From Deseret News archives:

MWC may have trouble filling bowl commitments

Published: Sunday, Oct. 17, 2004 9:22 p.m. MDT
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While Mountain West Conference officials must be doing cartwheels at the possibility of Utah going undefeated and getting a BCS bowl berth (and the $10 million-plus that goes with it), the league hierarchy must also be sweating the possibility of not filling any of its three bowl berths.

That's right, none of them.

Right now, only one other MWC team, Wyoming, owns a winning record (4-2), while another, Air Force, is .500 at 3-3. The other five schools have records ranging from 3-4 to 2-5 with no non-league games left. To be eligible for a bowl, a team must have a winning record, at least six wins.

The MWC has agreements with the Liberty, Las Vegas and Emerald bowls, with those bowls getting first, second and third choices, respectively.

For a minute, let's assume that Utah does run the table and finishes 11-0 and gets a berth in a BCS bowl such as the Fiesta Bowl or Rose Bowl.

That means five Ute victories will give one more loss to UNLV, San Diego State, Colorado State, Wyoming and BYU.

Wyoming, which has the best chance of reaching six victories, plays three road games along with home games against Utah and Air Force. Let's say the Cowboys beat AFA and lose the rest. They finish at 5-6.

Air Force plays BYU this week, at Wyoming and Army, followed by home games against Colorado State and San Diego State. If the Falcons beat BYU and Army and lose the other three, they finish at 5-6.

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BYU is 3-4, but if the Cougars lose at Air Force and Utah and beat San Diego State and New Mexico at home, they finish 5-6.

New Mexico is also 3-4, but if the Lobos lose at BYU and Colorado State and beat San Diego State and Wyoming at home, they finish 5-6.

If Colorado State (2-4) beats BYU, Air Force and New Mexico, but loses at Utah and to UNLV, the Rams would be 5-6.

That leaves UNLV and San Diego State. In the above scenarios we have the Rebels (2-5) losing to New Mexico and Utah and beating Wyoming and Colorado State. Let's also give them a loss at San Diego State. The Rebels finish at 4-7.

Finally there's San Diego State (2-4). If the Aztecs lose to New Mexico, Utah and BYU and beat Air Force and UNLV, they finish 4-7.

The above scenario is mathematically possible as well as plausible, considering how balanced the league seems to be behind Utah.

Realistically, however, at least one other team will join Utah in a bowl and perhaps two more can make it to six wins.

The most likely team to join Utah in a bowl is Air Force, which has three home games and the roadie against an Army team that had the nation's longest losing streak until winning the past two weeks.

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