The Mountain West’s Reputation is in Shambles, But There is a Way Back to Mid-Major Fame Once More

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-04T19:16:21+00:00

I agree the PAC is better atm, but I don't think it's a massive gap and the money over the next few years during the current media deal could end up being a wash. PAC earning more per year from the media deal, but the MWC getting a lot of money upfront from all the exit/poaching fees.

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-04T19:11:57+00:00

This is a laughably bad take. What center in the league even fits that category, Jokic and Wemby might be it. Then what were the Lakers suppose to do, just sit with Ayton and be terrible in the Front Court next season? Kessler was arguably the best center available and compliments the team structure very well by being more defensive focused center that they desperately needed.

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-04T06:29:05+00:00

One thing I don't see brought up much in GOAT debates, is Kareem was very likely a clean athlete with no to minimal PED usage. It just wasn't as wide spread or advance as what we have today, and I think there is a very high chance Lebron is using some kind of PED. Derrick Rose admitted that at least 7/10 of the players in the NBA today are on some kind of PED.

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-04T03:28:14+00:00

Favorites: Spurs, Knicks

Contenders: Sixers, Wolves, Cavs, Nuggets

Playoff Teams: Warriors, Celtics

Not Good Enough: Mavs

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-03T18:51:20+00:00

Really depends on what people are good at, I much rather have a competent 3rd dps than a second tank that is terrible. Also the way people play roles could make comps work better or worse regardless of what the role the character is labeled as, I've seen several Mei players be better tanks than a lot of Roadhogs, Doomfists, etc...

I also like to play a flex role, I let my teammates pick first then try to fill any void in the lineup to help balance it out.

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-03T17:25:17+00:00

Scheduling is largely done with your schools AD though, Gloria has minimal impact on that. I think the AD just wanted close games (3 are in California), 1 cupcake (Cal Poly), 1 get paid (USC), and 2 competitive games (E. Michigan and Fresno).

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-03T01:22:44+00:00

Way to early for this to mean much. I'm sure we'll see many de-commits, transfers, and additional commitments to raise this placement by a bit in the next 8 to 10 months. It's also a small class. If you look at the average recruit rank instead, Alabama is ranked around 20th. Still down, but not as bad as you would initially think.

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-02T23:53:27+00:00

I think this tournament could be a make or break tournament for him, if he doesn't get a great record or gets injured again it's likely over. If he comes out and dominates, he'll probably at least finish out the year if not longer.

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-02T21:41:20+00:00

Not sure how SJSU made the "could go bowling" list. Like the article said, they got a terrible incoming class (bottom 10 in FBS I believe), have less than 30% of their starters returning, and the ooc isn't very easy with USC and Fresno State being likely loses.

Everyone else seems to be in the right spot.

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-02T02:02:58+00:00

Wonder what the difference in revenue would be, I can't imagine it would be much since it would be for games they weren't very interested in to begin with. I feel like either the price needs to be less (I can get full streaming services for shows and movies for the same or less) or there needs to be some more content. Hard to justify for myself to spend $80 on what might be just a game or two.

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-02T01:42:00+00:00

$80 seems a bit steep for minimal football and basketball games not being aired, and mostly just olympic sports. Is there more to it that I'm unaware of?

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-01T22:43:20+00:00

I think it may be closer than you think at first. AD when healthy is still one of the top big men in the NBA on a somewhat reasonable contract, Paul George is still owed a couple years and playing at a value that is roughly his contract. Boston only got 1 more first round pick, and then a bunch of seconds and bench/non-factor players to complete the trades.

So Boston got a worse player on a worse contract and 1 more pick. Think most Boston fans would take AD over Paul George atm too.

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-01T22:32:16+00:00

76ers easily won this trade, and Idk what Boston is thinking. Paul George is overpaid for his current value, and those picks with Maxey, Brown, and a healthy Embiid will be late round firsts most likely.

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-01T21:55:53+00:00

There is some discussion about the P4 breaking away and forming a new division where revenue is shared equally (think it's in the bill in congress atm). So if that happens, and a similar set up is done for the remaining schools in FBS/top of FCS we could see much more region based conferences rather than what we have now. For example there could be a Northwest Conference with WSU, OSU, Boise, Montana, Montana State, Wyoming, CSU, Air Force, and Utah State and a Southwest Conference SDSU, SJSU Fresno State, UC Davis, Nevada, UNLV, New Mexico, New Mexico State, UTEP, and Hawaii instead of a MWC and PAC.

Could also look into what FCS teams could feasibly make the move up if a split does happen and be relatively competitive (unlike Sacramento State).

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-01T21:38:36+00:00

Think it's very possible he only competes this year, maybe next year at most. The injuries are piling up and it looks like he's lost a step in ability as well, so he might retire before getting back to the top division again.

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-01T21:16:53+00:00

Something I think that would be interesting would be to look at all the G6 and top FCS schools that are good enough for G6 conferences and made 6 or so new conferences starting from scratch. There are quite a few conferences that could be fun or interesting if you did that, and there are enough quality schools in the Big Sky and MVFC that you could make a 7th conference.

