What Happens If The UNLV Rebels End Up In A Tiebreaker For A Spot In The Mountain West Championship Game?

The UNLV Rebels football team has their eyes set on a Mountain West Championship this season, but first, they have to get to the Mountain West Championship Game. Looking at the standings, there is a good chance that we could run into a tie between two or more teams for a spot in the championship game. Currently, the San Diego State Aztecs and Boise State Broncos are at the top of the conference at 4 - 1, the Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors are next at 4 - 2, and then there are five teams, including the Rebels, tied at 3 - 2.

There is a strong chance that if the Rebels are going to remain in the running for the Mountain West Championship, they will end up in some sort of tiebreaker. What does that look like for UNLV, though? These are the official Mountain West rules in the case of a tiebreaker needing to be used.

Mountain West Tiebreaker Rules: If Two Teams Are Tied

"1. Head-to-head result between the tied teams.

2. Highest CFP Selection Committee Ranking (or composite of selected predictive and results-based computer metrics [Connelly SP+, ESPN SOR, KPI, and SportSource]).

a. If one team is ranked in the latest available CFP Selection Committee Ranking (November 25) and
wins on the final weekend of the regular season, they will be declared a participant (and/or host). If,
in that same scenario, the one ranked team in the latest available CFP Selection Committee Ranking
loses in the final weekend of the regular season, a composite average of selected predictive and results based computer metrics after all games conclude the final weekend of the regular season will be used to determine the participant and/or host; - OR -

b. If both teams are ranked in the latest available CFP Selection Committee Ranking (November 25), the highest-ranked team that wins on the final weekend of the regular season will be declared a participant (and/or host); If neither of the ranked teams win in the final weekend of the regular season, a composite average of selected predictive and results-based computer metrics after all games conclude the final weekend of the regular season will be used to determine the participant (and/or host); - OR -

c. If neither team is ranked in the latest available CFP Selection Committee Ranking (November 25)
going into the final weekend of the regular season, a composite average of selected predictive and
results-based computer metrics after all games conclude the final weekend of the regular season will
be used to determine the participants (and/or host). For use of composite selected predictive and results-based computer metrics, if Team A is 28.24 and Team B is 28.34, Team A would be declared a participant (and/or host) for the football championship game.

3. Overall winning percentage against all opponents.

a. A maximum of one win against a team from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision shall be
included in the calculation of the winning percentage.

4. Record against the next highest-placed team in the Conference standings (based on winning percentage in all games played within the Conference), proceeding down the standings. When comparing tied teams against positions lower in the standings that are also tied, those lower-tied positions shall be considered a single position for the purposes of comparison.

a. If one team did not play a certain team, move to the next highest-placed team(s) in the standings.

b. If one team did not play all teams in the group of tied teams, move to the next highest-placed in the
standings.

c. If one team did not play the lowest-placed team in the standings, move to the next step in the
tiebreaker.

5. Winning percentage against common Conference opponents.

6. Coin toss to be conducted virtually by the Commissioner."

Mountain West Tiebreaker: If Three Or More Teams Are Tied

"1. Head-to-head winning percentages among the tied teams are compared in a mini round-robin format until one or more teams gain an advantage or the process reverts to the two-team tiebreak format. If, within the mini round-robin, the teams remain tied or any of the tied teams did not play each other, the group of teams shall remain tied, unless one team defeated all other tied teams.

2. Highest CFP Selection Committee Ranking (or composite average of selected predictive and results-based computer metrics). The two highest-ranked tied teams will be identified using the following criteria:

a. The tied team(s) who are ranked in the latest available CFP Selection Committee Ranking (November 25) and win in the final weekend.

b. A composite average of selected predictive and results-based computer metrics for the tied team(s) that lose in the final weekend of the regular season OR were not ranked in the latest available CFP Selection Committee Ranking (November 25).

Note: CFP Selection Committee Ranking is superior to the composite average of selected predictive and results-based computer metrics in (a.) and (b.) above.

Example 1. If Team A is the only ranked team at 21 and wins in the final weekend of regular season play, it will be declared a participant in the MW Championship Game and would advance to a two-team tiebreaker to determine the host. The second team to advance to the two-team tiebreaker will be identified using the composite of selected predictive and results-based computer metrics (Connelly SP+, ESPN SOR, KPI, and SportSource).

Example 2. If Team A is ranked 21, Team B is ranked 22, and Team C is ranked 23 in the CFP Selection
Committee Ranking (November 25) and all win in the final weekend of regular season play, Team A and B would be declared participants in the MW Championship Game, and would advance to a two-team tiebreaker to determine the host.

Example 3. If Team A is ranked 30.33, Team B is ranked 31.22, and Team C is ranked 32.11 in the composite average of selected predictive and results-based computer metrics after all games conclude in the final weekend of regular season play, Team A and B would be declared participants in the MW Championship Game, and would advance to a two-team tiebreaker to determine the host.

3. Overall winning percentage against all opponents.

a. A maximum of one win against a team from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision shall be
included in the calculation of the winning percentage.

4. Record against the next highest‐placed team in the Conference standings (based on winning percentage in all games played within the Conference), proceeding down the standings. When comparing tied teams against positions lower in the standings that are also tied, those lower-tied positions shall be considered a single position for the purposes of comparison.

a. If one or all teams did not play a certain team, move to the next highest-placed team(s) in the
standings.

b. If one or all teams did not play all teams in the group of tied teams, move to the next highest-place in the standings.

c. If one or all teams did not play the lowest-placed team in the standings, move to the next step in the tiebreaker.

5. Winning percentage against common Conference opponents.

6. Drawing to be conducted virtually by the Commissioner to determine the two teams."

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