I had a question. I am a journalist. As such, I went to seek the answer to my question.
What was the question? Which Mountain West team traditionally plays the hardest non-conference schedule?
I figured I knew the answer. It had to be Boise State. And if not the Broncos, then certainly Fresno State, a program that boasts it will play “anybody, anywhere, anytime.” Well, I was wrong.
So, who plays the hardest schedule? Let's go over our methodology first. I evaluated the last five years of non-conference schedules – the 2012 through 2016 seasons – by looking at the end-of-season Sagarin ratings of every non-league opponent played by MW teams since 2012.