Not even Google Maps has the Mountain West Conference on the road to an NCAA football title.

With five so-called “power” conferences competing for the four spots in the College Football Playoff, the best opportunity for the MWC is to earn a berth in a New Year’s Day bowl. To secure a guaranteed spot in one of those bowls, a MWC team would have to have the best ranking among Group of Five conferences.

“No chance,” San Diego State coach Rocky Long said, likening the football playoff to the NCAA basketball tournament inviting only four teams.

“Every other division of football does it,” Long said of a playoff field in which every conference is represented. “The FCS guys do it. They have a 32-team tournament. Division II has a 32-team tournament. Division III has a tournament, too. Every division but our division, and every sport in the NCAA has a legitimate national championship except Division I football.”

For Mountain West teams, Long noted, even having zero losses offers zero hope.

“If you’re undefeated you get to play on New Year’s Day,” he said. “That’s your reward. If you go undefeated, you ought to be in the damn playoffs.”

Long cheered Central Florida, which went undefeated in 2017 but did not participate in the playoff. UCF declared itself the national champion.

“If it would have been us who (went undefeated), I would have done everything in the world to play it up like Central Florida did,” Long said. “Parades. Rings. Banners. I’d have done exactly what they did.”

Here’s a look at the Mountain West football programs, in order of the predicted finish according to polling of media covering the league. Capsules by the Star-Advertiser’s Stephen Tsai:

WEST DIVISION

1. Fresno State

>> 2017: 10-4, 7-1 MWC

>> Bulldogs story: With a turnaround that could induce whiplash, the Bulldogs went from double-digit losses in 2016 to 10 victories last year, in part because of quarterback Marcus Maryion’s 9-2 record as a starter, in part because of Orlando Steinauer’s strict defense. Steinauer departed after one season, joining the Canadian Football League’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats as a defensive coordinator. But he left behind the recipes to multiple-front schemes that allowed 17.9 points per game last year.

>> Key Bulldogs: The starting offensive tackles — Netane Muti and Christian Cronk — woulda, coulda, shoulda been on Hawaii’s line. But both did not meet eligibility requirements to initially enroll at Manoa. They eventually found their way to the Central Valley — and into the league’s top line.

>> Quote: “It was Christmas Day, but I just wanted to sleep. I told my family, ‘Let me sleep. We can open presents later,” recalled linebacker James Bailey, who traveled 4,490 miles to Atlanta after playing in the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve.

2. San Diego St.

>> 2017: 10-3, 6-2 MWC

>> Aztecs story: It had been assumed that when the Aztecs called “next,” running back Juwan Washington would step forward as the offensive leader, a role held previously by backs Donnel Pumphrey and then Rashaad Penny. But now signs point to quarterback Christian Chapman. “In our program, the seniors are who you look up to,” Chapman said. “Being a senior now, I’m the guy. I have to take over that leadership role.” At 6 feet, Chapman relies on 1-2-3-out tempo and the precision to throw through tight windows. Chapman, who is 23-6 as a starter, has thrown 35 TDs against 11 picks in his SDSU career.

>> Key Aztec: Inside linebacker Ronley Lakalaka has been honored for playing football. His future hope is to become His Honor. “I want to be mayor one day,” said Lakalaka, whose dream was fostered after meeting former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann. “I looked up to him ever since.”

>> Quote: “It’s my senior year,” Chapman said. “Let’s go down blazing.”

3. UNLV

>> 2017: 5-7, 4-4 MWC

>> Rebels story: All the money pouring into the UNLV program could not buy a yard. With a chance to move out of reach and secure a bowl berth, the Rebels faced two 1-yard-to-gain situations against Nevada last year. They were stopped twice, and eventually lost. “During spring, Coach (Tony Sanchez) always talked about that 1 yard, that 1 yard we couldn’t get,” running back Lexington Thomas said. The Rebels are motivated to get many yards from quarterback Armani Rogers, who has drawn comparisons to Cam Newton, and Thomas, who is 1,249 yards from setting the school’s career rushing record.

>> Key Rebel: Thomas was just “Lexo,” a play on Lexington, until he received a clip of Spectrum’s telecast of a UH-UNLV game. Color analyst Rich Miano said, “That guy’s fast, he’s fast as lightning,” Thomas said. “I just rolled with it. Now I’m ‘Lightning.’ I put it on social media. My PlayStation name, my Xbox is Lightning Lit. That’s who I am now.”

