MWC Schedule rotation

The MWC has announced the schedule rotation for the next four years.  For Utah State, it could have been worse, and it is better than I thought that it would be.  For starters, the Aggies get Boise State in Logan in 2013.  Even Martha Stewart would agree that this is a good thing.

There are a trio of minor disappointments.  First, they get San Jose State on the road for two consecutive seasons.  Air Force and Utah State have only hooked up once in their history, and that was at the Academy in the 1960s.  USU will travel to Colorado Springs in 2013.  And finally, the San Diego State series, where most of the games have been played on the coast, will open again in 2015 in San Diego.  There is bound to be some sort of conference and/or division realignment before the Aztecs are scheduled to come to Logan in 2016.

In retrospect, the MWC athletic directors did the best that they could and one could not expect the the schedule to be perfect.

For the Aggies, here is how it turns out

Divisional opponents.

Odd years (like 2013): Home: Boise State, Colorado State and Wyoming.  Road: Air Force and New Mexico

Even years (like 2014) Home: Air Force and New Mexico.  Road: Boise State, Colorado State and Wyoming

Cross Division:

Year 1 (2013, 2017, etc): Road: San Jose State and UNLV.  Home: Hawaii
Year 2 (2014, 2018, etc): Road: Hawaii.  Home: San Jose State and UNLV
Year 3 (2015, 2019, etc): Road: San Diego State and Fresno State.  Home: Nevada
Year 4 (2016, 2020, etc): Road: Nevada.  Home: San Diego State and Fresno State

The MWC is usually the last FBS conference to announce dates because they have, perhaps, the only program left, San Diego State, that still shares a stadium with an NFL team.  The Q usually asks the MWC to avoid having both the Aztecs and the Chargers playing on the same weekend.  It can't always be avoided, however.  If rumors are true, 2013 may be the last year of this conflict.

Utah State will have the option of scheduling a 13th game in 2014.  Right now, USU only has one non-conference game scheduled, at BYU.

The goal for the Aggies is to host the MWC title game.  With BSU at home, they have a good realistic shot at a 11-1 regular season.  Likely, however, 10-2 will be the outcome with the losses to Boise State and USC.  The games against BYU and Utah are not in the bag and San Jose State is no pushover, but I expect 8-4 will be the worst likely outcome as the Aggies should win at least one of these three games.  Anything less than that will be a disappointment.  Outside of Boise State and Utah State, the MWC Mountain is weak.  USU has an advantage that they also play the weaker part of the MWC West and get Hawaii and UNLV.

Here is who is on the schedule for 2013.

8/29--(Thursday) @ Utah
9/7--Open
9/14--Weber State
9/21--@ USC
9/28--Open
10/4--(Friday) BYU
10/12--Open
10/19--Open
10/26--Open
11/2--Open
11/9--Open
11/16--Open
11/23--Open
11/30--Open
12/7--MWC Championship at the home of the higher ranked opponent.

MWC Home Games: Boise State, Colorado State, Hawaii, Wyoming
MWC Road Games: Air Force, UNLV, New Mexico, San Jose State