Week 7 Mountain West Football Power Rankings

BYU hangs onto the top spot, but not by much...

TCU looks like they could pull off an upset against BYU or Utah, but as of week 7 it looks like the Mountain West is a two team race for the championship. Another interesting race will be for the fourth spot in the conference. Air Force, UNLV, Colorado State, and New Mexico all have a chance to compete this year for that spot. The league now enters exclusive conference play, and it will also be interesting to see how this affects the Mountain West Conference's national perception. Here are the week 7 rankings:

1a BYU - BYU has taken a lot of grief for giving up 14 points and a late scoring opportunity to Utah State; however, what people don't talk about is the point that BYU was up 34 points. BYU brought their C level game to Logan and walked away with a win. BYU was vulnerable to falling in the power rankings, but they performed on the field well enough to maintain the top spot.

1b Utah - This week was tough to judge if Utah overtook BYU for the top spot in the conference. Before the week I thought that a win by Utah over Oregon State would qualify them for the top spot. Yet, the Utes got lucky taking advantage of Oregon State chocking at the end of the game. Utah played alright in the first quarter, terrible in the second, third, and fourth quarter, and then played amazing football in the last two and a half minutes. Utah remain close to BYU, but behind them for week 7.

3 TCU - Not a dominate performance by TCU over San Diego State at home. I was expecting the Horned Frogs to lay down the hammer on the Aztecs, but they looked lost and vulnerable throughout the game. TCU let San Diego State hang around the game, and only pulled away late in the game.

4 Air Force - Special teams make the difference in close games. Air Force had two blocked punts that turned into Navy touchdowns. Even after the loss Air Force remains in the fourth spot in the conference. Yet, the Cadets need to improve to maintain this spot for the remainder of the season.

5 Colorado State - A big conference win for Colorado State. Colorado State coming back from being down early was impressive. They did give back the lead in the fourth quarter, but drove the field and got the win. If Colorado State can maintain this momentum they can compete this year for the fourth bowl birth.

6 UNLV - CHOKE!!! UNLV for the second week in a row established an early lead, and was unable to maintain it throughout the game. The Rebels fought back and got the lead back late in the fourth quarter against Colorado State, but didn't finish the game with a win. Over time the Rebels will learn how to finish game, but if the Rebels want to make a bowl they better learn quick.

7 New Mexico - Lobos blow out Wyoming at Wyoming. Impressive! New Mexico has a chance to really make some noise in the conference if they can find a way to go to Provo and get a win.

8 San Diego State - Aztecs hung around against TCU on the road, and by doing so they avoid the bottom spot in the conference.

9 Wyoming - The Pokes are just bad! I like Joe Glenn but...his days are numbered.