The UNLV Rebels were selected to host the Mountain West Championship Game against the Boise State Broncos. Computer ratings broke a three-way tie at the top.
Despite losing the final game of the regular season to the San Jose State Spartans, the Rebels were still the highest-ranked MWC team. They get the advantage of being the ‘home team’ in the title game against the Broncos, whom UNLV did not play this season.
The Mountain West Championship Game will be aired on Fox on December 2 at 3:00 p.m. ET.
How Did We Get Here?
It’s okay to be a little confused as to how we got to this point of the season and how we needed a computer average to get the championship game opponents. To be honest, everyone seemed a bit confused even during the broadcasts of each game on Saturday.
Here’s how it shook out.
- UNLV, San Jose State, and Boise State each finished with identical 6-2 records in Mountain West play
- Boise State beat San Jose State who beat UNLV
- San Jose State beat UNLV who beat Air Force
- UNLV beat neither Fresno State nor San Jose State
So, how does that give UNLV the ‘home game’? That’s where the computer ranking systems came into play.
Without them equally playing each other (Boise State and UNLV didn’t play one another), the three-way tiebreaker couldn’t officially be settled. UNLV finished with a 9-3 record and turned heads at the national level, fielding votes in the AP top 25 after rattling off a Power Five win and winning five in a row through October.
San Jose State lost five overall games, including convincing losses to two Power Five teams, MAC East winning Toledo, and in-conference Air Force.
Boise State lost five games, fired their head coach, and lost three of their first five games before ‘upsetting’ San Jose State.
No matter which way you slice it, it was a mess, and ultimately one team was going to feel disrespected. The computer rankings looked brighter for Boise State despite the Spartans’ head-to-head victory over UNLV and their rattling off of six straight wins to close out the season.
The Rebels and Broncos will square off for all the marbles on December 2.
