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Could Mountain West Play Non-Conference Games Against League Teams?
Home and home vs. a rival?
Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire
Two rounds of trophy games?
Currently, the Mountain West still has some non-conference games on its slate but there are some teams that have lost non-conference games like Air Force, Wyoming, Colorado State, and Hawaii which has lost the most so far.
Currently, the Power 5 teams are looking to make their own set of rules like a plus-one option to play eight or nine non-conference games plus a non-league game. That will no doubt hurt the Group of Five teams who lost games vs. the Big Ten and Pac-12 and especially so if these replacement games are against Power 5 teams.
Wyoming athletics director Tom Burman is in a tough spot with losing a big home game vs. Utah and is looking for one more game and is concerned about adding teams.
“I’m sitting tight right now just to kind of figure out what’s going to happen with the remaining Power Fives,” Wyoming’s athletic director told the Star-Tribune. “What could happen is the other Power Fives all decide that they’re not going to play non-conference games.”
With needing just one game it may not matter too much for Wyoming but the rest of the Mountian West and Group of Five teams that need to add games. That is where an issue could come up. He may add an FCS game and since playing two will still count toward bowl eligibility.
One thing that Burman is pondering is what if conference members play and a home-and-home within the Mountain West and maybe against a rival team like Colorado State. He is not too concerned about that those types of games because it is more football and against a team they want to beat.
“I don’t have heartburn about it,” Burman said. “I don’t know how the other ADs feel about it, but you could play a Mountain West school as a non-conference opponent if you wanted. If we’re going to play eight conference games, and if we wanted to play a bus trip against CSU, that’s a really good idea in today’s environment.”
The close proximity would be ideal when playing a Mountain West team twice. If there needs to be another game added, one could see Fresno State and San Jose State play twice, or UNLV and San Diego State. They are not as close as Colorado State and Wyoming but with the league going to have the same health protocols so playing a conference team twice makes the most sense.
If the Mountain West allows for rematches then make them rivalry games to provide a lot of juice. No offense, if an extra game is Boise State vs. San Jose State but it would be nicer if it were Boise State vs. Nevada.
There is no official word on what the Mountain West football schedule will be like rather than the status quo but all options have to be on the table.
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