>> Quote: On construction of the football complex, defensive end James Outsey said: “We walk by the new Fertitta building every day, you wave and say ‘hi’ to the construction people.”

4. Nevada

>> 2017: 3-9, 3-5 MWC

>> Wolf Pack story: The father of the air raid passing attack — Hal Mumme — also is the father of Nevada offensive coordinator Matt Mumme. The younger Mumme has taken the scheme’s main premise — spread wide — and synchronized it to the run-pass options of the pistol offense. The result is a blend with four receivers, or two tight ends, or a tight end-fullback backfield. “Lots of formations and looks,” said Ty Gangi, who threw for 2,746 yards and rushed for 233. Malik Reed has moved from rush end to weak-side linebacker.

>> Key Wolf: Gangi said he grew up in a football family. His grandfather was an All-American at UCLA and an uncle played at California. “I’ve been playing quarterback ever since I started playing football,” Gangi said. “It’s been a lot of hard work and a lot of repetition.”

>> Quote: “Ever since I was a baby, I was holding footballs,” Gangi said.

5. Hawaii

>> 2017: 3-9, 1-7 MWC

>> Rainbow Warriors story: UH has six new coaches, a resurrected run-and-shoot offense and a a renovated multiple-look defense. A direct line has been established from the top to the quarterbacks. Head coach Nick Rolovich will be the play-caller, a role he relished as an offensive coordinator at UH and Nevada.

>> Key Warrior: The most important is a position, not a player. In the run-and-shoot, the quarterback is the most influential. Through the first two practices of training camp, equal reps went to Cole McDonald, Jeremy Moussa, Chevan Cordeiro, Kolney Cassel and Justin Uahinui.

>> Quote: On negative attitudes, Rolovich said: “You don’t need that hanging out in the locker room. It’s like mold. It’s going to keep growing if you don’t clean it up.”

6. San Jose State

>> 2017: 2-11, 1-7 MWC

>> Spartans story: In Brent Brennan’s initial season as head coach, the Spartans committed 44 turnovers (including 29 by the quarterbacks), and scored a mere 15.7 points per game. Four QBs are competing for the keys to the offense. The defense needs to get healthy (seven linebackers missed most or all of spring ball because of injuries).

>> Key Spartan: While it seems defensive lineman Bryson Bridges has always been a gifted performer, he once experienced second-string disappointment. That was in eighth grade, when his mother insisted he take up an instrument that was not the drums. The orchestra class had enough violinists, so he ended up with his second choice: the viola. He played in the orchestra through high school. Although he no longer plays, thinking of string music helps him relax. “I find peace in that,” he said.

MOUNTAIN DIVISION

1. Boise State

>> 2017: 11-3, 7-1 MWC

>> Broncos story: The rushing average of 143.5 yards per game was the lowest since 1996. But that’s being nit-picky. Alexander Mattison gained 1,086 yards, nine starters return to a defense that held nine opponents under 20 points, and Brett Rypien is back as a fourth-year starter. Rypien enters with 9,876 career passing yards, best among FBS passers.

>> Key Bronco: Beginning in middle school, Rypien used to schedule video nights with his father and his uncle, Mark Rypien, a former NFL quarterback and Super Bowl champion. “We watched football together,” Brett Rypien said. “you start to understand basic leverage and what concepts are going to work against what coverage.”

>> Quote: “Gruden has a little more accent than Harsin does,” said Rypien, when asked if BSU coach Bryan Harsin and Oakland Raiders coach Jon Gruden sound-alike.

2. Wyoming

>> 2017: 8-5, 5-3 MWC

>> Cowboys story: According to a study, the national exposure quarterback Josh Allen generated for Wyoming was valued at $167 million. While Allen, the Buffalo Bills’ first-round pick, drew attention, the defense was overlooked. The Cowboys relinquished 17.5 points per game, and seized 38 takeaways, including eight in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. Middle linebacker Logan Wilson made 119 tackles, and the league’s best safety, Andrew Wingard, topped 100 stops for the third year in a row.

>> Key Cowboy: As a high school senior, Carl Granderson’s frame did not match the picture of a defensive end. At 6-5, he had speed, length and smarts, but weighed only 175. Unconcerned with weighty issues, Wyoming coach Craig Bohl offered Granderson a scholarship. Granderson is now 265 and a feared pass rusher. Bohl also was right about Granderson’s heart. Granderson volunteers with Cathedral Home, a program that guides at-risk youths.

>> Quote: “It was after my freshman year, so that’s kind of when we were the dumps of the Mountain West, and we didn’t have too many guys to send to media day,” Wingard said of the first of three appearances at the media summit.

