Before the season started San Diego State was the favorite to win the Mountain West title. Then the out of conference schedule began and San Diego State stumbled with losses to Arkansas-Little Rock, Grand Canyon, and San Diego. UNLV, on the other hand, picked up some big wins against Indiana and Oregon.
All of the sudden the Rebels were being touted as the team to beat in the Mountain West, while the Aztecs were a big question mark. Once the conference games began San Diego State jumped to an 8-0 start, while UNLV started 0-3, fired head coach Dave Rice, but now they are currently 4-1 with interim head coach Todd Simon.