Mountaintop View 11-11-20

Happy Hump Day! And happy Veterans day to all of our readers who have served in the military (with a special shout-out to our Air Force vets!)!

Changes to the Mountain West basketball season.

The MW conferenced unveiled a new plan for basketball this season. Teams will plan 20 conference games, but those games will be grouped into two-game series throughout the season. Both the men’s and women’s teams will play two games in a week agains the same team in the same city over the 11-week schedule. This means teams will lose out on a home-court opportunity with half the teams they play but will only play at home against the other half, resulting in 5 home and 5 road series. The conference season will begin in December and end the week of February. The actual schedule will be redone and then announced accordingly.

How Nevada restrictions impact their practices.

Shortly after their latest victory, Washoe county began restricting gatherings from 250 to 50 people, which is smaller than a college football team. This means the Wolf Pack program has had to change up the way they are doing things. For instance, the offense and defense are practicing on different fields. They normally do two all-team meetings a week, which can’t happen at the moment. More importance has been placed on the scout teams. The players and staff aren’t making excuses, however.

Interim head coach a bitter-sweet role for Maile.

For the second time in three years, Frank Maile is in a familiar role as the interim head football coach of the Utah State Aggies. He recognizes the opportunity and wants to help turn the season around. However, fired coach Gary Andersen is one of his close friends, and the opportunity only comes as a result of that firing.

Coach Brennan named a top coach of the week.

Fresno State completes their 2023 schedule.

On the horizon:

• Later today: Aggies in the NFL
• Later today: Building a program: Scheduling Balance
• Later today: Bowl Projections: Week 3
• Coming tomorrow: Game previews will start rolling out.
• Coming tomorrow: Colorado State vs Boise State