3. Colorado State

>> 2017: 7-6, 5-3 MWC

>> Rams story: After playing in a bowl for the fourth consecutive year, the Rams released the entire defensive staff. But that’s what happens when a unit can’t complement the league’s most prolific offense (school-record 492.5-yard average). New defensive coordinator John Jancek is bringing back the 4-3 base. The offense is rebooting with KJ Carta-Samuels, a graduate transfer from Washington, and running back Izzy Matthews, who was the backup to 1,399-yard rusher Dalyn Dawkins last year.

>> Key Ram: Matthews has benefited from the new certified dietician and newly created nutrition bar to go from 236 pounds in January to 210 on his 6-foot frame. “I’m still as strong, but with lesser weight,” Matthews said. He accumulated 1,937 rushing yards as a backup the past three years.

>> Quote: “My grandpa likes to say when I was a kid, I used to spin around, and they called me Dizzy Izzy. I don’t know how true that is,” Matthews said.

4. Utah State

>> 2017: 6-7, 4-4

>> Aggies story: In an admitted reinvention last year, head coach Matt Wells hired David Yost, who previously coached at Oregon, to implement a hurry-up, no-huddle offense. There were hiccups, but “it was a good choice,” Wells said. “In Year 2, you’ll see fruits of the labor.” Jordan Love was the starting quarterback the final eight games, growing along with a developing offensive line. Keith Patterson, who was added as co-defensive coordinator, is a cerebral sort whose diligence has drawn comparisons to former USU and UH coach Dave Aranda. “He’s a thinker like Dave, always scheming and drawing stuff,” Wells said.

>> Key Aggie: It was not easy for Roman Andrus to cross the line. With his thin build, he was a better fit on defense — at least that was what he was told in high school, at BYU, and after he returned from a church mission. It was at Snow College where the perception changed, and offensive line became a possibility. He took a recruiting trip to UH — the alma mater of his father, Alan, a former Rainbow basketball player — before signing with the Aggies. He now can squat-lift 440 pounds, and is solidified at left tackle.

>> Quote: “My dad used to give me hand-me-downs,” Andrus said. “Now I give him hand-me-downs.”

5. Air Force

>> 2017: 5-7, 4-4 MWC

>> Falcons story: A hush-hush military secret is the identity of the successor to defensive coordinator Steve Russ, who departed in January to serve as linebackers coach with the Carolina Panthers. What was not so secret was the Falcons’ struggles against the run (5.93 yards per carry in 2017). Mosese Fifita, a 330-pound nose tackle, and hybrid Kyle Floyd are starting points. Quarterback Arion Worthman is a dual threat, but there are questions on his passing accuracy going from nearly 60 percent in 2016 to below 50 percent last year.

>> Key Falcon: Inside linebacker Brody Bagnall’s choice of super powers did not involve flying until he took an aeronautical engineering class. “It gave me some faith in the engineering behind (planes),” Bagnall said. After an incentive flight on a plane that cost the equivalent of 2,037 feet of Oahu’s rail, Bagnall was hooked. “It was like freedom,” said Bagnall, who aspires a career as a pilot. “I was upside down, thousands of feet above the ground, doing loops and barrel rolls.”

>> Quote: “That’s basically six weeks of being yelled at and working non-stop,” offensive lineman Griffin Landrum said of the academy’s basic training.

6. New Mexico

>> 2017: 3-9, 1-7 MWC

>> Lobos story: Linebacker Alex Hart was reared in Prior Lake, Minn. (population 25,863), and until this year, his most astonishing experience in New Mexico was seeing tumbleweeds. “I never thought that was a real thing,” Hart said. He also did not imagine head coach Bob Davie being suspended for two weeks of spring ball for what the NCAA termed “obstruction,” UNM’s decision to drop four sports, and Davie dropping the triple-option offense. Tavaka Tuioti is a top quarterback candidate to lead the spread offense under new offensive coordinator Calvin McGee, who spent the past six seasons at Arizona.

>> Key Lobo: “When I came to New Mexico,” said guard Aaron Jenkins, who grew up in faster-paced Dallas, “it was like they were 10 years stuck in the past.” Jenkins also had felt the triple-option offense was behind the times. “It kind of got redundant for us,” Jenkins said. As the leader of the O-line, Jenkins will be instrumental in the Lobos’ move to a more universal offense.

>> Quote: “Running the ball is my go-to. If I’m run-blocking, I’m at home,” Jenkins said.