Peak Perspective: The MWCConnection 2022 Year in Review

Happy New Year everyone! Thanks for following along with us the past year as we strive to bring you the best coverage of the Mountain West we possibly can. Once again, we take a day to revisit some of our more memorable posts from the previous year. Some of these are on here because they were some of our most viewed posts this year. Some are on here because they were very original or relevant posts at the time. And some were on here just because they were fun or interesting ideas.

Todd Graham resigns.

The year kicked off with a bang when Todd Graham stepped down after a mass exodus of players and a very public display of displeasure with his tenure. The state got involved and a hearing was had.

Timmy Chang hired.

A week or so late, the hometown hero returned home once again when former QB Timmy Chang was announced as the head coach. Energy was instantly injected back into the program, even if experience was not.

Paul Skenes kicks off a remarkable season.

When baseball season started, we become more familiar with two-way phenom Paul Skenes out of Air Force. A spectacular pitcher and hitter, he led the Falcons all the way to the NCAA Baseball tournament. Alas, the Falcons were eliminated and Skenes transferred.

The Last interview with Lawrence Fan.

In a haunting realization, Vic’s interview with Lawrence a few weeks before his passing ended up being the last interview he had. It was an honor to be the site to receive his words, and he had helped us out on numerous occasions over the years.

Proposal to change the MWC basketball tournaments.

In an attempt to help the Mountain West increase their likelihood of being a multi-bid league, Toby outlined a system to give top seeds more byes in order to help them in their quest to make the NCAA tournament.

Ram interviews.

Colorado State had a great men’s basketball team last season and Lute was able to secure a few interviews with them at various points of the season. This one is with David Roddy.

Deepest football and MBB seasons.

At the conclusion of last year’s football and men’s basketball seasons, we discussed why it was the deepest the conference has been in those two sports in quite some time, and the first time they were deep in both sports at once.

Is MWC football overrated?

We also explored the concept of football teams in the Mountain West being overrated. They haven’t been in the running for being the top G5 conference in a while, despite the perception of being right behind the AAC. How do they change that?

Why I Write.

In June we kicked off our summer series entitled Why I Write. Many of our writers explained their background, how they found their way to MWCConnection, and what they enjoy about being part of the team. It was fun to write and fun to read.

No divisions in the conference.

There are lots of changes coming to college football and one of them is conferences getting rid of divisions. Back in June, we hypothesized what a division-less Mountain West could look like.

Then, in October, we discussed the results of the Mountain West’s decisions on scheduling.

Everyone’s favorite topic: Conference realignment.

The fate of the PAC and, therefore, the fate of the MWC, was discussed a lot over the summer and Zach did a great job highlighting different potential outcomes here.

Transfer portal categories.

For the first time, we looked at where players who transferred from Mountain West schools ended up (or didn’t). It is an interesting study in what happens to transfers and will be fun to look at each coming year.

Comparing the PAC and MWC conferences.

We’ve compared the Mountain West to the American for years. However, with the PAC spiraling and the MWC beating teams from that conference year after year, we compared their season in 2021.

Is realignment best for Boise State?

We had a guest post about the pros and cons of Boise State leaving and staying in the Mountain West. It’s an interesting discussion, especially with the college football playoff expansion. Speaking of...

College Football Playoff Expansion!

Play expansion was finally announced in September. It was basically the model that was denied the previous year. And, the Mountain West’s very own Craig Thompson was one of the architects of the model. Speaking of...

Craig Thompson announces his retirement.

Apparently, overseeing the playoff expansion was the last item on his to do list, so he announced his retirement, effective at the end of this past calendar year.

Hawaii gameday experience.

Jeremy was on location at a Hawaii game this year and wrote about his experience.

Interview with Sierra Garcia.

In this post, we got to learn more about how the conference markets itself and about its partnership with JMI Sports.

RIP Camdan McWright

In October, San Jose State lost one of its players, Camdan, in a tragic accident. It shook the entire program, and Vic covered the story here.

The Mountain West was bad this year.

It was not a great season for Mountain West football. In this post, we offered some reasons as to why that was.

Mountain West hires Gloria Nevarez as new Commissioner.

With pretty much no rumors or leaks, the MWC announced a new leader on a Friday morning. Gloria brings a great track record and looks extremely qualified for the job.

A closer look into Polynesian culture.

Vic took a deep dive into the culture of the Polynesians ahead of the SJSU/Hawaii rivalry game. As always, with his work, it’s worth the read and reread.

Arroyo fired.

In an absolutely stunning move, UNLV decided to fire head coach Marcus Arroyo, in what was his most competitive and successful year to date.

The MWC could never get back to a NY6 Bowl.

As we enter into the final season of the current CFP structure, we look at how far away the Mountain West has gotten from competing for a NY6 bowl, despite being the conference to earn the bid in the first season.

Barry Odom hired as Rebels coach.

The Arroyo firing was shocking, and honestly, so was the hiring of Barry Odom. Arkansas’ defensive coordinator doesn’t have any direct ties to UNLV. However, he brings experience in the SEC and he has led teams to bowl games, which is something the Rebels could use. So far, he’s made some high profile assistant coaching hires.

Reviewing the preseason AP poll.

Toby has been great all fall with his Stats Corner columns. They are all worth checking out, but this one should appeal to any audience. It reviews the preseason AP and shows what it got right and wrong.

Mountain West basketball is even better this season than it was last season.

Mountain West men’s basketball felt back last year and seems better even better this year. Matt Hanifan details the reasons why here.

There you have it, the top stories on our site in 2022. We can’t wait to see what 2023 looks like and hope you continue following along with us!