Mountain West Teams Ranked by Football Power Index

The beginning of the college football season is always an interesting time to look at ranking systems, especially when thinking about Group of Five teams and the coveted Group of Five New Year Six spot, which will likely be the Fiesta Bowl this year. Up first, let’s take a look at the power index rankings for the Mountain West from 2022.

Mountain West Power Index 2022

These were the final rankings of 2022:

1. Boise State (Rank: 54)
2. Air Force (Rank: 56)
3. Fresno State (Rank: 57)
4. San Diego State (Rank: 88)
5. San Jose State (Rank: 89)
6. Wyoming (Rank: 102)
7. UNLV (Rank: 106)
8. Utah State (Rank: 109)
9. Nevada (Rank: 123)
10. Colorado State (Rank: 125)
11. New Mexico (Rank: 128)
12. Hawaii (Rank: 129)

Mountain West Football Power Index 2023 (Updated September 9th)

1. Fresno State (Rank: 64, moving up 10 spots) Projected regular season record: 9-3
2. Boise State (Rank: 73, moving down 17 spots) Projected regular season record: 7-5
3. Wyoming (Rank: 77, moving up 12 spots) Projected regular season record: 8-4
4. Air Force (Rank: 82, moving up 4 spots) Projected regular season record: 7-5
5. San Jose State (Rank: 86, moving up 15 spots) Projected regular season record: 6-6
6. Utah State (Rank: 100, moving up 19 spots) Projected regular season record: 6-6
7. San Diego State (103, moving down 13 spots) Projected regular season record: 6-6
8. Hawaii (Rank: 114, moving up 2 spots) Projected regular season record: 5-7
9. UNLV (Rank: 116, moving down 1 spot) Projected regular season record: 5-7
10. Nevada (Rank: 121, moving down 4 spots) Projected regular season record: 4-8
11. Colorado State (Rank: 128, moving down 8 spots) Projected regular season record: 4-8
12. New Mexico (Rank: 132, moving down 1 spot) Projected regular season record: 4-8

Mountain West compared to the AAC

As of September 9th the top overall AAC team is projected to be SMU, with an FPI rank of 45 and a projected regular season record record of 9-3. Tulane is the next team up with a rank of 49 and a projected regular season record of 9-3 or 8-4 and this is followed by UTSA with a rank of 55 and a projected regular season record of 7-5. The last team in the AAC that could be expected to compete for the Group of Five spot as of now is Memphis with an FPI score of 58 and a projected record of 8-4.

The Mountain West may have the advantage at this point as they boast two wins over power five teams as Fresno State beat Purdue (39-35) and Wyoming beat Texas Tech (35-33) in double overtime.

So as of now Fresno State may be the projected Group of Five representative.