Mountain West Tiebreaker Rules
How Mountain West's published tiebreaker procedure works, and exactly how SportsSimulate's 2024 season simulation evaluates every step - written as reference material independent of any particular week's scenarios.
- 1
Head-to-head record
If the tied teams played each other this season, that result decides it directly - among three or more tied teams, this is each team's combined record against just the others in the tie.
- 2
CFP rankings (or the equivalent computer-ratings composite before the committee's rankings begin)
The higher-ranked team in the most recent College Football Playoff committee rankings - or, in weeks before the committee publishes rankings, a composite of computer rating systems.
Approximated using conference strength of schedule - real CFP Selection Committee rankings and computer-rating feeds aren't ingested, so this isn't the true official metric.
- 3
Overall winning percentage
Winning percentage across all games played, not just conference games - so it can differ from total wins when teams have played a different number of games.
- 4
Record against the next-highest-placed common opponent, working down the standings
Starting from the best-placed team the tied group has in common, each tied team's record against that opponent is compared - if that's still even, the process repeats against the next-best common opponent, and so on down the standings.
- 5
Combined record against common conference opponents
Each tied team's record against every conference opponent that all of them played is compared, treating those shared opponents as a single group.
- 6
Random draw
If every step above still leaves teams tied, the tie is broken by a random draw - in practice, a coin toss.
Official source: Mountain West Football Championship Tiebreaking Procedures
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the Mountain West Championship Game tiebreaker work?
When two or more teams finish tied atop the Mountain West standings, the conference's own published tiebreaker procedure decides the order - working through each of these 6 steps in turn until one of them produces a winner: Head-to-head record, then CFP rankings (or the equivalent computer-ratings composite before the committee's rankings begin), then Overall winning percentage, then Record against the next-highest-placed common opponent, working down the standings, then Combined record against common conference opponents, then Random draw.
Does strength of schedule affect Mountain West tiebreakers?
No - Mountain West's published tiebreaker procedure does not use strength of schedule at all. Ties are broken instead by Head-to-head record, then CFP rankings (or the equivalent computer-ratings composite before the committee's rankings begin), then Overall winning percentage, then Record against the next-highest-placed common opponent, working down the standings, then Combined record against common conference opponents, falling back to a random draw only if all of those still leave teams even.
Do Mountain West tiebreakers depend on CFP committee rankings?
Yes, in principle - the second step in Mountain West's procedure calls for the CFP Selection Committee's rankings (or an equivalent computer-ratings composite before the committee starts publishing). SportsSimulate doesn't ingest the committee's actual rankings, so this simulation approximates that step using conference strength of schedule instead.
What happens if a Mountain West tie is still unbroken after every tiebreaker step?
Mountain West's procedure falls back to a random draw (in practice, a coin toss) if every step before it - Head-to-head record, then CFP rankings (or the equivalent computer-ratings composite before the committee's rankings begin), then Overall winning percentage, then Record against the next-highest-placed common opponent, working down the standings, then Combined record against common conference opponents - still leaves the tied teams even.