Welcome back, college football fans. This episode is a day early (a first for this season, just in case I run into more hotel internet issues), but it’s a fun one. With the destruction of the Pac-12 (California and Stanford to the ACC along with SMU of the America; Arizona, Arizona St, Colorado, and Utah to the Big 12; and Oregon, Southern Cal, UCLA, and Washington to the Big Ten) leaving just Oregon St and Washington St to fend for themselves, the 12-team Moutain West Conference (MWC) stepped up with 7 games against the Beavers and 8 against the Cougars. They also have SMU (moving from the Group of 5 to the Core 4) and Kennesaw St (moving from FCS to the Group of 5) on their collective schedule. They play 19 games against the Core 4 (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC, and Notre Dame). That’s 34 collective games against teams in the Power 5 last year. Is this setting up a Pac 02/Moutain West merger next year? Would the Pac-02 be willing to become full members in a Group of 5 conference? Would the conference be selective to get to automatic bid status in the playoffs? Will they try to poach from other Core 4 conferences to get them to that auto bid? I see a lot playing out in the next 9-12 months. Gotta love it.
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In the table below, (F) indicates a game against an FCS opponent, (&) indicates a game vs Kennesaw St who is moving from FCS to the Group of 5, (G) indicates a non-conference Group of 5 foe, (*) indicates a game against SMU who is moving from Group of 5 to the Core 4, (P) indicates games against the Pac 02, and (4) indicates a challenge against a 2024 Core 4 team that is not SMU. There are no neutral site games scheduled. With that I give you the most step-up conference I’ve seen in a long time, the 2024 MWC.
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| Team | 2023 Record (Rank) | 2024 PS SOS (Rank) | Home Games | Away/Neutral Games | Opp 2023 Rec |
| Nevada Wolf Pack (1) | 2-10 (115) | 8.07 (41) | (52-37/.584) E Washington (F), Ga Southern (G), Oregon St (P), SMU (*), Fresno St, Colorado St, Air Force | (46-35/.568) Troy (G), Minnesota (4), Saj Jose St, Hawaii, Boise St, UNLV | 98-72 (.576) |
| Fresno St Bulldogs (2) | 9-4 (86) | 7.97 (43) | (40-38/.513) Sacramento St (F), New Mexico St (G), Washington St (P), San Jose St, Hawaii, Colorado St | (47-32/.595) Michigan (4), UCLA (4), New Mexico, UNLV, Nevada, Air Force | 87-70 (.554) |
| New Mexico Lobos (3) | 4-8 (121) | 7.74 (55) | (40-23/.635) Montana St (F), Washington St (P), Fresno St, Air Force, Wyoming | (46-45/.505) New Mexico St (G), Arizona (4), Auburn (4), Utah St, Colorado St, San Diego St, Hawaii | 86-68 (.558) |
| Boise St Broncos (4) | 8-6 (72) | 7.40 (69) | (30-44/.405) Portland St (F), Oregon St (P), Washington St (P), Utah St, San Diego St, Nevada | (48-32/.600) Ga Southern (G), Oregon (4), Hawaii, UNVL, San Jose St, Wyoming | 78-76 (.506) |
| San Diego St Aztecs (5) | 4-8 (119) | 7.07 (81) | (32-41/.438) Commerce (F), Oregon St (P), Washington St (P), Hawaii, New Mexico, Air Force | (43-36/.544) C Michigan (G), California (4), Wyoming, Boise St, UNLV, Utah St | 75-77 (.493) |
| Colorado St Rams (6) | 5-7 (131) | 7.01 (84) | (33-53/.384) N Colorado (F), UTEP (G), Colorado (4), San Jose St, New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah St | (40-25/.615) Texas (4), Oregon St (P), Air Force, Nevada, Fresno St | 73-78 (.483) |
| UNLV Rebels (7) | 9-5 (80) | 6.72 (95) | (31-44/.413) Utah Tech (F), Syracuse (4), Fresnot St, Boise St, San Diego St, Nevada | (39-38/.506) Houston (4), Kansas (4), Oregon St (P), Utah St, Hawaii, San Jose St | 70-82 (.461) |
| Utah St Aggies (8) | 6-7 (116) | 6.62 (104) | (34-41/.453) Robert Morris (F), Utah (4), UNLV, New Mexico, Hawaii, San Diego St | (38-38/.500) Temple (G), Southern Cal (4), Washington St (P), Boise St, Wyoming, Colorado St | 72-79 (.477) |
| San Jose St Spartans (9) | 7-6 (95) | 6.61 (105) | (42-45/.483) Sacramento St (F), Kennesaw St (&), Stanford (4), Nevada, Wyoming, Boise St, UNLV | (36-27/.571) Washington St (P), Oregon St (P), Air Force, Colorado St, Fresnot St | 81-72 (.529) |
| Air Force Falcons (10) | 9-4 (68) | 5.84 (124) | (39-35/.527) Merrimack (F), Navy (G), Oregon St (P), San Jose St, Colorado St, Fresno St | (28-45/.384) Army (G), Baylor (4), Wyoming, New Mexico, Nevada, San Diego St | 67-80 (.456) |
| Wyoming Cowboys (11) | 9-4 (52) | 5.81 (125) | (41-36/.532) Idaho (F), BYU (4), Air Force, San Diego St, Utah St, Boise St | (29-44/.397) North Texas (G), Arizona St (4), Washington St (P), San Jose St, New Mexico, Colorado St | 70-80 (.467) |
| Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (12) | 5-8 (117) | 5.45 (130) | (38-49/.437) Delaware St (F), N Iowa (F), UCLA (4), Boise St, Nevada, UNLV, New Mexico | (27-35/.435) Sam Houston (G), Washington St (P), San Deigo St, Fresno St, Utah St | 65-84 (.436) |
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Shout out to my good friend Carl who had a great idea in the comments. He said he loves to see the mascot names for all of these schools and would like to see some analysis on them. Looks like a special edition coming soon. Thank you, Carl, and I look forward to more suggestions and requests. And that’s it for this episode. Tune in next time for the 7th most difficult conference. Thank you, as always, for reading, commenting, and sharing with others, G.
