The MWCConnection 2022 Preseason Awards and Predictions

Welcome to Kickoff Week here at MWCConnection! Coinciding with MWC Media Days week, it is the unofficial start to the football season. It’s a great time to get hyped about your team and start getting nuggets of football news. Yesterday was our all-conference team, which can be found here.

Today, we are releasing our preseason awards as well as our predictions for division standings and conference champion. Like yesterday’s post, our team members submitted their picks and the players and teams with the most votes won out. Take a look at what we compiled below:

Awards

Offensive Player of the Year:

• Jake Haener (Fresno State)

Defensive Player of the Year:

• Caden McDonald (San Diego State)

Special Teams Player of the Year:

• Jordan Byrd (San Diego State)

Offensive Breakout Player of the Year:

• Clay Millen (Colorado State)

Defensive Breakout Player of the Year:

• Brennon Scott (UNLV)

Offensive Freshman of the Year:

• Ashton Jeanty (Boise State)

Defensive Freshman of the Year:

• CJ Baskerville (San Diego State)

Coach of the Year:

• Jeff Tedford (Fresno State)

Predictions

The points for voting went as followed: 6 points for a first-place vote, 5 for second, 4 for third place, and so on.

Mountain Division Standings:

1. Air Force
2. Boise State
3. Utah State/Colorado State
4. Utah State/Colorado State
5. Wyoming
6. New Mexico

West Division Standings:

1. Fresno State
2. San Diego State
3. San Jose State
4. UNLV
5. Nevada
6. Hawaii

Conference Champion:

• Fresno State

Notes:

• Jake Haener and Brennon Scott were the unanimous selections in the voting this year.
• In the other races, Caden McDonald, Ashton Jeanty, and CJ Baskerville all won their categories relatively easily.
• On the other hand, STPOY, offensive breakout player, and coach of the year were all tight races.
• Offensive breakout player of the year was a two-person race, with both of the players getting votes belonging to Colorado State (Dante Wright was the other player who received votes)
• All categories had only two vote-getters, which was unique compared to other years.
• The West division had some predictability, with only the Bulldogs and Aztecs receiving votes in the top two spots. However, three different teams got votes for last place in the division.
• The Rebels were the hardest team to place, being picked anywhere form third to sixth.
• Air Force was picked first for all but one vote (Boise State being the other one) and was picked no lower than second.
• Speaking of the Broncos, they ranged from anywhere from second to fourth in the Mountain division.
• The middle of the division was difficult for the voters to predict, as everyone had different variations for the order of finish.
• New Mexico was the consensus last place selection for every voter.
• Fresno State and San Diego State were the only two teams who received votes for conference champion.

There it is. So let’s hear it. Who did we snub? Who did we put on here that shouldn’t be? Let’s hear your feedback in the comments section.

Coming tomorrow: Our Kickoff Week continues as tomorrow we will take a look at which teams have the best position units heading into 2022.