Welcome to the mild, mild West division of the Mountain West Conference, where third and even fourth chances at a title abound, and it isn’t over until the last blocked kick, fumble or interception.
Here we are entering the second half of the final month of the regular season and two-thirds of the teams in the six-team division, including the University of Hawaii, are, remarkably, still in the running for the championship.
Think about that for a moment. Nevada, which got clobbered 54-3 by UH back in September, is still in the thick of it. As are, of course, the Rainbow Warriors, who lost three by a 156-101 margin, and defending champion Fresno State with a 2-3 (4-5 overall) record.
It is the most wide open — some would say diluted — the division has been since the conference went to a divisional format in 2013. The proof of which is that, at this point, only Nevada-Las Vegas (0-5, 2-7) and San Jose State (1-5, 4-6) are out of the running, though each could still have something to say about who eventually wins it.
Right now you have San Diego State (4-2, 7-2), UH (3-3, 6-4), Nevada (3-3, 6-4) and two-time defending champion Fresno State (2-3, 4-5) tightly bunched in the standings.
What UH needs to have happen is the Aztecs knock off the Bulldogs in the Friday night TV game and, then, the ‘Bows take care of business Saturday in the desert against UNLV.
That would set up something we haven’t seen for more than a decade at Aloha Stadium, a winner-take-all championship showdown, with the ‘Bows and Aztecs, on Nov. 23. The last time UH played for a title of any sort on the home turf was 2007 against Boise State for the Western Athletic Conference crown.
But a Bulldogs victory over the Aztecs would seriously complicate things for UH. That’s because Fresno State, by virtue of its 41-38 victory over the ‘Bows two weeks ago, would hold the head-to-head edge in case of a two-way tie.
Though Fresno, the only school with three remaining conference games, still has Nevada and San Jose State remaining on the schedule.
If there are a couple of things that this conference season has shown to date, they are that there is no dominant team in the division and that the West has been, by far, the weaker of the two MWC divisions.
Between them, Fresno State and San Diego State have taken the division each year and were projected to be the top two in the preseason polls and magazines this season, too. But the Bulldogs have, uncharacteristically, had trouble stopping opponents, and the Aztecs have struggled to score points.
While teams in the West Division have had trouble taking advantage, the stronger Mountain Division, which is led by Boise State (5-0, 8-1), Air Force (4-1, 7-2) and Utah State (4-1, 5-4), hasn’t. Air Force has knocked off both UH and Fresno, and Utah State has done in the Bulldogs, Aztecs and Wolf Pack.
Overall, the Mountain folk have gone 13-5 against the West. And, they are, no doubt, looking forward to whoever the West cares to send to the high country for the Dec. 7 championship game.
