What an insane week for Mountain West football. Let’s dive right in with this installment of the Mountain West Power Rankings Vol. 3.
12. San Jose State — The Spartans lost to Utah State 61-10 this weekend. 61 to 10. Combine that with their loss the previous week to the Utah Utes and they’ve been defeated by the state of Utah 115-26. For the record, that’s not good. The Spartans are allowing an AVERAGE of 53 points per game against FBS opponents. Ouch.
11. Nevada — The Wolf Pack went into Pullman to face Washington State, and got sent home with a 45-7 drubbing, but, come on they were supposed to get drubbed by the Cougs on the road. At least they found the end zone once. Nevada, somehow, moves up.
10. UNLV — The Rebels went and squared off with Ohio State, this weekend and covered the spread! Granted, the spread was 40 points, but hey if you bet on the Rebels +40, you made yourself a little money. UNLV moves up.
9. Fresno State — Well, usually not playing a game is good for teams in the bottom half of the power rankings, but not this week for Fresno. They move down in the rankings, mostly because of impressive performances from other teams. Fresno gets Nevada next week, so look for them to move up in Vol. 4.
8. Utah State — The Aggies (Originally short for Agriculturalists...seriously) dropped a 61 burger on San Jose State this weekend. Which is really only eight points better than the average amount of points that SJSU gives up, so not a huge whoop, but still 61 is 61. Aggies move up.
7. New Mexico — New Mexico is so weird. Seriously, so freaking weird. They lose to in-state little brother New Mexico State, then they play Boise tough with their QB3, and finish the uptrend off with an upset over Tulsa this weekend. New Mexico is always good for one or two of these types of wins a year. Their house may not be in order, but New Mexico moves up.
6. Boise State — The Broncos got BLOWN OUT this Saturday, at home, by Virginia. Bronco Mendenhall out schemed, out prepared, and out coached Boise. And for the first time in a long time, Boise just doesn’t look good enough to compete with even low-end power-five teams. The Broncos no longer the benefit of the doubt. They have to prove it from here on out. The Broncos plummet.
5. Hawaii — Fine. Hawaii lost to Wyoming in over-time. But the game was on the road, and Wyoming in September is basically the antithesis of Hawaii. The Warriors move down one spot. I don’t want to talk about it. Rolovich still rules.
4. Wyoming — The Cowboys beat Hawaii, so I couldn't very well rank them lower than Hawaii. But, they BARELY beat Hawaii, so they are BARELY ahead of Hawaii. Cowboys move up. In all seriousness though, if Josh Allen can get into a rhythm, watch out for the Cowboys down the stretch.
3. Air Force — The Falcons gave San Diego State everything it could handle this past Saturday. They even summoned a weather delay to try and through off the Aztecs. You have that kind of power when you’re the greatest air force in the world. The Academy almost pulled off a huge upset, but just ran out of gas, err jet-fuel. Air Force leaps up the standings.
2. Colorado State — The Rams deserved a break. You can’t be expected to play Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, then turn around play a game the next week. Luckily for the Rams, the teams ahead of them didn’t do so hot this week, so by virtue of that - CSU slides into the number two spot.
1. San Diego State — The Aztecs had a fight on their hands this weekend with Air Force. About halfway though the fourth quarter it looked like the New Year’s Six talk was a bit premature, but the Aztecs did what good teams do, they found a way to win in adversity. SDSU is still the best team in the Mountain West, but the gap is smaller than it was last week.
There it is, Volume Three of your Mountain West Power Rankings! Agree? Disagree? Blow me up on twitter @Stubbs_SBN or leave a comment, and I’ll tell you why you’re wrong.