MWC Sports Blog

After winning the MWC Tournament, the UNLV Rebels secured their place in the 2008 NCAA Tournament alongside at-large big BYU, and both teams learned their fate on Selection Sunday. UNLV will face another strong mid-major with a successful history in Kent State in the #8/9 game in the Midwest while BYU also earned a #8 seed as they face #9 Texas A&M in the West Regional. Meanwhile, New Mexico is a #5 seed and San Diego State received a #7 seed in the NIT Tournament while the new CBI Tournament did not select a single Mountain West Conference basketball team.

- UNLV 2008 NCAA Tournament preview

- Kent State 2008 NCAA Tournament preview

- BYU 2008 NCAA Tournament preview

- Texas A&M 2008 NCAA Tournament preview

Eddie Griffin of College Sports Fans recently wrote an article on mid-major college football & basketball teams building their programs and gaining national prominence. We witnessed the Utah Utes behind QB Alex Smith and then head coach Urban Meyer win a BCS bowl game just a few short years ago, and while Utah has maintained a winning program, they have not been anywhere close to their BCS performance again.

Labeling continuity, confidence and being in the right place at the right time as keys to building and sustaining a college program into an elite team, this article makes a great read for fans of any non-BCS conference football program.

Four bowl games have been played involving Mountain West Conference teams and four wins are in the books for the MWC. College Sports Fans successfully picked 3 of the 4 games in their 2007-2008 college bowl game peviews, so let’s take a look at each game to date.

December 28th at 8 pm ET marks the kickoff of the 2007 Texas Bowl between the Houston Cougars of Conference USA and the TCU Horned Frogs of the Mountain West Conference. Houston (8-4) went 6-2 in C-USA play while TCU (7-5) finished 4-4 against MWC opponents. The CUSA Fans Texas Bowl preview has been posted in partnership with College Sports Fans along with their other 2007-2008 College football bowl previews.

On December 22nd, the UCLA Bruins will look to once again defeat the BYU Cougars in the Las Vegas Bowl. The two teams met up with the Bruins winning 27-17 despite BYU’s offense being the statistical winners. BYU outgained UCLA by 199 yards in that game, but started the season slow before finishing the MWC schedule 8-0 and 10-2 overall. UCLA went 6-6 on the season resulting in the firing of coach Karl Dorrell and looks to finish the season above .500. For a complete preview be sure to check out the 2007 Las Vegas Bowl preview at College Sports Fans.

BYU hats, merchandise, & apparel as well as UCLA jerseys and sports memorabilia & collectibles can be found at great prices online through DFN Sports sites.

December 22nd will feature the second-ever New Mexico Bowl held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and playing another home game will be Mountain West Conference member New Mexico (8-4). The Lobos will face off with WAC opponent Nevada (6-6) in what should be an entertaining bowl game. Last year, in the inaugural New Mexico Bowl, the Lobos fell to San Jose State by a score of 20-12. While the prestige of a playing in a bowl game is great for many programs, the extra 6 weeks of football practice is what most coaches will tell you is the true reward. College Sports Fans is providing a preview of every college football bowl game this season including the 2007 New Mexico Bowl preview which is now live.

> Find New Mexico hats & Nevada Wolf Pack apparel online at DFN Sports sites.

Week 11 is shaping up to be an intriguing set of games for the Mountain West Conference. Although all the games should provide fans with much excitement, the game of the week is surely Air Force v. Notre Dame.

Air Force at Notre Dame

Even though Notre Dame’s ‘07 campaign has been nothing short of disappointing, having a Mountain West team on such a national stage is always a good opportunity. Air Force should dominate on offense with ease, judging that going into today, they had the #4 ranked rushing attack with 272.8 yds/game. This rushing attack is led by Chad Hall who is 16th in the nation with 1,122 yds and 12 td’s. This staggering yardage total means time of possession domination. Notre Dame will have trouble thwarting this rushing juggernaut. Furthermore, with the Falcons converting over 40% of their 1st downs, this is a nasty combination. If the Irish can muster some sort of rushing stall, they can isolate the Falcons one glaring weakness in the passing attack. Air Force has a dismal passing attack that ranks #119 with an average of 122.4 yds/game. However, the Falcons can counter that weakness with a daunting pass defense led by Carson Bird who is t-2nd in the country with 6 int’s.

