Izzo's Insights: Trying to clear up the Mountain West tiebreakers

Chris Flynn / The Forum By Dom Izzo Today at 7:00 AM Listen Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? FARGO – North Dakota State head football coach Tim Polasek has stressed to the Fargo media for the last six weeks that the Mountain West title race “will be crazy in November.” The head ball coach was going back to his time in the league in Wyoming and it appears that despite some substantial turnover with teams, that fact hasn’t changed. New Mexico has set itself up as the team that will likely finish on top of the league standings, after a dominant road win at Nevada Friday night. The Lobos' last three games could be tricky, hosting UNLV, then a trip to Wyoming, before hosting Air Force to end the season. But UNM is the only unbeaten team in the league and has the inside track to that top spot. ADVERTISEMENT Who could potentially be New Mexico’s opponent? That’s where it gets confusing. Let’s try and spell it out and who could play in the league’s title game on Dec. 4. CONTROL THEIR OWN DESTINY: Wyoming: Win last three games (at UNLV, at UTEP, vs New Mexico) UNLV: Win last four games (Wyoming, at New Mexico, at San Jose State, Nevada) TIEBREAKER SCENARIOS Let’s assume under this scenario that New Mexico finishes first with a record of 8-0 or 7-1. The second spot in the Mountain West title game features a tie between two or three teams. TIE WITH TWO TEAMS ADVERTISEMENT The CFP Immunity Tiebreaker will be used, but if that doesn’t apply Head to head result If still tied, then goes to computer formula determined between SP+ rankings, ESPN’s Strength of Resume and two other computer rankings In this particular case, let’s say UNLV and NDSU finished tied at 6-2. The Rebels would get the spot, thanks to the head-to-head win over the Bison. If Wyoming and NDSU finish at 6-2, the Bison would get the title game spot thanks to the Bison 28-0 win over the Cowboys on Oct. 3. TIE WITH THREE TEAMS Here’s where it gets really interesting. Under our scenario here, again we’ll assume New Mexico finishes first at 8-0 or 7-1 and will host the title game. Second place finished in a three-way tie with UNLV, Air Force and NDSU all at 6-2. The first tiebreaker is head to head, but in this case, everybody beat each other. UNLV beat NDSU. NDSU beat Air Force. Air Force beat UNLV. So under this scenario, we go to the second tiebreaker, which is the computer formula. Looking at Bill Connelly’s most recent SP+ formula, Air Force is at 70, UNLV is at 80 and NDSU comes in at 35. Go to ESPN’s Strength of Resume rankings, NDSU is at 58, Air Force is at 71, and UNLV is at 80. The tiebreaker goes to the team with the “best numerical composite average shall prevail. The lower numerical composite average is superior.” So the lower the number, the better off you are. ADVERTISEMENT Under this scenario, NDSU would get the other title game spot. The most simple scenario for Bison fans would have UNLV lose two more times and the Bison win their final two games. They would need Wyoming to lose once more under this scenario, as the Cowboys have just one league loss and have three games remaining. FROM THE BIG APPLE TO FARGO WDAY Sports Prior to last Saturday’s game against UTEP, NDSU brought out a conga line of 2028 potential recruits as the coaching staff does before every home game. There was one parent that caught my attention, as it’s not every day that an NFL general manager makes his way to a Bison gameday. New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen was at the Bison - UTEP game as his son Carson is a highly touted quarterback prospect out of New Jersey. Carson plays for Don Bosco Prep School in Ramsey, New Jersey. Schoen stands 6-foot, weighs 190 pounds and is rated as a three-star recruit. The Bison officially offered Schoen after the game, his 15th scholarship offer. The University of Maryland in the Big Ten offered Schoen on Wednesday. After a great visit and conversation with @CoachTimNDSU I am blessed to have earned my 15th offer from North Dakota State University!! #GoBisons @MisterLilly @CarsonSchulte38 @JoeBeschorner @Andrew_Fialkow @DBP_Cobb @QBC_NJ @Cody_High pic.twitter.com/8vJIF9cVGm — Carson Schoen 3⭐️ (@carsonschoen7) October 31, 2026 Joe Schoen has served as Giants general manager since 2022 and just signed a contract extension earlier this year. Schoen’s knowledge of NDSU and its quarterback history can’t hurt with Carson’s potential recruitment. READ MORE BY DOM IZZO Bison Bowl Projections: A new locale and opponent surfaces 2d ago Izzo's Insights: Explaining the tie-breakers for the Mountain West title game and a bowl explainer Oct 31 Bison Video Blog: Matching up with the Miners Oct 28 Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? Tags Tags BISON MEDIA ZONE MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE BISON FOOTBALL By Dom Izzo Dom Izzo is the Sports Director at WDAY-TV. He began working for WDAY in 2006 as the weekend sports anchor and was promoted to Sports Director in 2010. Twitter Facebook Listen to this article Conversation ADVERTISEMENT What To Read Next Subscribers Only UND Hockey 5 things you might have missed from UND's 2-2 tie with Western Michigan 1h ago · By Brad Elliott Schlossman Men's Sports San Francisco puts end to Bison men's comeback bid 11h ago · By Forum staff Subscribers Only UND Hockey Strong defensive effort nets UND a tie against Western Michigan 13h ago · By Brad Elliott Schlossman ADVERTISEMENT Get Local Must Reads Moorhead How will vacant Moorhead City Council, Moorhead School Board seats be filled? 6h ago · By Ingrid Harbo North Dakota Driver charged in fatal Cass County crash settles Grand Forks cases 18h ago · By Matt Henson Business Sisters developing Kindro app to help users find their chosen family 6h ago · By Stephanie Dickerson Lifestyle What if this winter’s forecast holds true? 5h ago · By Don Kinzler