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Mountain West Conference

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"Mountain West" redirects here. For the geographic region of the United States, see Mountain states. For other uses, see Mountain west.
For the former women's athletic conference, see Mountain West Athletic Conference.

Mountain West Conference
AssociationNCAA
FoundedMay 26, 1998; 26 years ago (1998-05-26)
CommissionerGloria Nevarez (since January 1, 2023)
Sports fielded
  • 19
    • men's: 8
    • women's: 11
DivisionDivision I
SubdivisionFBS
No. of teams11 (9 in 2026)
HeadquartersColorado Springs, Colorado
RegionWestern United States
Official websitethemw.com
Locations
Location of teams in

The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on January 4, 1999. Geographically, the MW covers a broad expanse of the Western United States, with member schools located in California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, and Hawaii. Gloria Nevarez took over as commissioner of the MW on January 1, 2023, following the retirement of founding commissioner Craig Thompson.[1][2]

The charter members of the MW included the United States Air Force Academy, Brigham Young University, Colorado State University, San Diego State University, the University of New Mexico, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, University of Utah and the University of Wyoming. Before forming the Mountain West Conference, seven of its eight charter members had been longtime members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and half of these had been charter members of that conference from 1962. Overall, each school that has ever been either a full or football-only member of the MW spent at least three years in the WAC before joining the Mountain West.

History

Mountain West Conference is located in USA West
San Diego State
San Diego State
San Jose State
San Jose State
Fresno State
Fresno State
UNLV
UNLV
Nevada
Nevada
Boise State
Boise State
Utah State
Utah State
New Mexico
New Mexico
Colorado State
Colorado State
Air Force
Air
Force
Wyoming
Wyoming
UTEP
UTEP
Colorado College
Colorado College
Washington State
Washington State
class=notpageimage|
Mountain West Conference member locations (Western United States)
– Full member
— Departing member
— Future member
– Associate member (women's soccer)
– Associate member (baseball & women's swimming)
Mountain West Conference is located in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii
class=notpageimage|
Mountain West Conference member locations (Hawaii)
– Football-only and future full member
Craig Thompson was hired as the inaugural commissioner of the Mountain West on October 15, 1998, and served until his retirement on December 31, 2022. Before joining the MW, he had been commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference.

Genesis

The creation of the MW was a delayed aftereffect of the 1996 NCAA conference realignment, which had initially been triggered two years earlier when the Big Eight Conference agreed to merge with four members of the Southwest Conference (SWC) to create the Big 12 Conference, which would begin competition in the 1996–97 school year.

The Western Athletic Conference, which had initially announced plans to expand beyond its then-current 10 members to at least 12, ended up with even more potential expansion prospects. Ultimately, the WAC took in three of the four SWC schools left out of the Big 12 merger—Rice University, Southern Methodist University (SMU), and Texas Christian University (TCU). Three other schools were added to bring the total membership to 16, namely Big West Conference members San José State University and UNLV, plus the University of Tulsa, an NCAA football independent and otherwise a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. The WAC's 16 teams were divided into four four-team "quadrants", two of which rotated between the Mountain and Pacific Divisions every two years. However, the newly expanded WAC was soon wracked by tension between the established and new members.[3]

In spring of 1998, BYU and Utah proposed a permanent split into two eight-team divisions. The proposal would have forced some schools into an unnatural alignment because of the geographic distribution of the conference.[3] Air Force was the most strident opponent of this proposal, threatening to become an independent.[3] Soon after the proposal by BYU and Utah, the presidents of Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Utah, and Wyoming met at Denver International Airport to discuss their future, and they agreed to break away from the WAC to form a new conference.[3] They invited the WAC members New Mexico, San Diego State, and UNLV to join them in what became the Mountain West Conference.

The next move for the MW came in 2005, when the conference added TCU, who had spent the previous four seasons in Conference USA (C-USA).

