UNLV still has path to play in Mountain West football championship

Just as everyone thought: The race for which teams play in the Mountain West football championship will come down to the final week of the regular season.

That was decided by results over the weekend.

For UNLV, the Rebels (9-2, 5-2) play at UNR (3-8, 2-5) on Saturday at 6 p.m.

There are paths for the Rebels to make the final.

The simplest: UNLV beats UNR and Boise State (7-4, 5-2) this week loses at Utah State while New Mexico (8-3, 5-2) loses at home to first-place San Diego State (9-2, 6-1).

In this instance, the Rebels would qualify and likely travel to San Diego for the championship game.

If UNLV does not advance to the final in this manner and beats UNR, things become more difficult.

Should the Aztecs lose to New Mexico and Boise State defeats Utah State, there would be a four-way tie for first place.

That’s when computers become involved.

No conference team is ranked by the College Football Playoff at this point, meaning the league then considers four different rankings systems to decide which teams advance to the championship game.

Since the Rebels didn’t play San Diego State this season, computer rankings would trump any head-to-head battles involving UNLV and the Aztecs.

The San Diego State-New Mexico and Boise State-Utah State games will both be played on Friday this week, so more clarity will be known before the Rebels and Wolf Pack kick off.

Should the Aztecs and Broncos both win, they would play for the title given Boise State holds the head-to-head battle over UNLV and New Mexico.

Fresno State (7-4, 4-3) and Hawaii (7-4, 4-3) saw their championship hopes likely end this week with the Bulldogs falling to Utah State 28-17 and the Rainbow Warriors losing to UNLV 38-10 at Allegiant Stadium.

Contact Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.