Mountaintop View 12-4

Hopefully you’ve been checking in on all the happens around the conference this weekend, as there was a lot of exciting events and news. Whether you did or not, we have links to some of the most important stories to make sure you’re all caught up. Enjoy the reading!

The main story of the week, Boise State wins the Mountain West Championship:

It wasn’t always pretty, but they did just enough to win. Credit the Bronco’s defense with making some great adjustments to hold Fresno State scoreless in the 2nd half. The Bulldogs defense still had the the Broncos offense in check for most the day, but the offense was able to put together a final scoring drive of 7 plays and 90 yards to get a win. It’s the second MWC championship in the Harsin era.

In related news, Fresno State unfortunately lost the Mountain West Championship:

This article does a great job detailed the Bulldogs 2nd half struggles, highlighting that they only managed 50 total 3Q yards and 35 in the 4th. Still, the Bulldogs have had a tremendous season, can hopefully finish with a win in Hawaii, and could be set up for years to come with their talent and growing ability to recruit.

Here’s a bit of backstory on the big play that turned the tide for the Broncos:

A halftime speech by their defensive captain kept the team believing, but the request of star WR Cedric Wilson to use a play they liked in 3rd and short situations in a 3rd and long from basically their own end zone gave the Broncos the boost they needed. Interesting that it states the ball is thrown to Wilson on that play regardless of if he is open or not.

Also, there was some (friendly?) banter going back and forth on social media this week:

Fresno State’s official account tweeted this one out on Thursday.

It’s actually a good hype up/take a shot tweet, but of course if they lose, it won’t be easily forgotten.

After the Bronco’s scored their go-ahead touchdown, their official account quoted the above tweet and added this (before the game was officially over actually).

I don’t think they were just concerned about properly disposing of paint cans.

Bowl pairings were announced Sunday, here’s the MWC slate:

• Boise State—Oregon (Vegas)
• Fresno State—Houston (Hawaii)
• SDSU— Army (Armed Forces)
• CSU—Marshall (New Mexico)
• Wyoming-Central Michigan (Potato)
• Utah St-NMSU (Arizona)

While the conference doesn’t have great tie-ins (Vegas is good and Hawaii usually is), the weak slate should help the conference finish bowl season above .500. The team to feel bad for is SDSU, who are 10-2 and were cast into the Armed Forces bowl agains Army, who has beaten no teams with a winning record.

In basketball news:

Boise State ends Oregon’s home win streak with a half-court buzzer-beater.

It was the 3rd straight great game between these two teams and after the Broncos felt like they should’ve won last year, they pulled it out this time. The Broncos look legit this season, with this win proving it, and that is good for the conference. It’s a great basketball conference, but has been a 1-bid league as of late. That number could increase this season.

Wolfpack Basketball keeps winning.

The conferences best basketball team is now 8-0 following a win against UC Irvine. This article discusses the possibility of an undefeated season and what it would need to do to accomplish that. (hint: winning games is a good start).