Mountaintop View 10-31-18

The first College Football Playoff rankings are out, and they feature a Mountain West team. Read on to find out which one.

San Diego State stars set to return

Though Ryan Agnew will be the Aztecs’ starting quarterback this week against New Mexico, head coach Rocky Long said Chapman will play in the first half. Chapman sprained his MCL in the second game of the season against Sacramento State. Running back Juwan Washington could also return to the lineup soon. The star running back had 513 yards through 4 games prior to his injury.

New Mexico hoping quarterback change will spark team

After 3 straight losses, the Lobos are looking to Coltin Gerhart to right the ship. Gerhart started the season as the backup prior to starter Tevaka Tuioti’s injury. Gerhart was also injured while replacing Tuioti. He’s recently recovered from his foot injury and will take over the starting role from Sheriron Jones.

Harsin aims to keep assistant salaries at top of Group of 5

When Boise State hired Harsin in 2014, he negotiated a salary pool of $2.2 million for his assistant coaches. At the time, Boise State’s assistants were the highest paid in the Group of Five. Last year, they ranked fourth. In his new contract, Harsin negotiated the pool to be “at least” $2.2 million in hopes of retaining his talented assistant coaches.

A close look at Nevada’s attendance problem

Nevada ranks 10th out of 12 Mountain West schools in average home attendance, and only 15,000 fans showed up to their big victory of San Diego State on Saturday. In an attempt to determine the cause, this analysis found that kickoff times have minimal impact despite that being a common excuse.

Fresno State makes first playoff ranking