Week 4 Lessons Learned

The Mountain West conference had a great week, finishing 4-1 in non-conference play, and producing some exciting conference games. Here are the top 5 lessons learned from Week 4:

1 - TCU and Utah will not play for the BCS Title
An undefeated Mountain West champion has no chance at the BCS Title game.

TCU defeated SMU 41-24 on Friday night to capture a win over a team that many project to win Conference USA. While the Horned Frogs fell behind in the third quarter 17-14, they quickly recovered scoring three consecutive touchdowns to grab a 35-17 lead.

Utah thoroughly dominated San Jose State from the opening kickoff, winning 56-3. With the exception of a long kickoff return, the Utes played a flawless game, holding the Spartans to 171 yards total offense. That performance was 4 yards better than Alabama did against San Jose State during week 1.

Despite these stellar performances, both teams fell in the standings. TCU dropped one spot to #5 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Utah was poised to move into the Top Ten with South Carolina, Arkansas, and Texas losing, but only moved to #12. In addition, Auburn and LSU leaped over the Utes in the poll.

Why did this happen, strength of schedule! While TCU and Utah did their best to put together a strong non-conference slate, the teams they have beaten (Oregon State and Pittsburgh, respectively) each have two losses already. With the bottom half of the conference struggling, the Horned Frogs and Utes cannot rely on a strong conference schedule to keep them in contention. With this weak strength of schedule, whether real or perceived, the polls and computers will continue to rank a one or two-loss team from a BCS conference in front of an undefeated Mountain West team.

2 - San Diego State will contend for the Mountain West Title
The Aztecs non-conference performance shows that they can contend for the Mountain West title this year. Rather than let last week�s last second loss to Missouri derail their season, San Diego State took a 28-0 lead on Utah State and never looked back, winning 41-7. The defense held the Aggies to a season-low 7 points.

With three blowout non-conference wins, and an even more impressive last-minute defeat, the Aztecs have shown that they compete with Air Force, Utah, and TCU for the conference�s top spot.

3 - Colorado State can contend for a bowl game
After starting out the season with three consecutive road losses, many dismissed CSU saying that they were a year away from bowl contention. However, the Rams ended that discussion by defeating a physical Idaho team 36-34. QB Pete Thomas played his best collegiate game, throwing for 389 yards and 3 TD�s. The Rams finally established a running game as Raymond Carter ran for 104 yards.

More impressive than the offense, was the way that CSU won this game. With just over 7 minutes to play, the Rams missed the potential game-tying extra point. Rather than hang their heads, as losing teams do, the CSU defense forced an Idaho punt, which set up the game winning field goal.

With a full slate of eight conference games remaining, the Rams need to win 5 games to become bowl eligible. While this is a tall task, teams in the Mountain West should take CSU seriously because they play much better at home, than they do on the road.

4 - BYU and Wyoming may miss bowl games
While Colorado State staked its claim to become a bowl contender, Wyoming and BYU each face the possibility of staying home during bowl season.

BYU started the season with a convincing win over Washington. Ever since then, the Cougars have sputtered, losing three straight. The Cougars still have to play at conference heavyweights TCU and Utah. Assuming they do not upset either of those teams on the road, BYU will need to earn a split against San Diego State or Wyoming to finish 6-6.

Wyoming finds itself in a similar predicament. After losing a heartbreaker to Air Force this weekend, the Cowboys dropped to 1-3. Wyoming gets Utah at home, but must travel to conference favorites San Diego State and TCU. The Cowboys also play at BYU, and at suddenly resurgent Toledo (3-1), who upset Purdue this weekend. Should Wyoming lose either of these games, they will stay home in December.

5 - New Mexico will finish last
After losing 45-10 to UNLV, New Mexico will finish in the Mountain West cellar. The Lobo defense simply cannot stop anyone, yielding an average of 56 points per game. If New Mexico continues to surrender points, it will not only finish last in the conference, but also perhaps earn the moniker "worst team in FBS".

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