The Mountain West was one of the many conferences that decided to bow out of the 2020-21 college football season back in August. But as it became clear that completing a season was going to be possible, conferences like Mountain West began to make plans to come back in the fall.
This weekend will see the Mountain West get its truncated season going. Everyone will play eight games, but not everyone will play eight conference games. Boise State and San Diego State will be playing seven, with their eighth game coming against BYU.
Air Force will only be playing six along with their games against Army and Navy. There will be no divisions this season. Since everyone is not playing the same number of conference games, the two teams with the highest win percentage will play in the conference title game.
According to the oddsmakers at BetRIvers.com, the race is going to come down to three teams:
Mountain West Conference Winner 2020/2021
- Boise State -200
- San Diego State +400
- Air Force +450
- Wyoming +1200
- Colorado State +1400
- Fresno State +2000
- Hawaii +4000
- Nevada +5000
- Utah State +5000
- New Mexico, San José State, UNLV +10000
Boise State won the conference two of the last three seasons, so it comes as no surprise that they are favored to win it again. They went 12-2 last season, and while they have a lot of starters that need to be replaced, they have some excellent players coming back, i.e., quarterback Hank Bachmeier, running back Robert Mahone, and wide receiver Khalil Shakir.
On the defensive side, they look great at linebacker and in the secondary, but the defensive front is going to need some work.
San Diego State was a respectable 10-3 last season but will be breaking in a new head coach in Brady Hoke (yes, the former Michigan head coach) and a new offensive coordinator in Jeff Hecklinski. Along with learning a new offense, they will need to break in a new quarterback and find a couple of new starters on the offensive line.
New defensive coordinator Kurt Mannix has a tall order in front of him. Their defense was one of the best in the nation last year and should be great again this year. It will need to be from the get-go to give the offense time to find its footing.
Air Force only had a handful of starters coming back from last year’s 11-2 squad. But if the Navy game is any indication, they are going to be just fine. They have work to do on the defensive side of the ball as well, but with how good they are at running the ball, the defense will have time to work the kinks out.
As for the rest, Wyoming has a good shot at finishing at the top of the conference. Four of their losses last year were by a single score. If they can win those games this year, they can make some noise. Utah State must replace its starting quarterback but will have a veteran offensive line to protect him. Nevada has a lot of potential, as does Hawaii.
So—who should you bet on?
Boise State is the easy, safe choice to make. But Air Force appears to be equipped to make a good run at the title this year. If you like to go with longshots, if things go right for Nevada, Wyoming, or Hawaii, either of them could win it all.