Fresno this team will rally and win out making it to the title game against Colorado State with a 9-3 record. Yes that means for the third consecutive year they will upset Boise State making it two in a row on the Smurf Turf.

San Jose State - After an expected win against an FCS team to start the season, the Spartans have stumbled as of late. They played very solid competition two of the three were to power 5 programs. They got back on the winning track beating UNLV but now they face gauntlet of the conference to finish the season. They have played Colorado State very tough recently so that could be something but the only winnable game is at home against Hawaii. My outlook is 3-9 the schedule is way too tough for them to finish the season.

UNLV - After a great season last year finishing with a bowl game loss at the hands of North Texas, the Rebels can't seem to get that same magic from last year. This year they only beat Northern Colorado by one point and could only muster 13 points in that win also. They have been a punching bag for the teams they've played this season each loss coming by double digits. This team is in transition and will be for a couple seasons. My outlook is a 2-10 season with a hard fought win against Hawaii. Otherwise will continue to be in decline this season.

West Division predicted order of finish: San Diego State 9-3, Fresno State 7-5, Nevada 7-5, San Jose State 3-9, Hawaii 3-10, UNLV 2-10