Mountain West Team Season Grades
Mountain West Season Grade: B
UNLV was a dud, and Utah State had an awful year, but it turned into one of the more surprising and even Mountain West seasons in a shortened run. The rise of San Jose State was a blast – forget the issues before the debacle of a bowl loss – Nevada was fun, Hawaii had a few strong moments, and the energy brought in with six – make it seven after Utah State made an in-season chase – new coaches gave this weird season a sense of hope going forward.
2019 Final Grade: B+
Air Force 2020 Season Grade: B-
2020 Record: 3-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 74
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 80
2019 Final Grade: A
The Falcons were never able to get the season going with just six games, and their only losses were to San Jose State, Boise State – the two teams that played in the Mountain West Championship – in a 10-7 fight to Army. There weren’t any great wins, but they would’ve had a much stronger record if they were able to play a full conference slate.
Boise State 2020 Season Grade: B-
2020 Record: 5-2
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 43
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 49
2019 Final Grade: A-
The Broncos were out of the New Year’s Six hunt with a 51-17 blowout to BYU – they were missing some key parts, though – lost the Mountain West title, and only played seven games. The record wasn’t bad, but it’s Boise State. Either it wins the conference title or the season missed.
Colorado State 2020 Season Grade: C-
2020 Record: 1-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 86
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 100
2019 Final Grade: C-
There was a fun win over Wyoming, and … that was about it. The team only got to play four games, lost by double-digits in the three losses, and then it was over. It was hardly the start hoped for under Steve Addazio.
Fresno State 2020 Season Grade: C-
2020 Record: 3-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 77
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 96
2019 Final Grade: D+
There’s a little bit of a free pass given considering the Kalen DeBoer era started in a rough time and with work to do, but the Bulldogs started the season getting rocked at home by Hawaii, and it finished with a loss to a mediocre New Mexico team. All three wins are against the Mountain West bottom feeders.
Hawaii 2020 Season Grade: B
2020 Record: 5-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 78
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 74
2019 Final Grade: A-
It was an uneven year, but the Rainbow Warriors were able to do what they were expected to. They came up with a few nice wins, handed a good Nevada team a loss, and stunned Houston by 14 in the bowl game. It’s a winning season in the first year under Todd Graham – that’s good enough.
Nevada 2020 Season Grade: B+
2020 Record: 7-2
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 95
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 57
2019 Final Grade: C+
It’s not fair, but the expectations went up as the season went on. The win over San Diego State closed out a 5-0 start, but a loss at Hawaii kept it out of the Mountain West title. Beating Tulane in the bowl game closed a very good season in a strong way.
New Mexico 2020 Season Grade: B-
2020 Record: 2-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 118
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 95
2019 Final Grade: D-
The Lobos get a few grading breaks in the first year under new head man Danny Gonzales. They never got a true home game among the seven, they did the Hawaii trip, and they still managed to keep improving with two decent wins over Wyoming and Fresno State to close and create a little momentum for 2021.
San Diego State 2020 Season Grade: C+
2020 Record: 4-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 61
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 73
2019 Final Grade: B
The Aztecs beat three bad teams and rolled past Hawaii, but that was about it in Brady Hoke’s first season. The defense was still good and the offense was a bit better, but the Aztecs lost to the four strong teams on the slate.
San Jose State 2020 Season Grade: A
2020 Record: 7-1
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 100
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 47
2019 Final Grade: B
One of the greatest seasons in San Jose State history got derailed before the bowl game disaster against Ball State. When fully healthy, the team won all seven games by double-digits including the Mountain West Championship. If nothing else, the season proved that it really is possible to win college football games at San Jose State.
UNLV 2020 Season Grade: D-
2020 Record: 0-6
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 109
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 120
2019 Final Grade: D
The Rebels weren’t supposed to do anything amazing in the first year under Marcus Arroyo, and they didn’t. They not only went winless, but they lost every game by 13 points or more. To be fair, they were the underdogs in every game, but it would’ve been nice to be a bit more competitive.
Utah State 2020 Season Grade: D
2020 Record: 1-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 80
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 114
2019 Final Grade: C+
A total clunker early on, the Aggies didn’t get any offense going – scoring 45 points in the first four games – parted ways with head coach Gary Andersen, and scored just seven in the season finale against Air Force. So why not a flaming F? The 41-27 win over New Mexico helped.
Wyoming 2020 Season Grade: C-
2020 Record: 2-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 76
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 85
2019 Final Grade: B
The team that was good enough to obliterate Hawaii 31-7 on the way to a 2-2 start gave Colorado State its only win of the year and lost to New Mexico. However, it pushed both Nevada and Boise State – there was simply no consistency to the campaign.
2020 Team Season Grades
ACC | American | Big Ten East | West
Big 12 | C-USA East | West
Independents | MAC East | West
Mountain West | Pac-12 North | South
SEC East | West | Sun Belt East | West