DEEP DIVE: Where will USU end up in the Mountain West?

You think you know the Mountain West? On account of the first five weeks of the season, no, you don’t.

So far, we’ve seen San Diego State lay a supreme claim as the best team in the Mountain West with wins over Stanford and Arizona State. Boise State’s bid to equal SDSU’s excellence has fallen short in losses to Washington State and Virginia. Air Force has looked impressive so far, but already has two losses on their resume versus Michigan and SDSU. Nevada and UNLV fought for the conference’s basement with respective losses to Idaho State and Howard. Wyoming looked ugly in blowout losses to Oregon and Iowa, while Hawaii faced the same fate versus UCLA and struggled versus Massachusetts. Colorado State alternated wins and losses versus Oregon State, Colorado, Abilene Christian, and Alabama. New Mexico lost to New Mexico State. San Jose State’s struggles should be well known after Saturday night. And do you know anything about Fresno State this year?

And then, there are the Aggies. Utah State has won two games by a combined 89 while losing two games by a combined 85. USU has been more hot and more cold than whoever it was that Katy Perry was singing about in that one song. With a 61-10 trampling of San Jose State, the Aggies have firmly declared themselves to not be the worst team in the conference, but much is still unknown beyond that.

Do the Aggies belong in the same tier as UNLV and Nevada? Or are they closer to their division rivals like Colorado State and Wyoming? Does USU have a shot against perennial MW heavyweight Boise State? Or should we still be worried about a November home game versus Hawaii?

Truth is, we don’t know, but that won’t keep us from speculating. Let us know what you think about the Mountain West a quarter of the way through the season and where you think the Aggies fit into the picture.