Mountain West Football: 12 most important 2017 non-conference games

The complete 2017 Mountain West football schedule has been released by the conference. Here is the most important non-conference game for each school.

In the race for the Group of Five bid into a New Year’s Six bowl game, playing in statement games against Power Five teams are everything. Even going back to the BCS era, we saw that principle hold true. And a team didn’t necessarily even have to win against a Power Five team, or even keep the game particularly close.

That was the case for Boise State when they went to the school’s third Fiesta Bowl in 2014. The Broncos lost their season opener 35-13 against Ole Miss in Atlanta. They also lost to Air Force to close out September at 3-2. But when they ended up winning the Mountain West title, the question came down to schedule quality. The debate over which Group of Five champion would play in a New Year’s Six bowl came down to two teams.

The first was an 11-2 Boise State team that had at least tested itself against an SEC opponent. The second was a 12-1 Marshall team that had won Conference USA, but who played three former MAC rivals and FCS Rhode Island out of conference. The Broncos won the debate, then went on to defeat Arizona for their third major bowl victory.

Thus the most important game for a team isn’t always its most winnable game, though that certainly factors into the equation. Teams are listed in their order of conference record in 2017. Click ahead to see which games we think will be most important for MWC teams in the upcoming season.