Ranking and Analyzing The Mountain West’s CBS Schedule
The Mountain West has some key games on network TV this upcoming season.
Yesterday, the Mountain West released CBS's four games for network television. With a whopping three appearances on “The Eye”, Air Force is the big winner here, with the same three teams also making appearances on network TV in San Diego State, Boise State, and Utah State. Naturally, one must do a “way-too-early” dive into these games and rank them.
#5. San Diego State-Arizona September 3, 3:30 ET
Ranking at the bottom is one of two Power Five-Mountain West clashes that CBS selected. The occasion will be grand with San Diego State finally opening an on-campus stadium after nearly a half-century at Jack Murphy/Qualcomm Stadium and a brief rendezvous at Dignity Health Park, the home of the LA Galaxy. However, the opponent does not seem to match the occasion, as Arizona was awful last year, finishing at 1-11.
San Diego State is a household name in the Group of Five, but they are coming off of what some could frame as a down year. The Aztecs may have gone 12-2, but had amazing close game luck, going 6-0 in one-score games.
On top of that, their offense may have been their worst in a while. After Greg Bell started off his first four full games with 516 yards and four 100-yard games, he ran for only 575 yards over the next nine games. Defenses keyed in on him with the passing game averaging only 168 yards per game.
Yes, it is a Power Five game, but arguably most of the Mountain West could beat Arizona at home. This arguably was the best game of the weekend for CBS to choose from with the next best options being Wyoming-Tulsa and Western Kentucky-Hawaii. Unfortunately, the game is up against tough competition with Oregon-Georgia in Atlanta airing at the same time on ABC.
#4 Air Force-Colorado: September 10, 3:30 ET
The second Power Five game is not much better than the first as Air Force hosts a Colorado squad that failed to build on the momentum of their strong 2020 campaign, going 4-8 and 3-6 in the PAC-12. Like San Diego State, a lethargic offense hindered the Buffaloes averaging 257 yards per game and 19 points per contest in 2021.
On the other hand, Air Force is a dark horse New Year’s Six candidate, going 10-3 with a quality win over Louisville in the First Responder Bowl. Their vaunted triple-option attack averaged 328 yards per game on the ground while the defense allowed a solid 20 points per game.
Their passing game is also explosive at times as quarterback Haaziq Daniels, who had a stellar, 9-10 for 252-yard performance in the First Responder Bowl returns. Workhorse fullback, Brad Roberts, who totaled over 1300 yards last year, also returns.
While a win over Colorado may end up not even being a top-three win on the Falcons’ resume, the optics of a win over a PAC-12 school could be enough to get the national conversation of their New Year’s Six candidacy started. This game has even more intrigue considering this is only the 18th meeting between the two in-state rivals. The 2019 Air Force victory in Boulder was the first meeting in the series since 1974.
#3 Boise State-Utah State: November 26, 12 PM ET
The rivalry between the Broncos and Aggies is beginning to become one of the Mountain West’s most prominent rivalries as the road to the Mountain West title often goes through Logan and Boise.
Utah State hopes to defend its conference title and continue their ascension to the national spotlight after an 11-3 season that ended with a win over Oregon State on ABC in primetime in the LA Bowl. Boise State hopes to rebound from an underwhelming 7-5 campaign, the most losses the program had since 2013.
Two of the Group of Five’s most prolific quarterbacks square off in Utah State’s Logan Bonner and Boise State’s Hank Bachmeier. Last season, Bonner threw for 3628 yards and 36 touchdowns for the Aggies, while Bachmeier threw for 3079 yards and 20 touchdowns himself. Last season, the Broncos dominated the Aggies 27-3 despite Utah State outgaining Boise State 443-439.
The game is in an optimal slot on Black Friday at noon Eastern time and could be a deciding game in the Mountain West Mountain Division race. Last season, Boise State-San Diego State earned a 1.15 rating in the same timeslot, lagging not too far behind its competitors, Cincinnati-East Carolina on ABC (1.3) and Arkansas-Missouri (1.65).
#2 Air Force-Navy: October 1st, 12 PM ET
For the second year in a row, CBS will air the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy series in its entirety. Last season, CBS aired Navy-Air Force on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. The two teams combined for only 293 yards with Navy only gaining 68 yards in a 23-3 win for Air Force.
Unfortunately, the Commander-In-Chief’s games featuring Air Force receive less exposure due to their lack of history compared to their counterparts at West Point and Annapolis. Out of the three battles for the CIC, the Air Force-Navy game looks the least attractive given Navy’s recent struggles.
Over the last two years, Navy has gone 7-15, and if not for last season’s upset win over Army, Ken Niumatalolo may be out of a job. The biggest struggle for Navy has been the decline of their run game as they averaged 178 yards per game in 2020 and only 225 in 2021.
Service Academy games are generally close, but Air Force-Navy may be a defensive game that could not even be that close. Yet, it still is more attractive than the previously mentioned games due to the pageantry and national appeal.
Last season’s game netted only a 0.7 rating while competing with Iowa-Iowa State on ABC (2.2) and Texas A&M-Colorado on Fox (2.5).
#1 Air Force-Army (The Commander’s Classic) November 5, 11:30 AM ET
The best game of the Mountain West’s CBS slate may decide the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy. Army is in the midst of a renaissance under Jeff Monken, winning three of the last five Commander-In-Chief’s Trophies and beating Missouri in the Armed Forces Bowl to cap a nine-win season last year.
Additionally, with the backdrop of Globe Life Field, the broadcast will have a feel of CBS’ only postseason production, the Sun Bowl.
There is potential for one of the teams to enter the game ranked if they enter the game undefeated or even with one loss. Army has tests against Coastal Carolina, UTSA, and Wake Forest, while Air Force will have played Utah State at that point.
Last season, in their first neutral-site meeting since the LBJ Administration, Air Force and Army put on a show at Globe Life Field or “The House That Joey Gallo Built.” After a scoreless first half, the two teams put on a surprising aerial display, with both teams throwing for over 200 yards.
Air Force overcame an 11-point deficit to send the game into overtime. In overtime, an unexpected hero saved the day for Army as Jordan “Boobie” Law recovered a fumble for the game-winning touchdown before the defense forced a turnover on downs to clinch the victory.
So much more than the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy can be at stake on November 5th when the CBS cameras come to Arlington. Air Force could have another chance at a signature win for their race to a New Year’s Six berth. Last season, the game drew a 0.9 rating in the 11:30 am ET slot while competing with Ohio State-Nebraska (3.0) and Wake Forest-UNC (1.3).
Although small, the slate of Mountain West games on CBS gives the conference a great opportunity at exposure and can help them close the gap between them and the American. The conference’s performance in these games can help them cement a spot as CBS’ flagship conference, once the SEC jets to ESPN in 2024.
All TV ratings data was sourced from Sports Media Watch. You can check out the ratings tables from each week of the 2021 season here.