Week 6 Mountain West Conference Power Rankings

Big week for Utah and the rest of the conference...

The PAC 10 finally got a win over the Mountain West Conference.  Now the Beavers will try to continue the trend this Thursday in Utah.  I wouldn' t be beating on a win for the Beavers against Utah, but Utah will have a chance this week to make a statement over a nationally recognized Oregon State team.  There is also a big game for Air Force this week as they take on Navy and try to win back the Commander and Chief Trophy.  UNLV will try and rebound against UNLV, and TCU will try to put their loss against Oklahoma behind them with the Aztecs coming to Fort Worth.  It will be interesting to see how national perception of the Mountain West Conference as conference play begins.  Here is the power poll for week 6:

1a) BYU - A good week for a bye.  BYU had some key injuries, and the week off gave the players time to heal.  Especially Pitta who sustained a shoulder injury, and needed some off time.  BYU was also able to move up in the national polls due to positive national press and teams in front of them losing.

1b) Utah - With the Utes playing and BYU off, the Utes had an opportunity to move into the top spot in the league.  Yet, The Utes needed a little bigger win on paper due to the lack of television coverage against Weber State. The score from last weekends win over Weber State doesn't indicate the scope of the victory for the Utes.   The Utes won the game easily; however, to move up in the power rankings how you win is taken into account.  The Utes have a chance to really make a statement against Oregon State this weekend.

3) TCU - Oklahoma embarrassed TCU, and proved that TCU has no offense.  Oklahoma's defense is pretty good, but TCU's offense wasn't able to do anything against the Sooners.  The Horned Frogs made mistakes that weren't influenced by the Sooners defense, and TCU's defense didn't have the power to slow down OU.  TCU is still a step above Air Force, but isn't on the same level as BYU and Utah.

4) Air Force - The bye week came at the right time for Air Force.  The cadets drop a close game at home against the Utes, and needed time to regroup for a big game against Navy.  Navy looks to be a formidable opponent for Air Force after a win over Wake Forest.  Plus, the Commander and Chief Trophy is the most important part of Air Force football.

5) UNLV - The Rebels loss to a Nevada was BIG!  Once again the Rebels start the season with some good wins and they are not able to continue to winning.  UNLV jumped out to an early lead, and then fell apart.  The defense was unable to stop Nevada's offense, and offense wasn't able to keep up in shoot out style football.  Rebels can't afford to loss two conference games this early in the season, and need a win over Colorado State.

6) New Mexico - The Lobos lose their starting quarterback for the year, but it may have really been a blessing for them.  New Mexico is now forced to highlight their talented running backs and move away from spreading the field.  The Lobos only passed for 55 yards.  While this worked against New Mexico State, and probably will work against Wyoming, when the Lobos face superior defenses (BYU + Utah) they are going to pay for being one tooled.

7)Colorado State - Playing California at Cal was a difficult task for the rebuilding Rams.  Yet, the Rams could really take a step forward in the rebuilding process with a win over UNLV this weekend.  The schedule doesn't get easy for CSU after the Rebels playing TCU, and then traveling to Utah.  If the Rams lose this weekend they could be looking at losing four games in a row.

8)San Diego State - They beat Idaho.  Put up the banner, the Aztecs got their win for the year.  "Mission Accomplished!"  The Aztecs will spend this week in the eighth spot before heading back to the bottom spot after playing TCU on the road.

9)Wyoming - Bowling Green  destroying Wyoming at home earns the Cowboys the bottom spot.  Joe Glenn watch has officially started to see how much longer he survives at Wyoming.