This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Logan • Once upon a time, in a college football landscape far different than today, the Mountain West positioned itself as the best football conference in the country outside the Power 5.
But is that still the case?
Probably not, based on the latest evidence.
Mountain West teams have struggled this season, losing to nonconference opponents like North Dakota, South Alabama, Tulsa and Eastern Michigan.
With nine games remaining, the Mountain West is 15-27 outside the league, including only three high-quality wins by two teams. Boise State beat Washington (16-13) and Virginia (56-14) while Hawaii defeated Colorado in its opener (28-20).
One month into the season, the Mountain West does not have a team ranked in the top 25. Only Boise and Air Force have fewer than two losses.
One year ago, according to assistant commissioner Javan Hedlund, MWC teams won 30 nonleague games — a record since the departure of Utah, BYU and TCU in 2011 and 2012.
"People expect us to win," Hedlund said. "When they see us not winning as much as everyone expects, it draws some attention."
Hedlund points out that Mountain West teams have played well — but lost — against a handful of Power 5 teams. Air Force took second-ranked Michigan State into the fourth quarter, and Colorado State lost in overtime to Minnesota of the Big Ten and Colorado of the Pac-12.
Meanwhile, Boise State's only loss came after a last-minute Hail Mary touchdown pass by BYU. Otherwise, Hedlund said, the Broncos would be ranked "in the top 15 or 18."
"We're still positive," he continued. "There have been a lot of fingers pointed during the nonconference season, but that's because our schools and the media have the expectation that we can compete at the highest levels. We just haven't seen as many of those kind of wins as we have in the past. Not yet."
This week, Air Force plays unbeaten Navy and San Jose State visits Auburn. Later this season, Fresno State, Utah State and the Spartans play BYU.
Wins in some those games, Hedlund believes, would go a long way in restoring the Mountain West's claim as the top non-Power 5 league in the country — a group that also includes the American Athletic, the Mid-American, Conference USA and the Sun Belt.
"Most of our teams have played good schedules, which means tough schedules," said Utah State coach Matt Wells, whose Aggies have lost competitive games to Utah (24-14) and Washington (31-17).
"… Another thing is, you've seen a lot of quarterbacks in our league go down [because of injury]. That's something you have to sit back and look at. Unfortunately, that's been a little bit of a theme this year."
True enough.
Air Force has already lost starter Nate Romine for the season. Utah State's Chuckie Keeton is sidelined 4-6 weeks with a knee injury. Boise State's Ryan Finley is out eight weeks after fracturing his ankle. Fresno State has already lost two of its four scholarship quarterbacks. Wyoming starter Cameron Coffman missed one game with a knee injury and, in his place, backup Josh Allen was knocked out for the season with a broken collarbone.
Injuries and close losses aside, the Mountain West is fighting an uphill battle to stay competitive with Power 5 programs since the shake-up caused by conference realignment. The difference in money spent by P5 schools that is unavailable to teams in conferences like the Mountain West is staggering.
Washington, for example, has signed a 10-year, $41 million deal with Alaska Airlines for naming rights to Husky Stadium. Utah State, on the other hand, agreed to a stadium naming rights deal with Maverik last spring worth $6.3 million over 22 years.
Also, every Mountain West team except Wyoming will play at least one big-money road game this season against Power 5 opponents. It's done to improve the bottom line, not the win-loss record.
Exhibit A: Hawaii played Ohio State and Wisconsin in a three-week stretch. The Rainbow Warriors were outscored, 56-0, but also earned $2.3 million for their travels.
The good news for Mountain West teams?
The playing field is about to level off again, with their nonconferences games mostly behind them.
"The litmus test will start over the next four or five weeks," Nevada coach Brian Polian said, following a 44-27 loss at Texas A&M. "… The Mountain West doesn't look like the Pac-12 and doesn't look like the SEC. We're going to move forward on the schedule and we'll look like the people we're playing."
Twitter: @sluhm —
Colorado State at Utah State
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