New Mexico at Colorado State

This game could be the upset of the week with the Rams playing for pride at this point. Although the Rams have mustered only a single win this year, their one win did come on the road, at the expense of the UNLV Running Rebels. It is notable that the Rebels are nearly identical in: total offense, 1st downs per game, penalties against, and 3rd down conversions as New Mexico. Furthermore, since the Rams’ snatched their victory on the road and in such a convincing fashion (48-23 v. UNLV), the Lobos should expect a fight.

Utah at Wyoming

This game could also be quite the surprise as well. An interesting dual between Ute’s QB stud Brian Johnson (currently #31 nationwide for QB rating) and the Cowboys shark Julius Stinson (4 int’s this year). Wyoming is only a game behind the Ute’s and is looking to improve. However, Utah is looking to reclaim their dominance of the Cowboys since Utah has won the last 4 of 5 meetings of the two, despite Wyoming winning the last contest by a score of 31-15 at home.

San Diego State at UNLV

This should be a hard fought battle for both teams since statistically the Aztecs are neck and neck with the Running Rebels on offense. However, if UNLV can establish the run early, their season average of 35 more yards on the ground than the Aztecs could prove to be the difference. SDSU are looking to continue their dominance of UNLV since the Aztecs have won the past 4 out of 5 contests. The one loss in 2005 did come did come on the road for the Aztecs so recent history does favor the Rebels. However the x-factor in the game will be San Diego’s secondary. Aaron Moore and Vonnie Holmes both have 4 int’s for the season and both look to improve upon that mark.

-Steve Dalton

The staff of DFN Sports and MWC-fans.com got together to take a look at two of the top college football publications and highlight what each magazine sees happening this fall in the Mountain West Conference. Here are our findings…

Street & Smith
Street & Smith’s kicks off their Mountain West preview for 2007 with TCU as a Top 25 contender thanks to their “stellar defense.” In fact S&S likes TCU so much that they have 8 TCU football players on their All-Mountain West preseason team. Here’s how Street & Smith see the MWC playing out this fall…

MWC Predicted Standings - Street & Smith

1. TCU Horned Frogs
2. Utah Utes
3. BYU Cougars
4. Wyoming Cowboys
5. New Mexico Lobos
6. Colorado State Rams
7. Air Force Falcons
8. San Diego State Aztecs
9. UNLV Rebels

 

Lindy’s
Lindy’s, meanwhile, has just one major difference and otherwise is a carbon copy of the Street & Smith preview. The difference? A John Kerry, oops, I mean flip-flop of BYU and Utah at #2 & #3. Like the preview above, Lindy’s also sees TCU as a Top 25 contender with the Horned Frogs ranked at #15 in the nation.

MWC Predicted Standings – Lindy’s

1. TCU Horned Frogs (15)
2. BYU Cougars (44)
3. Utah Utes (45)
4. Wyoming Cowboys (69)
5. New Mexico Lobos (72)
6. Colorado State Rams (83)
7. Air Force Falcons (93)
8. San Diego State Aztecs (99)
9. UNLV Rebels (102)

CollegeSports-fans.com has teamed up with Tickets Now to offer hard-to-find and sold out tickets to NCAA Tournament games. Check out the great deals on NCAA Tourney tickets today!

The 2006-2007 college basketball season continues and Mountain West Conference basketball is heating up. Here’s a look at this weekend’s matchups:

• #13 Air Force @ TCU
• New Mexico @ Utah
• #22 BYU @ San Diego State
• Wyoming @ Colorado State

MWC fans know to look to the Dash Fans Network for all of the latest MWC apparel and news.