Getting to the Mountain West Conference title game will end up being decided by a computer should San José State beat UNLV next week.
Currently, the Spartans sit tied for second place in the conference with Air Force and Boise State. For the Spartans to reach the title game, they must win next week against UNLV and other things must go their way.
On Friday, Boise State will host Air Force. Like SJSU, both teams need a win to get to the title game.
Here’s where it gets tricky.
According to Mountain West officials, If SJSU wins, there would be a three-way tie between the Spartans, UNLV and the winner of Boise State vs. Air Force. The three-team round-robin comparison wouldn't break either tie, meaning the conference would decide who gets to the title game based on computer rankings.
SJSU has some advantages in this scenario.
Assuming they win against UNLV, the Spartans would have beaten a then-conference leading Fresno State and the current first place team in the Mountain West in UNLV. If Utah State wins against New Mexico, the Spartans would have wins over three bowl eligible teams this season.
Though UNLV, Air Force and Boise State have more wins over bowl eligible teams, the computer could give SJSU the nod considering the standings of the teams the Spartans beat this season.
The Spartans 1-5 start to bowl eligible is a cool story, but the quality of wins are just not there even with a win over UNLV on Saturday. According to CBS college football rankings, the Spartans are 90th in the country. UNLV and Air Force both cracked the top 50 and Boise State is at 68th.
Could a win over UNLV move the Spartans higher? Maybe.
But who knows how the computer calculates who has better wins or losses.
Many within SJSU’s athletic department are not happy with the Spartans’ conference title game fate being left to a computer.
One source close to the team said, “Why are we getting punished for playing a real schedule? We played two teams in the top 25 and USC. Who did everyone else play?”
Spartan fans will have to wait and see, but SJSU needs to beat UNLV to even have a shot at the conference title game.
