Mountain West Bowl Projections: Week 1

The 2023 season is upon us. We are past the time of watch lists, and preseason awards and have entered the time of bowl projections. Our team at Mountain West Connection will be releasing our bowl projections each week. Now that every team has played, there are a number of changes made. Read our projections below and leave your own in the comments.

Mike

LA Bowl: Fresno State

Hawaii Bowl: Wyoming

New Mexico Bowl: San Diego State

Potato Bowl: Air Force

Arizona Bowl: San Jose State

Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Boise State

Other Bowl (TBD): UNLV

I’m making a lot of changes after the first full week of games. Last year, I held pretty steady the first few weeks, but this year, I’m going to The Bulldogs and Cowboys move to the top of my list after their big wins, with Boise State moving down. I also swapped UNLV and Colorado State after their opening win and lose, respectively. I would expect that last spot to change alot over the next few weeks.

Zach

LA Bowl: Wyoming

Hawaii Bowl: Boise State

New Mexico Bowl: UNLV

Potato Bowl: Air Force

Arizona Bowl: San Diego State

NY6 Bowl: Fresno State

Other Bowl (TBD): San Jose State

I made my bowl decisions based completely off of each team’s performance at this point. Fresno State made a strong case for top Group of Five performance of the weekend and they have a manageable schedule moving forward. Wyoming takes the second spot with an impressive win over Texas Tech.

Jeff

LA Bowl: Fresno State

Hawaii Bowl: Boise State

New Mexico Bowl: Wyoming

Potato Bowl: Air Force

Arizona Bowl: San Diego State

Other Bowl (TBD): San Jose State

Of course this is fluid. That’s the fun. My NY6 picking Boise is out. My outlier is Hawaii.

NittanyFalcon

LA Bowl: Fresno State

Hawaii Bowl: Wyoming

New Mexico Bowl: San Jose State

Potato Bowl: San Diego State

Arizona Bowl: Air Force

Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Boise State

Jack

LA Bowl: Fresno State

Hawaii Bowl: Wyoming

New Mexico Bowl: San Diego State

Potato Bowl: Colorado State

Arizona Bowl: Air Force

Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Boise State

Other Bowl (TBD): San Jose State

Dom

LA Bowl: Fresno State

Hawaii Bowl: Boise State

New Mexico Bowl: Wyoming

Potato Bowl: San Diego State

Arizona Bowl: San Jose State

Dom: I’m a full believer of Fresno State based on their Week 1 performance. I had faith in them in our preseason preview, but they’re continuing to prove why they’ll be better than many thought. The Mountain West title might up in their hands afterall.