November 14, 2023 |
Photo – Cowboys enter the field – Courtesy gowyo.com
In sports, we’ll start by going right to Las Vegas where the Rebels crushed Wyoming Friday night 14-34.
As Head Coach Barry Odom begins drawing up the game plan this week’s Mountain West showdown with Air Force in a head-to-head battle for first place, he opened the news conference yesterday with a lookback at Friday night’s decisive win over the Cowboys.
UNLV’s win, combined with losses by Fresno State and Air Force, flipped the Mountain West conference on its head.
UNLV’s convincing win over Wyoming moved the Rebels to 8-2 overall and 5-1 in Mountain West play.
On Saturday, second-place Fresno State lost to San Jose State, 42-18, to fall to 4-2 in the conference; the Bulldogs had held the tiebreaker over UNLV thanks to their head-to-head victory on Oct. 28, but their second loss lowered them in the standings.
Also on Saturday evening, first-place Air Force lost a 27-13 shocker at Hawaii. The defeat dropped the previously high-flying Falcons to 5-1 in the league.
The bottom line is this. UNLV and Air Force are tied for first place in the Mountain West. As the schedule has it, the showdown between the Rebels and the Falcons is set for Saturday. The winner will sit alone in first place with one week remaining in the season.
Wyoming sank like a rock to the bottom of the North Platte. With three wins and three losses in conference play, the Cowboys dropped to sixth place, tied with Utah State. Overall the Cowboys are 6-and-4 and remain bowl eligible.
Since abolishing divisions, the Mountain West championship game is hosted by the team at the top of the standings. In any case, Wyoming won’t be there this year.
The Pokes will host Hawaii on Saturday in the War before closing out the season against Nevada on November 25th. Saturday’s Kickoff is set for noon.