Early–2010s realignment

See also: 2010–2013 Mountain West Conference realignment

On June 11, 2010, Boise State University agreed to join the conference as its tenth member. On June 17, 2010, Utah announced it would be leaving the Mountain West to join what would become the Pac-12 Conference. On August 18, 2010, amidst rumors that BYU was considering leaving the Mountain West to go independent in football and rejoin the Western Athletic Conference in all other sports, the Mountain West Conference officially extended invitations to California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) and the University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada). Both schools accepted and would become the tenth and eleventh members of the league.[4][5] BYU announced on August 31, 2010, that it would leave the Mountain West Conference and go Independent in football and become a member of the West Coast Conference (WCC) in other sports starting in 2011.[6] On November 29, 2010, TCU announced all athletic teams would move to the Big East Conference effective in 2012.[7] (Less than a year later, on October 10, 2011, TCU announced it would not join the Big East but would join the Big 12, home to fellow former SWC members Baylor, Texas, Texas Tech, and formerly Texas A&M, in 2012 instead.)[8] On December 10, 2010, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa accepted a bid to become the 10th member of the conference for football only.[9] These changes would leave the Mountain West Conference with 10 teams for the 2012 football season.

During the era of football's Bowl Championship Series (BCS), which was replaced by the College Football Playoff (CFP) in 2014, the MW champion qualified for a BCS bowl four times after the BCS formula was tweaked to allow teams from non-BCS conferences to play in BCS bowls if ranked in the top 12. However, two of the three schools that qualified are no longer with the conference.

On October 14, 2011, the Mountain West and C-USA announced a plan for a football only alliance.[10] On February 13, 2012, the two leagues announced that both conferences would be dissolving after the 2012–13 season to reform into one conference with at least 15 members for all sports, and a 16th team, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa as a football-only member.[11] However, when the two conferences discussed their plans with the NCAA, they were told that due to NCAA rules, they would forfeit substantial revenues. Specifically, the new conference would receive only one automatic bid to NCAA championships; at least one of the former conferences would lose future revenue distributions from the NCAA men's basketball tournament; and at least one former conference would not be able to collect exit fees from any members that departed to join the new conference.[12] As a result, the Mountain West and C-USA backed away from a full merger. In late March of that year, the commissioners of both conferences stated that all 16 schools had entered into binding agreements to form a new "association",[13] although the Mountain West and C-USA would have apparently remained separate legal entities.[12] In the end, this alliance never materialized due to both conferences soon adding new teams.

On May 2, 2012, San José State and Utah State agreed to join the conference for the 2013–14 academic year. On December 31 of that year, Boise State announced that it had backed out of its previously announced move to the Big East for football and the Big West for other sports, and would remain in the MW.[14]

On January 16, 2013, San Diego State accepted an offer to remain/return to the Mountain West Conference in all sports. Keeping SDSU in the conference gave the Mountain West 12 football members, allowing for a Championship Game to be held. The first championship game took place on December 7, 2013.[15]

Further membership changes

In February 2018, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the MW was looking to expand in the near future. In the report, commissioner Craig Thompson revealed that the conference had discussed expansion with six schools, with WCC member Gonzaga (which has not sponsored football since World War II) the only school mentioned by name. Thompson added that Gonzaga could potentially join the MW as a full but non-football member as early as July 2018. While Thompson said that BYU had not contacted the conference, the report indicated that BYU would be open to an MW return, at least in non-football sports, should Gonzaga join.[16] A later Union-Tribune report indicated that talks were advanced enough that the conference's presidents planned a vote on an invitation to Gonzaga during the MW men's and women's basketball tournaments in Las Vegas, but decided to delay the vote until after the Final Four.[17] However, on April 2, the day of the Division I men's title game, Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth notified the MW, the WCC, and media that the school would remain in the WCC for the immediate future.[18]

