The Mountain West Conference is the only Group of 5 league that didn’t have realignment issues in the past 12 months. Rumors abound that Boise State, Fresno State, and San Diego State could be on the radar screen with either the Pac-12 or Big 12 Conferences, but those are just rumors for now.
The MWC has enjoyed quite a bit of success in the last decade. Last year, eight MWC teams earned bowl bids. Two of the bowl games were cancelled due to Covid, but in the six bowl games played, MWC teams went 5-1. In the history of this league, MWC teams have won 57% of their bowl games. Only the SEC and the Sun Belt have better bowl game winning percentages in that time.
2022 should be another banner year for the league. Three teams have a chance to compete for the lone New Year’s 6 Bowl Bid.
Mountain West PiRate Ratings
| Mountain Division | ||||
| Team | PiRate | Mean | Bias | Average |
| Boise St. | 106.0 | 104.9 | 106.9 | 105.9 |
| Air Force | 100.9 | 100.8 | 102.3 | 101.3 |
| Utah St. | 95.4 | 95.8 | 96.6 | 95.9 |
| Colorado St. | 88.5 | 89.8 | 89.0 | 89.1 |
| Wyoming | 83.9 | 86.6 | 85.0 | 85.2 |
| New Mexico | 80.3 | 81.0 | 79.0 | 80.1 |
| West Division | ||||
| Team | PiRate | Mean | Bias | Average |
| Fresno St. | 103.2 | 102.5 | 104.5 | 103.4 |
| San Diego St. | 97.4 | 97.4 | 97.8 | 97.6 |
| Nevada | 87.0 | 89.1 | 86.8 | 87.6 |
| U N L V | 88.4 | 85.9 | 88.0 | 87.5 |
| San Jose St. | 86.8 | 87.2 | 87.9 | 87.3 |
| Hawaii | 78.5 | 80.0 | 79.3 | 79.2 |
| MWC | 91.4 | 91.7 | 91.9 | 91.7 |
Mountain West Preseason Media Poll
| Votes | |||
| # | Mountain | 1st Place | Overall |
| 1 | Boise St. | 14 | 151 |
| 2 | Air Force | 10 | 136 |
| 3 | Utah St. | 3 | 122 |
| 4 | Colorado St. | 1 | 90 |
| 5 | Wyoming | 0 | 60 |
| 6 | New Mexico | 0 | 29 |
| # | West | 1st Place | Overall |
| 1 | Fresno St. | 20 | 160 |
| 2 | San Diego St. | 8 | 148 |
| 3 | San Jose St. | 0 | 105 |
| 4 | Nevada | 0 | 66 |
| 5 | UNLV | 0 | 58 |
| 6 | Hawaii | 0 | 51 |
The PiRate Rating are designed to be used for the next week of football games and not meant to be used to predict won-loss records. Nevertheless, here are the projected won-loss records.
Predicted Won-Loss Records
| Mountain | Conf | Overall |
| Boise St. | 8-0 | 10-3 |
| Air Force | 6-2 | 10-2 |
| Utah St. | 6-2 | 8-4 |
| Colorado St. | 3-5 | 5-7 |
| Wyoming | 3-5 | 4-8 |
| New Mexico | 0-8 | 2-10 |
| West | Conf | Overall |
| Fresno St. | 7-1 | 10-3 |
| San Diego St. | 6-2 | 9-3 |
| San Jose St. | 4-4 | 6-6 |
| UNLV | 3-5 | 5-7 |
| Nevada | 2-6 | 5-7 |
| Hawaii | 0-8 | 1-12 |
The Pi-Rate Ratings 