The final weekend of the regular season for the Mountain West Conference delivered one of the most thrilling games of the year and also laid bare exactly how broken the conference’s tiebreaker system is. What unfolded leaves a bitter taste: an 8-4 team now hosts the championship game, while two 9-3 teams, one of which beat that 8-4 team, watch from their couches.
Heading into the final week of the regular season, the San Diego State Aztecs were sitting comfortably at the top of the Mountain West with a 6-1 conference record. They controlled their own destiny needing one more win beat to host the conference title game and earn an outright regular season conference title.
But then came the fateful showdown with the New Mexico Lobos. New Mexico entered the game 5-2 in conference play. What happened in Albuquerque was college football at its very best. The game was intensely competitive, tied 17-17 entering the fourth quarter. Neither team could mount a meaningful offensive drive, and after three punts each in the fourth, the game drifted into overtime.
On the opening play of SDSU’s overtime possession, quarterback Jayden Denegal’s pass was tipped and picked off. New Mexico, now with a golden opportunity, drove down to the 4-yard line in just two plays. All they needed was a field goal. Instead, the Lobos fumbled away an opportunity to end the game. Backup quarterback James Laubstein, who often comes in for specific quarterback run plays, coughed it up and SDSU recovered. The game went to a second overtime.
On the first play of the second overtime period, former Vandal quarterback Jack Layne threw a 25-yard catch-and-run touchdown to tight end Cade Keith. The Lobos held SDSU out of the end zone on the ensuing possession and sealed a 23-17 victory. With that win, New Mexico claimed a share of the conference lead at 6-2 and held the tiebreaker over SDSU.
Meanwhile, in Logan, Utah, the Boise State Broncos edged out the Utah State Aggies 25-24 behind a pristine performance from backup quarterback Max Cutforth. That win pushed Boise State into the tie at 6-2. Then, on Saturday, the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels demolished the Nevada Wolfpack 42-17, finishing 10-2 overall, and completing the quartet atop the Mountain West with a 6-2 conference record.
These results were the worst-case scenario for the conference, as the question of who plays in the championship game came down to a computer-metrics-generated decision. As expected, the only 10-win team in the conference, UNLV, earned a spot in the title game.
My assumption was that UNLV’s opponent was going to come down to which factor matters more: head-to-head performance or overall record against fellow tiebreaker teams. If head-to-head matters most, New Mexico would be in the championship. If overall record matters most, SDSU’s 2-1 record against the other three 6-2 teams would earn them a spot in the championship.
Instead, the computer metrics somehow determined not only that the eight-win Broncos would get the nod over SDSU and New Mexico, but that they would host the game.
From my standpoint, this is outrageous, and the broken tiebreaker system needs to be addressed. Currently, when multiple teams are tied, it reverts to a composite ranking — the average of four nationally recognized computer metrics: Connelly SP+, ESPN SOR, KPI and SportSource Rankings.
Because in this case, not all four teams played each other this season, head-to-head results could not settle the tie. On paper, the system has some logic. It tries to be objective. When head-to-head fails, use data. But the result this year illustrates how the system’s priorities can differ dramatically from what fans and logic see as “deserving.”
Here’s why it feels all wrong. First, the computer metrics do not necessarily reward the team that beat the best competition, or that delivered in the most meaningful games. They reward predictive and analytics-based measures. That means a program could benefit from weak non-conference schedules or deceptive statistical strength.
Additionally, given that this is the last season in the Mountain West for Boise State, it leaves New Mexico feeling even more slighted; they just had their program’s best season of the 21st century, and they lose a chance at the conference championship to a school that will be in the PAC-12 next year. But beyond moral weight: there’s a fairness problem. Selecting a champion based on computer rankings does not honor the on-field outcomes these teams earned.
The problem with the Mountain West’s system is that it treats all ties the same, regardless of how they formed. A two-team tie is simpler. But a four-team tie like this year? It’s rare, but when it happens, the system resorts to metrics. That strikes me as fundamentally wrong.
I think the next time the Mountain West convenes its rules committee, they should strongly consider reforming this process. At minimum, I’d propose a mini-playoff among tied teams when four or more finish with the same conference record and no head-to-head resolution is possible. Yes, it would introduce scheduling complications, but not doing so undermines competitive integrity.
Even a two-round mini playoff or a Kansas City tiebreaker would be far more satisfying than turning the debate over to computer algorithms. Fans and players deserve resolution on the field, not in a spreadsheet.
For the New Mexico Lobos, this moment should have been one of celebration. Under first-year head coach Jason Eck, the program has undergone a transformation. Idaho fans know firsthand what Eck can do for a program, and he has continued the success he had in Moscow into his first season in Albuquerque.
The Lobos posted their first nine-win season since 1997. They had the biggest increase in attendance in the FBS and had a perfect 6-0 record at home — a feat the program had not achieved since 1938. It came with players who bought into Eck’s vision, including several key contributors who followed him from Idaho.
One of those players, his son Jaxton Eck, was named co-Defensive Player of the Year in the Mountain West, an honor he shares with SDSU’s standout cornerback Chris Johnson.
New Mexico’s growth this season was real. The energy around the program was real. The excitement from fans was real. To watch all of that end with a ranking-blender telling them they don’t quite make the cut feels insulting.
SDSU gets the same fate: a team that had an abrupt turnaround from 2024 to 2025 that missed out on its first championship game appearance in several years. It stings a little extra for the Aztecs, given they controlled their own destiny headed into the New Mexico game, and this was their last chance to win another Mountain West championship before departing for the PAC-12.
I know there will be defenders of the current system. They will argue that algorithms are impartial, that they provide a stable, predictable process, that metrics account for strength of schedule and efficiency and other “advanced” stats that the naked eye might miss. But there is a reason winning on the field still matters to players and fans.
This system puts cold data above human effort and accomplishment. An 8-4 team with a less compelling resume gets to host yet another Mountain West Championship just because a few ranking algorithms favored them. That is wrong. Saturday’s championship will not feel like the culmination of a hard-fought season. It will feel like a byproduct of conference procedure, and that is a travesty.
David Bradford
Right on! Great piece!