Power Rankings 2023 Week 9: Teams rise, teams fall, and the top and bottom stay the same.

We are back at it. Now that the college football season is a month old, the rankings have a large enough sample size to begin to solidify week to week. This week, not much has changed even though the conference had a great week overall. Take a look at this week’s MWCConnection Power Rankings, and let us know what you like and what you don’t. Feel free to drop your own rankings in the comments section.

Here are last week’s rankings for reference.

1) Air Force

7-0? Check. Undefeated in conference play? Check. Won the big matchup against Wyoming while coming from behind? Check. Beat rival Navy in dominating fashion? Check. Winning the Ram-Falcon Trophy? Check.

Air Force has passed every single test thus far. They are full steam ahead towards the Mountain West championship and are in the driver’s seat for the New Year’s Six Bowl. They are a forced to be reckoned with on both sides of the ball.

2) Fresno State

The Bulldogs move back up following their win coupled with Wyoming’s loss. They are a strong team that can beat the opposition. on the strength of their offense or defense on any given night. While Fresno State is beatable, they also have learned how to close out games this season, which aided them last week and will likely aid them at different points in the rest of the season.

3) Wyoming

The Cowboys drop a spot after their big loss to Boise State. It was easily their worst game of the season as they played uncharacteristic, not being able to run the ball and looking confused on defense. Wyoming is still having a very good season, but they need to finish strong and their game coming out of the bye week was not a good step towards that.

4) UNLV

The Rebels continue their strong season. although they suffered a close loss this past weekend. While a pessimist could say they lost against better competition, an optimist would say they played with the Bulldogs the entire game and had a chance to win. This is still a season of learning for UNLV and they are still learning to close out games. But UNLV basically holds its ground this week as they are still the fourth-best team in the conference at this point.

5) Utah State

Bye week, no change below.

The Aggies did not have their best showing this past week, but still seem to be the best of the rest in the Mountain West. Their offense is lethal when it’s going right and while they are inconsistent, usually Utah State is able to put it together for at least a half. They are not a team that any other conference mate wants to play at this point in the season.

6) Boise State

The Broncos played their best and most complete game of the season, jumping out to a fast start on both sides of the ball and for once, not letting the other team back in the game in the second half. They spread the ball around on offense and did a superb job tackling on defense. As always, the question is will Boise State look as good next week?

7) Colorado State

Another game, another hard found loss for the Rams. They have played well in recent weeks, but it wasn’t enough going up against the best team in the Mountain West, Air Force. Their offensive prowess seems to come and ago, which makes it hard to win consistently. While Colorado State has improved and is much more competitive this season, they still have a ways to go.

8) San Jose State

The Spartans have gotten back on track the past two weeks, although it’s no surprise they took care of business against Hawaii. The San Jose State offense looks like it can compete against anwayone and keep them in most games. Unfortuantely, it hasn’t really played out that way for them this season. For one week, they defense looked great, pitching a shut out, keeping the run-and-shoot at bay.

9) San Diego State

Bye week, no change below.

It has been an awful year for the Aztecs and this past weekend was the low point (hopefully). Not only did they lose, they lost to Nevada, who was winless coming into the game. Not only did they lose to Nevada, but they got shut out, barely getting over 200 yards during the game and going 1 for 13 on third and fourth downs. No one is having a good time in San Diego at this point.

10) Nevada

With back to back wins, it’s appearing that the Wolf Pack may have figured something out. Their offense is still hit or miss, scoring 34 points this week after only mustering two field goals last week. However, their defense has been coming on strong, creating turnovers and finding different ways to confuse opponents and cause havoc. It’s nice to see Nevada finding ways to improve as the season goes on, and they have a shot to make it three in a row next week.

11) New Mexico

After a great win last week, the Lobos came back down to earth this week. They played a tough game against Nevada in an evenly matched battle. However, New Mexico has some old offensive problems resurface, allowing the Wolf Pack to capitalize on mistakes and come away with the victory. As has been said a few times this year, New Mexico is an overall better team this season, but it’s looking less likely that they will fulfill their goal of making a bowl game this year.

12) Hawaii

Times are tough for the Rainbow Warriors take the bottom spot. They started the season off competitive, but that is longer enough for this struggling team. They are getting overmatched in nearly every phase of the game and though they have a few wins on their schedule, it’s been tough sledding for Hawaii the past few weeks. They have been blown out in back-to-back weeks and perhaps even more concerning is their offense failed to score any points in their last game.