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Mountain West overview

Balanced group led by Colorado State, Utah

By Michael C. Lewis, Special to CNNSI.com

Colorado State coach Sonny Lubick has gradually built a winner in Fort Collins. Allsport

Order of Finish 1. Colorado State 2. Utah 3. BYU 4. Air Force 5. UNLV 6. Wyoming 7. San Diego State 8. New Mexico

Top Storylines

In only its second season of existence, the Mountain West isn't going to fool anybody into thinking it's the Big Ten or the SEC just yet. It has agreements with only two bowl games, for crying out loud. Ah, but the parity. What the league lacks in star power it figures to make up for in drama, with the race for the championship and those precious bowl berths likely to go down to the final weekend of the season. Colorado State, Utah and BYU all appear capable of winning, just as they did last season. All three tied for the inaugural title at 8-3 overall and 5-2 in the league. The league is trying to make noise out of the conference, though, with an aggressive scheduling strategy designed to prove it can play with the big boys. The most eye-popping example is the season-opening Pigskin Classic that pits BYU against defending national champion Florida State, but six of the league's eight teams will play at least two opponents from conferences affiliated with the Bowl Championship Series.

Where They'll Be for the Holidays
BCS Blessed	Dot-Com Doomed	Confined to Couch
None	Colorado State Utah BYU	UNLV Air Force San Diego State Wyoming New Mexico

Best of All Worlds

Quarterback

Wyoming Jay Stoner

Running Backs

UNLV Jeremi Rudolph, Kevin Brown

Ends

Colorado State Dallas Davis, Pete Rebstock, Frank Rice, Joey Cuppari

Offensive Line

Utah Steve McKane, Sam White, Ed Ta'amu, Doug Kaufusi, Jordan Gross

Defensive Line

BYU Setema Gali Jr., Hans Olsen, Chris Hoke, Ryan Denney

Linebackers

Air Force C.J. Zanotti, Matt Pommer, Corey Nelson, Travis Logsdon

Secondary

Utah Andre Dyson, Jason Potter, Yohance Scott, Arnold Parker, Jeff Ray

Special Teams

BYU Owen Pochman, Aaron Edmonds

Coaching

Colorado State Sonny Lubick, Steve Fairchild, Larry Kerr

Status Report

Set to Go Skygliding

UNLV With coach John Robinson, the Rebels are starting to attract some talent.

Set to Go Cliffdiving

BYU With their schedule, the Cougars are only a few key injuries away from a disaster.

About to Step Up

Kevin Brown, RB, UNLV He was a 1,000-yard rusher at Washington State before transferring.

Hasn't Stepped Up Yet

Steve Cutlip, QB, Colorado State Star recruit was supposed to have grabbed the starting spot by now.

Schedules

Brutal Schedule

BYU Florida State, Virginia, Mississippi State and Syracuse -- all before Oct. 1.

Breather Schedule

New Mexico Shame the Lobos aren't good enough to consider Boise State, New Mexico State and Northern Arizona patsies.

Mark Your Calendar

BYU vs. Florida State, Aug. 26 New-look Cougars meet the defending national champs? Avert your eyes. Colorado State at Utah, Oct. 21 Rematch of last year's thrilling CSU win, and look who's back: Dallas Davis. BYU at Utah, Nov. 24 One of the conference's biggest rivalries has a habit of deciding the championship.

Michael C. Lewis covers the Mountain West for the Salt Lake Tribune and will write a weekly CNNSI.com conference insider this season.

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