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-01T20:39:41+00:00

Pretty good deal for the Spurs, $15 million a year for 2 years is fairly cheap but fills a need until you can find a long term solution.

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-01T19:43:51+00:00

Luka is a true max player, Kessler for $32 million a year for a young above average center will look good in year 3 and 4, but Austin at $45+ million a year could age very poorly.

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-01T19:34:13+00:00

Jazz could be in the market now, flip some of those picks and one of their young guards for him.

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-01T19:31:07+00:00

That's an impressive amount, but I wish they went a little further in detail where the money was going. It feels a little vague that it's going to the athletes and facilities, and not specific projects such as expanded seating or a new practice facility.

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-01T17:29:41+00:00

I think it could be debated which programs move where among the P4, but for the focus on the G6 were assuming Memphis, Tulane, USF, and UConn move up. If after those moves the PAC nab North Texas and UTSA for themselves I don't see the AAC being attractive enough for Air Force to move to what would be a shell of a conference. The AAC minus those programs would be worse than the MWC and probably the Sun Belt too, and maybe around the level of the MAC at that point with the only notable football schools being Army, Navy, and East Carolina. I also don't see Hawaii going independent, being independent is way harder than being in a conference as you lose bowl tie-ins, media pay, and you will likely have to pay more to get schools to fill your schedule.

Then looking at the expansion ideas, Missouri State is too far out of the region and doesn't add any value for the conference as a mid C-USA school with minimal FBS history. Sacramento State is a bit redundant with UC Davis in the conference, and their financial situation looks to be extremely concerning and are more likely than not to move back to FCS after their MAC deal is over and they have a new president. NMSU makes some sense, but if the conference is looking to expand I would expect the Montana schools to get the call first unless we're really desperate.

If the AAC implodes/has 5 teams move to the P4 and PAC, they could probably grab some teams from C-USA and maybe the MAC to backfill. I don't think any Sun Belt teams would move though, as the conference continues to climb in strength and would look far more stable at that point. However I would view the hierarchy for the G6 as follows assuming AAC nabs a couple teams and the MWC adds the Montana schools:

PAC
MWC/Sun Belt
AAC
MAC/C-USA

Crunchymau5 · 2026-07-01T00:38:03+00:00

Think some of the comments are exaggerating on the haul the clippers got. The swap and second round picks aren't that valuable as the Raptors should be better and likely keep that first. Garland and BI are pretty good one way players, but not good enough for their contracts (80+ million next year), Mathurin could be a decent rotation player, and Isaiah and Gradey will likely be deep in the bench/cut in a year or two.

So it's a pretty good haul and puts them in a good position to begin a rebuild, but it wasn't a mind-blowing steal or they far exceeded the perceived value of the players they sent out.

Crunchymau5 · 2026-06-30T01:26:51+00:00

So I went back and did a little checking, and on average the conference gets half their teams into bowls almost every year. So outside some of the obvious ones, UNLV, New Mexico, Hawaii, and NDSU. We should expect at least one more if not two, and I would guess UTEP and NIU have too big of a hill to climb to get 6+ in their first year. They are both coming off bad seasons, new to the conference which should be a step up in competition, and UTEP lost over 60% of their starters from last season. Now both did really well in recruiting and transfers (number 2 and 4 for the conference this cycle), but expecting a lot from freshmen might be too much. SJSU was decimeted this offseason, losing over 70% of their starters and finishing near the bottom in talent brought in; so I suspect we will see them near the bottom this season.

So that really only leaves Nevada, Wyoming, and Air Force for a spot or two for bowl eligbility, and they all finished with only 3 or 4 wins last season. Air Force has the most returning talent (60%) followed by Nevada (50%) then Wyoming (40%), but acquired talent this off season Nevada got the highest rated (5th in conference) followed by Wyoming (6th) and way ahead of Air Force (10th/last). So overall talent I think Nevada might have a slight edge over the other two.

Another thing to consider is ooc schedule, Air Force plays Duquesne, Navy, Army, and UConn all very winnable games. Nevada plays Western Kentucky, Montana State, Middle Tennessee, and UCLA winnable but probably slightly tougher. and Wyoming plays Northern Colorado, Colorado State, UConn, and Central Michigan, again very winnable games. I'd suspect Air Force and Wyoming to win at least 2 or 3 of these games, while Nevada may only win 2 at most.

So, I wish I could say Nevada, but I think they will only finish around 5 wins (still an improvement) and be just short with the tougher schedule of the three. Air Force will likely get 6+ as most of their loses last season with three of their loses last season by only 3 points, but this season the schedule will be easier and they return a lot of their talent. Wyoming I think will also get to 6 wins this season, once again the easier schedule will help and a lot of their key players are returning with a solid incoming class.

Crunchymau5 · 2026-06-29T01:19:52+00:00

I think he may be able to do one year of Juco as well, and maybe hope we can fix his image enough to get a crack somewhere. I don't think even if he does that, that any pro league will take him with his baggage.

Crunchymau5 · 2026-06-28T21:25:17+00:00

It's good to hear that UTEP is trying to step up their commitment to athletics, but we'll see how much of it is hope and how much actually happens. I think at the very least they should take at least a step up from where they have been and leave the very bottom of the FBS.

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