MWCConnection Roundtable: Who wins the MWC this season?

Here we are. The last week of our off-season weekly feature, because actual football starts tomorrow! With the last post comes the biggest question, which team will win the Mountain West Conference championship in the 2019 season?

Bruce: This is a really good question. I think there will be four teams competing for the hunt of the conference title game. The schools are Fresno State, Boise State, Utah State, and Nevada.

The Bulldogs and Broncos will repeat first place in their divisions like they did last year. But in the conference game, I think Boise State will get their revenge on Fresno State in the title game in late November.

For Utah State and Nevada, I will place them in second place finishes in their divisions with no more than two losses. But they could possibly be qualified to a more watchable bowl game in December.

Jeremy: *Braces for tomatoes* I’m going with Fresno State. I think the Bulldogs host the championship and defeat Boise State. The Broncos make the conference championship in large due to Utah State being saddled with a brutal schedule, but instability at quarterback (I think Cord starts and struggles) leads to a few hiccups that force the Broncos to play on the road in December. I think Fresno’s offense will take a step back, but it won’t matter because I’m predicting the defense to be ruthlessly dominant once again. Boise State’s defense will be pretty good too, but not dominant thanks to breaking in a new, somewhat inexperienced defensive coordinator.

Utah State, Air Force, Wyoming, San Diego State are my picks to potentially supplant the above mentioned teams.

Zach: I’m already on the record saying Boise State hosts Fresno State in a rubber match. I think Boise State has a clearer path to the championship game. The Fresno State/San Diego State game will ultimately decide who walks away with the west division. I think the Broncos will be settled in at quarterback and will walk away with a narrow victory.

Hawaii has an outside shot to sneak in the game as they play host to both Fresno State and San Diego State. But they would need to sweep those games. Keep a close eye on Wyoming, they have one of the easier schedules in the conference.

Mike: GIVE ME BOISE STATE/FRESNO STATE ROUND 3!!! The best two teams in the conference meet once again in the championship game. The two teams have split their last four meetings over the past two years and there’s no reason this game won’t go down to the wire as well. Predicting the winner may as well be a coin flip. I picked Boise State last year, citing they were defending champs. I’ll do the same this year (even though I was wrong last year), picking Fresno State as the team to beat until proven otherwise.

FatDuckUW: Boise State. They have a fairly easy schedule by their standards, and I just think they are the most likely team in the conference to win 10 or more games. On the West Division side, I like San Diego State or Fresno State to make the championship game. I expect the Aztecs to bounce back in 2019, so I see them competing for the conference championship. The Bulldogs have continued to exceed expectations since Tedford took over, so Fresno State is, at a minimum, in the running to win the conference again this year.

Alex Wright: Looking at the conference I do not see a single clear cup favorite for the championship. Instead there is a group of four teams, Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Utah State, that are in the top tier of the conference. Of those four teams, I am going to stick with the team that I cast my vote for to win the conference during our Kickoff Week, San Diego State. They have a favorable schedule, and should bounce back after a 7-6 season last year. Juwan Washington will have a monster year rushing and the defense will be back to form. An excellent defense with an elite rusher is a recipe for success in this conference, and I see the Aztecs taking down the Broncos in the title game. Like I mentioned, there is a very thin margin between those four teams, and if the Aztecs do not win the title, it will be one of the other three teams mentioned.

Adam Evarts: I’ve been saying all summer, and I’m sticking with them; Fresno State. Tedford does have to replace McMaryion, but this team is still in good hands with Jorge Reyna. Ronnie Rivers returns in the backfield to provide a solid foundation for the running game. The defense is loaded as well with Mykal Walker and Jaron Bryant expected to have huge seasons. This team will be tested right out of the gates too with games against USC, and with what will be an interesting week two matchup versus Minnesota. Their conference schedule has three games that they’ll need solid all around games to win with those being Utah State, Hawaii, and San Diego State. I think that there is also a high possibility of a rematch of the game that will be played on November 9th with the aforementioned Utah State. All in all though this is a Bulldog team that could very well sneak up on one of their two big non conference foes, and who knows, a win over both could have the Dawgs thinking New Year’s Six.

Matt: Since SOMEBODY *glares at Craig Thompson* made it so that we can’t play them annually, I guess Fresno State and Boise State will just have to meet in the championship game every year. That will give us the 5th game between the two in 3 years, and things are all knotted up at 2. I think this would be a good time for the Bulldogs to lean on their defense and take their 4th Mountain West Championship. The schedule will really come down to the two weeks in November against Utah State and San Diego State, but I think if the Bulldogs can retain the elite defense they had last year, they can hold anybody in check.

Alex Valle: I think San Diego State is going to win the MWC in 2019. They have a few games at the beginning of the season that will reveal how good this team really is this year. With numerous players returning on offense and defense this team should outperform their 7-6 record from last year. One player that will make or break this team is Juwan Washington who has not performed as well as the previous starting running backs. This team should surprise the whole conference this year and will most likely have to face Boise State in the championship game.