Yep, there’s an all-Mountain West Conference bowl game. Here’s what to know about it!

Life outside of a power conference is always tough. If you make a bad hire, you have to make another one. If you make a good hire, you have to make another one.

Colorado State was an exception for a while; the Rams hired Sonny Lubick in 1993 and held onto him until 2007, through four seasons with double-digit wins and nine bowl campaigns. But life after Lubick took on a normal tone. CSU hired Steve Fairchild, and after a 7-6 debut, he won nine games in three years and was shown the door. Jim McElwain took over and also lasted three years; he raised the win total to four, then eight, then 10, and took the Florida job.

With a new staff and a super-young offensive backfield, it was fair to take expectations off of the table for CSU in what amounted to Mike Bobo’s year zero. And the Rams weren’t world beaters. But they did punch their weight; they went 6-1 against teams ranked worse than 60th in S&P+ and 1-4 against teams ranked better, and they get a bowl bid.

Despite youth, the offense wasn’t the Rams’ problem. CSU ranked a respectable 64th in Off. S&P+ but came in only 89th in Def. S&P+. Outgoing defensive coordinator Tyson Summers (new Georgia Southern head coach), renowned for his work at UCF, couldn’t find the right balance in Fort Collins. The Rams sacrificed big plays for efficiency but gave up too many successful plays, especially on the ground.

Thanks in part to Rashard Higgins, the Rams could keep up in shootouts. They allowed fewer than 21 points just twice all year but scored 28 or more six times. Higgins, a 2014 All-American, saw his numbers shrink with a young quarterback (sophomore Nick Stevens), but he still ended up with 933 yards (10.1 per target) in a more run-heavy attack.

Deficiencies in run defense can cost you against Nevada, but Higgins and the passing game should counteract.

Nevada has gone bowling in 10 of the last 11 years, and after a one-year glitch for Brian Polian following the retirement of legendary Chris Ault, the Wolf Pack have gone to two straight. The bar for reaching a bowl is a lot lower than it used to be, but this has still established Nevada as one of the steadiest programs in the Group of 5.

That was the positive spin. The negative: the Wolf Pack are 31-32 over the last five seasons. After ranking in the S&P+ top 60 each year from 2008-11, they have since ranked 78th, 81st, 81st, and now 100th. A 6-2 record against teams 90th or worse kept this bowl string going, but an 0-4 record against teams with a pulse (average score: Opponent 38, Nevada 22) dampened the mood.

Nevada hasn’t done anything inspirational in a while. But there might be hope in youth. While big-play running back Don Jackson (1,029 yards) is a senior, the backfield duo of junior quarterback Tyler Stewart (2,065 passing yards, 458 non-sack rushing yards) and sophomore James Butler (1,157 rushing yards) allows for optimism, especially with nothing but underclassmen in the receiving corps and on the offensive line. Polian will be looking for a new offensive coordinator following the departure of new Hawaii head coach Nick Rolovich, but there are some pieces.

It’s a little bit harder to find reason for happy thoughts on defense. The Wolf Pack rank 104th in Def. S&P+ even though six of their top eight tacklers are seniors. The other two are freshmen, including ball-hawk Dameon Barber (six interceptions), but coordinator Scott Boone will be dealing with younger personnel next year.

But the future’s for the future. Against CSU, Nevada could give itself a chance at a seventh win with some big gainers on the ground and a dose of havoc from senior defensive ends Lenny Jones and Ian Seau (combined: 27 tackles for loss, 15 sacks).

A bowl might not feel much like a bowl when you’re facing a conference foe, but the chance at a winning record after a frustrating year should still provide motivation.

Check out the monstrous stat preview here.

On standard downs -- first down, second-and-short or -medium, third-and-short -- Colorado State holds a little bit of an edge on both sides of the ball. While the Rams allow big run plays, most are relatively small gains. Meanwhile, CSU’s offense is far more efficient than Nevada’s defense.

But the CSU defense has been downright awful on passing downs, consistently letting opponents off the hook with misplaced aggression. Nevada’s offense is anything but impressive on such downs, but CSU’s glitches might offer Nevada a path. Of course, that only matters if Nevada’s own bad passing downs defense doesn’t give up the same gains.