The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: Mountain Division Preview

Freshmen are arriving on campus, and media days are on the horizon. With college football magazines already on the shelves, it is time for more predictions. This week, we will be looking at the Mountain Division.

The Good:

Boise State

Not only do the Broncos have a new head coach in Andy Avalos, they also have the toughest schedule in program history. Boise will travel to Orlando to take on UCF and Provo to take on BYU. The Broncos will also host an Oklahoma State team that is expected to be highly ranked. As far as the conference schedule goes, the Broncos will host Air Force, Wyoming, and Nevada in their toughest home games. They also have to travel to California twice to take on San Diego State and Fresno State. A double digit season would be a resounding success. I think 10-2 is possible, but 9-3 is more likely.

Wyoming

If we are being honest, Wyoming’s out of conference schedule is a joke, and anything less than 4-0 against Connecticut, Ball State, Montana State, and Northern Illinois will be a failure. The Cowboys do have to travel to Boise, San Jose, and Colorado Springs. But with this schedule, 8-4 or 9-3 should be manageable.

Air Force

The falcons is another team with a manageable OOC schedule. They should have a chance at a fast start against Lafayette, Navy, Utah State, and Florida Atlantic. The conference schedule is a bit tougher with games at Boise State and Nevada. The Falcons also have to host San Diego State and Wyoming. I see them finishing somewhere between 7-5 and 9-3.

The Bad:

Colorado State

The Rams will be a dangerous team this year with some really talented players, but I think they will fall just short of being a bowl team. Their out of conference schedule has some interesting games (South Dakota State, Iowa, Vanderbilt, Toledo), the Rams need to go at least 2-2 there. Their toughest conference games are at home (Boise State, Air Force, San Jose State) and they will need an upset or two to be in the bowl picture. I think the Rams finish somewhere between 4-8 and 6-6

New Mexico

The Lobos have an interesting schedule. If they can beat New Mexico State, they have an excellent chance at going 3-1 in OOC play. But, there aren’t a lot of opportunities for wins in conference play. 4-8 sounds about right for New Mexico.

The Ugly:

Utah State

The Aggies are lucky they have UNLV and New Mexico on their schedule, because there aren’t many opportunities for wins. They have New Mexico State and North Dakota in OOC play, but neither of those games are a lock. The Aggies landed some nice transfers, but they will be battling the Lobos, hoping to avoid last in the Mountain. 4-8 is a solid guess for the Aggies.

That’s it for this edition of “The Good, the Bad, the Ugly.” Next week we will be taking a peek at the teams in the West Division. How do you see things playing out in the Mountain? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.