Opinion: Fresno State Took A Big Step Towards Defending The MWC Crown In Week 9

In 2022, Jeff Tedford's Fresno State Bulldogs won nine straight games on the way to a Mountain West title and a win over Washington State in the LA Bowl. 

They've had another strong start this year with two wins over Power Five programs at Purdue and Arizona State. If they hadn't hit a speed bump with an October 7 loss to Wyoming, they'd likely still be ranked. However, they look to have made some course corrections with wins over Utah State and UNLV in their last two outings.

UNLV are also having a strong start to the season - arguably their best ever, which includes when their backfield was Randal Cunningham and Ickey Woods in 1984. The Rebels hit a significant speed bump of their own with a loss to Fresno State over the weekend. That gives Fresno State a tiebreaker over them in the race for the Mountain West Conference title.

If the Bulldogs play some of their better football next week when they host Boise State, then they'll have a decent chance to win against a BSU team that played some of theirs last week in an emphatic 32-7 win over Wyoming.

That is to say, Fresno having a tiebreaker win over Boise State drastically increases the Bulldogs' chance of landing back in the MWC championship game. 

The important thing to keep in mind here is that in order to win that consecutive title, Fresno will very likely have to play and beat an Air Force team that's barreling along with an 8-0 record, a spot in the AP Top 25, and a spot in the New Year's Six on the line. However, having tiebreaker wins over three of the league's other top five teams gives them the opportunity to do that in the championship game.

It's also important to note that yes, Fresno State does three other games left to play, all against league opponents. However, all three (San José State, New Mexico, and San Diego State) currently have losing records and don't inspire a ton of confidence. It gives Fresno State a higher margin for error, basically.

Working in Fresno State's favor: they have statistically the second best defense in the league, one of the nation's better defensive backs in Carlton Johnson, and the MWC's second-most efficient passer in Mikey Keene, 

Working against them in Week 10 will be a Boise State team that has the MWC's leading scorer and leading rusher in sophomore running back Ashton Jeanty. They also have a fairly efficient two-quarterback system featuring runner Taylen Green and passer Maddux Madsen, and a veteran running back in George Holani who's returning to form after an injury kept him out of most of the season to date. 

The Bulldogs have opened as a 3.5-point favorite over the Broncos, per Action Network. Fresno State (7-1 Overall, 3-1 MWC) and Boise State (4-4 Overall, 3-1 MWC) square off on Saturday, November 4, 10 PM ET on CBS Sports Network.