COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Five (5) Conference games are yet to be played over the next two weekends and, while the possible scenarios have been narrowed considerably, there are still a number of potential outcomes.

The battle for the MWC title has been reduced to a two-team race. Utah can win the title outright at 6-1 and secure the berth in the AXA Liberty Bowl with a victory this weekend. New Mexico could finish tied for first with Utah at 5-2, should UNM win this Saturday and Utah lose. The two teams would then be recognized as co-champions. If both teams win, Utah would finish alone in first and UNM would earn sole possession of second place.

The possibility still exists for a five-way tie for second place in the Conference involving AFA, BYU, CSU, UNM and WYO, based upon a certain combination of wins and losses, while AFA, CSU and BYU could mathematically finish tied for third.

With victories this past weekend Colorado State (6-5, 3-3) and New Mexico (7-5, 4-2) became bowl eligible, joining Air Force (7-4, 3-3) and Utah (8-2, 5-1). UNLV (5-5, 1-4) and Wyoming (4-6, 2-3) can still become bowl eligible. UNLV needs to win one of its final two games, while Wyoming would need to win both of its remaining contests. With losses this past weekend, BYU and San Diego State were mathematically eliminated from bowl consideration.

Once every four seasons, one victory over a I-AA opponent may be counted for bowl eligibility purposes. Air Force (Wofford), Colorado State (Weber State) and Wyoming (Montana State) have I-AA wins that are countable this season toward the minimum threshold of six wins and six losses. New Mexico's victory over Texas State-San Marcos is not countable, since the Lobos utilized a I-AA victory for bowl eligibility last season. However, now that UNM has reached an overall record of 7-4, it is bowl eligible without the I-AA victory.

NCAA Bylaw 30.9.2 and the NCAA Postseason Football Handbook require bowl games to select teams with winning records from within a Conference before they select a team with a 6-6 mark. Thus, with multiple bowl-eligible teams in the MWC, some at 6-6 and some with winning records, those teams with winning records would have to be chosen first to fill available slots.

The MWC football tie-breaking formula is used only to determine final order of finish for bowl purposes and does not affect the final standings, statistics or awards. In resolving ties, the primary element is head-to-head competition, with the winner of head-to-head match-ups gaining an advantage. In the event of multiple team ties, record among the tied teams and bowl history become part of the equation. The full MWC football tie-breaking formula can be found in the 2003-04 MWC Handbook on the "About the MWC" section of TheMWC.com website.

The AXA Liberty Bowl and the Las Vegas Bowl may use the results of the MWC football tie-breaking formula as a guideline in making their selections of bowl participants from the MWC, but are not bound to select in any particular order. Both make take any bowl-eligible team from the Conference. The Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl is contractually-obligated to select the remaining MWC team with the highest Conference finish (as determined by the MWC football-tiebreaking formula) after the Liberty Bowl and Las Vegas Bowl have made their selections.

With four teams currently bowl-eligible and two additional possible, the MWC will have more teams bowl-eligible than it has contractual tie-ins. At this time, several possibilities for at-large opportunities are being explored and monitored by the MWC office.

Currently, all 56 bowl game slots in the country are contractually obligated. The only chance for an at-large opening would be if a conference did not fill all of its bowl slots - either through not having enough bowl-eligible teams or having multiple BCS selections that would shift its bowl order upward and open up a slot. In the event of an at-large opening, the bowl would be required to take a team with a winning record from another conference before taking a 6-6 at-large team. In the event the bowl has a written contractual arrangement with a conference other than its primary two affiliations to address such a situation, it could take a 6-6 at-large team Therefore, for an MWC team to secure an at-large slot, three things would have to happen - a conference not fill all of its bowl slots, the bowl not have a contingency agreement with another conference and the MWC team either have a winning record or there be no other winning-record teams available that would be selected before a 6-6 MWC program.

This information will be updated as games are completed and the potential outcomes continue to become clearer.