by Bradford Christensen
As a weekly feature, I'll be posting the "Mountain West Round-Up" Conference Power Rankings by evaluating each team based on their performance, resume and other factors. With a few days until the season starts, now is a good time to post my pre-season rankings.
1. #14 TCU - The defending conference champions obviously start the season in the top spot. Sophomore QB Casey Pachall makes his first career start this week on the road against a decent Baylor team.
2. Air Force - Troy Calhoun returns one of his best teams ever (14 starters) including senior QB Tim Jefferson after finishing 9-4 last year. The Falcons open with South Dakota at home this week before facing the defending conference champions in week 2.
3. San Diego State - The Aztecs are transitioning from Brady Hoke (left for Michigan) to Rocky Long (former D-Coordinator) after a successful 2010 season (9-4). We probably won't learn too much about the new-look Aztecs this week as they play Cal Poly.
4. Colorado State - I'm not sure the Rams deserve to start in this spot but this is where they fell. Steve Fairchild's team is coming off a disappointing 3-9 season but there's optimism in Fort Collins that this year should be better. A road opener at New Mexico could be a decent gauge for which direction these teams will be headed.
5. UNLV - 2-11 isn't an ideal record for a first year coach (Bobby Hauck) and 2011 might not be any better with a fairly difficult non-conference schedule including the season opener on Thursday night against Wisconsin
6. Wyoming - The Pokes could struggle this year with zero experienced quarterbacks on the roster but the first three games are winnable including the home opener against Weber State.
7. #5 Boise State - The Broncos dominated the WAC for the last 10 seasons and have become a top-10 team but have yet to prove anything in the Mountain West, which is why they're ranked so low. Their opener against Georgia should be one of the best games of the weekend.
8. New Mexico - Back-to-back 1-11 seasons will pretty much guarantee a spot in the cellar, even behind the conference newcomers. Until the Lobos actually do something worth rewarding, I imagine they'll be here for awhile.
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4 comments:
Are you kidding me? Boise State has something to prove? Their combined record over the past decade is an astounding 114-16. They have never lost more than 4 games a season in that span, and have had double digit wins every year but 2005. The past two seasons they have finished off with victories over MW teams TCU and Utah. Heck, last season the Broncos blasted the Cowboys, whom you have them ranked behind, 51-6. They may not deserve an automatic number 1 slot, but they certainly under no sane decision deserve to be ranked below the top three spots in the Mountain West, and DEFINITELY not in the next to last slot. Thats just nuts.
It's a valid position, IMO, even though I don't agree either. They've never played Air Force, for example. This isn't a predicted order of finish. Bradford will be doing a power rankings every week, and you're sure to see Boise rise.
If it matters, the author of this post is a Boise fan himself.
Imagine if you dropped say, 2004 USC into the mix instead of Boise State. Based on the same "they are new to the conference" criteria would you really rank the Trojans below virtually every other team? I doubt it. Regardless of who BSU has or hasn't played in the conference, I think its safe to say they have shown themselves to be more than equal or below teams like Wyoming, UNLV and Colorado State.
Hey David,
There's no doubt the Broncos have arrived nationally and have beaten MWC teams in the past. Obviously they appear to be the head of the conference and perhaps even a national title contender but those are all assumptions based on the past. I'm not saying it will happen, but Boise State could feasibly lose to Air Force, San Diego State and TCU in-conference this year - we simply don't know (CSU could be a team to look out for too). I can assure if the Broncos win on Saturday they'll be moving up.
As far as dropping the '04 USC team into the mix - that's a slightly different story. USC would be coming from a BCS conference with a storied history. I'm not not sure it's quite the same comparison.
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