The Mountain West struck a huge blow against itself when it announced that Boise State and Air Force will have to play New Mexico the next two years but will not play each other.
At a time when the conference is trying to raise its average computer ratings, the announced move will drastically lower the computer ratings of both Boise State and Air Force. Further, it puts pressure on said schools to schedule one more Top 25 non-conference opponent than they already have. Being as most schools finalize their schedules years in advances, the choices are not going to be many.
Odds are great that both Boise State and Air Force will have to play two Top 25 opponents on the road to match the schedule they would have had if the MWC had chosen to let them play. If they don't do that, the MWC has zero chance of meeting the BCS criteria. They might get a two-year waiver, but they won't be able to meet the average computer rating bar.
Here is the Mountain West schedule for Boise State:
In 2012, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and UNLV will come to Boise, while the Broncos will travel to Hawai'i, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming.
The 2013 schedule is simply the same as above with the locations reversed.
