Week 8 Mountain West Football Power Rankings

All eyes are on the Thursday night game...

BYU and TCU face off Thursday night, as the top three teams start to fight for the conference title. Yet, the Thursday night game might take away from two other interesting Mountain West match-ups. Colorado State and Utah is always a great hard fought football game, and the Air Force vs. UNLV could be the decider for the fourth bowl birth from the conference. This week will go a long way to decide the Mountain West Conference race. Here are the week 8 rankings:

1a) Utah - The Utes make their debut at the top spot in the conference power polls with an impressive win at Wyoming. The Utah's offense didn't show up against Wyoming, and Utah still put up 40 points on the Cowboys.

1b) BYU - The Cougars didn't look good at home against the Lobos. The offense looked half-asleep, and although the defense kept BYU in the game there are were signs of weakness. Good teams have hiccups during the season, for BYU hopefully the New Mexico game was their hiccup. BYU has a chance to make another big statement this Thursday against the Horned Frogs.

3) TCU - The Horned Frogs did what they needed to do to beat Colorado State. This Thursday's game against BYU will be telling of just what the Horned Frogs are made of this season.

4) Air Force - The Falcons struggled in the first half against the Aztecs, but were able to lower the hammer and keep their grip on the fourth spot in the conference.

5) UNLV - The bye week came at a good time for the Rebels. UNLV needed to gather themselves after a tough loss to Colorado State. The Rebels have a big game at home against Air Force. After Air Force the Rebels play at BYU, then back home against TCU. A win over Air Force would give some momentum to UNLV going into their toughest stretch of the season.

6) Colorado State - The California game is the only game that the Rams didn't compete in all season. Colorado State is quietly reestablishing themselves as a force in the Mountain West Conference. The Rams lost a close game at home against TCU, and now try to go into Salt Lake and beat the Utes. Beating the Utes would be a major step forward for the CSU program.

7) New Mexico - The Lobos gave BYU their best shot on Saturday, and were one blow call away from making the game into a nail-biter. The Lobos are still one dimensional, without a real passing threat at quarterback. Yet, the running attack of New Mexico should be enough this weekend against San Diego State.

8) San Diego State - The Aztecs continue to rise above the Cowboys, and are circling their November 1st cellar dweller match-up against Wyoming so they remain the second worst team in the conference.

9) Wyoming - The Cowboys might need to start a hot line they are being beat that bad.