Week one was a pretty good week for the Mountain West Conference. Its three best teams earned victories over BCS opponents (two were ranked) and outside of New Mexico and Colorado State, no program suffered an embarrassing loss.
Four Mountain West teams open conference play this week, as Utah hosts UNLV and BYU travels to Air Force. That Falcons-Cougars game will probably be the game of the week, since most other contests are set up for lopsided outcomes.
Team of the Week: TCU, Utah and BYU. All three get the nod this week because they all opened up play against the BCS and won. The Utes and Frogs beat ranked teams, while the Cougars defeated a Washington program that received considerable hype heading into the season.
Team of the Weak: New Mexico. 72-0? Really? It could have been worse, as the Oregon Ducks subbed out their first and second string players during the second half and the Lobos still couldn't stop them. I'm actually surprised Oregon didn't drop a hundred on New Mexico. They could have easily.
The rankings after the jump...
TCU proved it's still the team to beat with their big win over Oregon State in the opener. The Frogs weren't perfect and the game may have been closer than most of their contests last season - but it was a solid win over a solid Pac-10 team. This week will prove much easier, as they host Tennessee Tech. BYU opened the season with a big win over the Washington Huskies and once again appear capable of contending for ten-wins and a top-three spot in conference play. They now have a big conference test Saturday against the Falcons. A loss there will certainly remove them from the Mountain West title picture. A win, however, keeps their hopes alive.
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Team
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1
2
Utah appears to be the only thing between TCU and a second outright Mountain West title. Their win over Pittsburgh was a step in the right direction, however, there are still questions about the consistency of the team. Luckily for the Utes, they have a stretch of nobodies to work out all their kinks before the meat of the schedule arrives later this fall.
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4
Air Force had no trouble with Northwestern State in week one, but now focus turns to the Cougars. This is a big game for the Falcons because, outside of 2007, they've yet to really establish themselves as one of the top-three. A win against BYU, though, could change that.
5
Hard to take a great deal away from San Diego State's win over Nicholls. But with how some programs (cough, Ole Miss, Kansas) lost to FCS teams last week and others struggled (Wyoming), a 47-0 win isn't such a bad thing. This week probably won't answer many questions, either, since they play cupcake New Mexico State.
6
Wyoming had to hold off a big rally from Southern Utah and barely escaped with a win at home. It was similar to their victory over Weber last year. Unfortunately, the schedule is much more difficult in 2010 and without Florida Atlantic for an easy win, they're certainly going to have to pick up their play big time if they have any chance of winning six games again. It has to start at Texas. Ouch.
7
Bobby Hauck's inaugural game at UNLV didn't go very well. The offense was virtually non-existent and after some big plays in the first half, the defense essentially was shredded by the Wisconsin Badgers' offense. Things don't appear to be much easier for the Rebels, as they now travel to Salt Lake City for a showdown with 20th ranked Utah.
8
If you're counting, CSU's loss to the Colorado Buffaloes was their tenth in a row. Ten consecutive losses. Even New Mexico owns less consecutive losses currently (but only because they beat the Rams last year for their lone win). Ouch. Steve Fairchild better get things turned around fast or he'll be run off the fort (get it? ha). This week's game against Nevada in Reno would be a big start.
9
