Preseason Bowl Projections

Our team will be predicting where we think Mountain West school will end this bowl season (if they happen). With so much up in the air (no win requirements), we are sticking with Mountain West bowl tie-ins and New Year’s Six games. That will change as the season progresses. For the first few weeks, we are just going to project where we think Mountain West teams will land. Here we go...

Zach:

Los Angeles Bowl: Boise State

New Mexico Bowl: Nevada

Potato Bowl: Air Force

Arizona Bowl: San Diego State

Frisco Bowl: Wyoming

The bowl situation is a mess this year. I went with picks based off of who the best teams in the conference will be. I think BSU wins the MW and Wyoming and SDSU are in a close race for second. The Aztecs have a more favorable schedule, so that may give them the advantage. Boise State will fall just short of a New Year’s Six game and will represent the Mountain West in the inaugural Los Angeles Bowl. There are some more Mountain West teams that will likely land in bowls, but at this point it is nearly impossible to speculate.

Mike:

Los Angeles Bowl: Boise State

New Mexico Bowl: Nevada

Potato Bowl: Air Force

Arizona Bowl: San Diego State

Frisco Bowl: Wyoming

As defending champ, Boise State gets the nod for the new LA Bowl. I think Air Force, Wyoming and San Diego State are other strong teams heading into the MWC, in that order. Lastly, I see Nevada having just good enough of a season to get into a bowl, similar to how they have the past two years. I was high on Colorado State over the summer, but that was back when they still had Warren Jackson. I’ll be keeping an eye on them.

Graham:

Los Angeles Bowl: San Diego State

New Mexico Bowl: Hawaii

Potato Bowl: Air Force

Arizona Bowl: Wyoming

Frisco Bowl: Utah State

Fiesta Bowl: Boise State

Here’s the thing: if this question had been asked a week ago, I probably wouldn’t have gone with the Boise State pick because UCF and Memphis both had big leads. However, both UCF and Memphis lost and both are more than likely going to lose again. Whoever loses the UCF Memphis game next week will be out of the running with two losses. Cincinnati is still a threat however they haven’t faced any competition besides Army and Army made that game close and they still play at Tulsa and at UCF. SMU is also a threat but will also likely lose. BYU is going to be undefeated and ranked when they come to Boise State, there is little doubt about that (maybe BYU loses to Houston but Houston had a lot of mistakes this past Thursday night). If Boise State runs the table which isn’t hard to think they might do so, they will certainly get the nod over a one loss or two loss American team. Boise State came oh so close to getting the Cotton Bowl bid last year but this year they actually make it through. As for Utah State, I think it is a close call between Utah State and Nevada for the bowl bid but I am giving the edge to the Aggies because they return some good receivers, a really experienced offensive line and they also have playmakers on defense.

NittanyFalcon:

Los Angeles Bowl: Boise State

New Mexico Bowl: Nevada

Potato Bowl: Air Force

Arizona Bowl: Wyoming

Frisco Bowl: San Diego State

Boise State should probably get the NY6 but won’t, because of the fewer games and the bias toward the AAC.

Alex:

Los Angeles Bowl: Boise State

New Mexico Bowl: Nevada

Potato Bowl: Air Force

Arizona Bowl: Wyoming

Frisco Bowl: San Diego State

With there only being eight games, and them being all conference games (for most), there will not be a lot of time for teams to get in a rhythm. Which means we might not see as many Mountain West teams this year be bowl eligible as last year. But, in this strange year of unknowns, who knows? There will definitely be some surprises this year, but we will not know until we see all teams in action.

Danny:

Los Angeles Bowl: San Diego State

New Mexico Bowl: San Jose State

Potato Bowl: Wyoming

Arizona Bowl: Nevada

Frisco Bowl: Air Force

Fiesta Bowl: Boise State

I went into the bowl projections with the full knowledge that predicting things in 2020 is futile. With that in mind, it just feels like a very Boise State thing to make a NY6 game in the strangest of seasons. I also decided to give my wildcard team (San Jose State) a bowl game. Let’s get weird!

Adam:

Los Angeles Bowl: Boise State

New Mexico Bowl: Nevada

Potato Bowl: Air Force

Arizona Bowl: Wyoming

Frisco Bowl: San Diego State

That’s it for this round of bowl projections. Be sure to see what adjustments are made after week one!