2022 Mountain West Predictions
Photo by Jerome Miron from USA Today Sports
Before we begin, let us remember Mountain West legend and #PuntGod Matt Araiza.
A man who could boot a ball farther than any of us could have ever imagined and the most runaway Ray Guy winner I can remember. He is now punting bombs in a better place.
Buffalo.
But in his wake, we have to find a new Mountain Time Zone hero to worship.
I wonder who it will be.
Mountain Division
1. Boise State Broncos
I’ll stick with the obvious pick here and go with ol’ reliable and Boise State to win the Mountain Division.
They had a year by their standards last season, but with experience under their wings now I expect them to run away with it this season.
2. Air Force Falcons
A little ironic the Air Force has such a run heavy offense.
But they do. And ask any team who has played a service academy with an experienced quarterback, the option is an incredibly difficult thing to stop.
There are questions with the defense now that coordinator John Rudzinski left to be the new Virginia head coach, but that won’t matter if the defense is hardly on the field due to Air Force wasting so much time on offense with the option.
3. Utah State Aggies
Utah State won the Mountain last year and then went on to win the entire Mountain West with a dominating win over San Diego State.
But boy oh boy was that team lucky last year.
I’ve done a few of these previews already, so if you’ve read them you know what I’m going to say.
That’s not sustainable.
With that level of luck and a heavy number of returning starters for Boise State and Air Force, I can’t see them repeating.
4. Wyoming Cowboys
Wyoming can’t really score.
But that’s ok, because the two teams below them have either too many questions or too much of a talent deficiency to be picked above them.
And 4th isn’t so bad!
5. Colorado State Rams
Colorado State has 11 transfers from Nevada alone as the old Wolf Pack coach Jay Norvell has gone to Colorado State.
Nevada went 8-5 last year, which is good! So these new transfers should definitely help Colorado State.
But football typically has more than just 11 players, so there’s no guarantee these transfers will automatically mesh as Rams.
But it could. And if it does, I’ll look like an idiot!
6. New Mexico Lobos
I feel bad, but New Mexico just isn’t very good.
They’re working at it, and that’s great. But they’re going to continue to be last until I see them get out of the bottom.
West Division
1. San Diego State Aztecs
I’ll actually talk about two teams at once, because this was a tough decision. So just keep reading below.
2. Fresno State Bulldogs
I went back and forth between SDSU and Fresno.
Fresno returns a ton of starters including quarterback Jake Haener, but lost their coach as Kalen DeBoer went to Washington.
San Diego State’s defense is unbelievably good, but their offense is pretty not great.
I don’t know. It’s a hard decision.
But I went with my gut and chose to pick the great defense and stability at coach instead of the new head coach coming in at Fresno.
But if you’re someone who bets, you really can’t go wrong either way here.
3. UNLV Rebels
UNLV got hot to end the season last year, which doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to keep that going.
But the other options aren’t exactly gangbusters, so the Rebels are going to be 3rd.
But the gap between 1/2 and 3 is large. Very large.
4. San Jose State Spartans
San Jose State’s amazing 2020 season looks more like a flash in the pan than anything truly real.
I wish that wasn’t the case, but it sure seems like it after they went 5-7 last year.
In fact, that 2020 season was the most recent winning season SJSU had since 2012, and that was their first since 2006.
Seasons like that aren’t sustainable for the Spartans.
5. Nevada Wolfpack
Remember all those transfers I mentioned that left earlier? As did their coach?
Yeah, they won’t be very good in year 0.
6. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
But that’s ok, because Hawaii is also in a year 0 and was so poorly run before hand that the coach’s son didn’t even want to play for him anymore.
If you’re a G5 school, not a good team and yet somehow still in the national media, you know something is going very, very wrong.
That’s a harder mountain to climb than Nevada.
Mountain West Championship Game Prediction
The MWC title game will feature Boise State and San Diego State.
You may recall that earlier I mentioned San Diego State got clobbered in the MWC championship last year, so you know that’s on their minds as they return.
The bad news is that Boise State won the Mountain Division 4 straight years before Utah State stole it from them last season.
That ain’t gonna fly.
Boise State wins the Mountain West
Tomorrow, we return to the Power 5 conferences and talk about some traitors who are ruining my childhood by abandoning the west coast’s attempt to return to national relevance. It’s PAC 12 day.