On June 30, 2022, UCLA[19] and USC[20] announced their departure from the Pac-12 Conference to the Big Ten Conference beginning in the 2024–25 academic year. After that announcement, San Diego State had been considered one of the top candidates for Pac-12 expansion. On June 16, 2023, Pete Thamel of ESPN reported that San Diego State had given the Mountain West Conference notice that the school would be departing from the conference and asked for an extension for the departure deadline of July 1, 2023, to avoid paying extra exit fees.[21] The Mountain West Conference denied the request for a deadline extension and considered the letter from San Diego State as a formal notice of departure and began to proceed with the separation process; however, San Diego State disputed that its letter of intent was a formal notice.[22] On June 30, 2023, with the Pac-12 still lacking a media rights agreement for 2024–25, ESPN reported that San Diego State would remain in the Mountain West Conference, rescinding the intention to withdraw from the conference.[23] The MW and San Diego State reached a settlement of their dispute the following month, with SDSU remaining a member for the immediate future.[24]

In September 2023, after a mass exodus from the Pac-12 left Oregon State and Washington State as its only remaining members, MW commissioner Gloria Nevarez began discussions with the two schools regarding various options for partnership, affiliation, or merger.[25][26] On December 1, 2023, the conference announced that it would enter into a football scheduling agreement with the two schools for the 2024 season. All 12 Mountain West members will play one game against either Oregon State or Washington State next season, giving both schools three home games and three away games. These games will not count towards Mountain West conference standings, and Oregon State and Washington State will remain members of the Pac-12.[27] On April 16, 2024, it was also announced that Washington State would be joining the MW as an affiliate for baseball and women's swimming.[28]

On September 12, 2024, it was announced that Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State, and San Diego State would be leaving the MW and joining the Pac-12 in 2026.[29] On September 23, Utah State also accepted an offer to join the Pac-12 in 2026 as its seventh member.[30]

On October 1, 2024 it was announced that the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) will be joining the Mountain West starting in the 2026–27 academic year.[31] On October 14, Craig Angelos. athletic director of football-only member Hawaii, confirmed outside reports that the school would upgrade to full MW membership in 2026.[32] This move was officially announced the next day.[33]On November 1, 2024, Grand Canyon University announced it was joining the Mountain West no later than July 1, 2026. [34]

Member schools

Current full members

  Members departing for the Pac-12 Conference in 2026.

Institution Location Founded Joined Type Enrollment Endowment (2023)
(millions)[35] 		Nickname Colors
United States Air Force Academy Air Force Academy, Colorado[a] 1954 1999 Federal
(Military) 		4,181 $98.9 Falcons    
Boise State University Boise, Idaho 1932 2011 Public 26,155 $143.0 Broncos    
California State University, Fresno Fresno, California 1911 2012 25,047 $229.0 Bulldogs    
Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado 1870 1999 33,648[36] $580.0 Rams    
University of Nevada, Reno Reno, Nevada 1874 2012 Public 21,034 $458.0 Wolf Pack    
University of Nevada, Las Vegas Las Vegas, Nevada[b] 1957 1999 30,660 $388.4 Rebels    
University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico 1889 1999 21,738 $661.0 Lobos    
San Diego State University San Diego, California 1897 1999 Public 32,599 $415.7 Aztecs    
San José State University San Jose, California 1857 2013 Public 32,432 $182.6 Spartans      
Utah State University Logan, Utah 1888 2013 Public 27,943 $538.4 Aggies      
University of Wyoming Laramie, Wyoming 1886 1999 Public 11,100 $758.8 Cowboys & Cowgirls    
  1. ^ Virtually all of the Air Force Academy grounds, including the cadet area and all athletic facilities, are outside the city limits of Colorado Springs. The US Census Bureau and US Postal Service consider the Academy to be its own entity, respectively designating it as "Air Force Academy" and "USAF Academy".
  2. ^ The UNLV campus lies outside the Las Vegas city limits in the unincorporated area of Paradise. The US Postal Service considers all unincorporated communities in the Las Vegas Valley, including Paradise, to have a Las Vegas address.

Future members

Institution Location Founded Joining Type Enrollment Endowment (2017)
(millions)[35] 		Nickname Colors Current conference
Grand Canyon University Phoenix, Arizona 1949 July 1, 2026 Private For-Profit[a]
(Non-denominational) 		103,427[b] $21.6 Antelopes       WAC
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Honolulu, Hawaii 1907 Public 19,097 $341.4 Rainbow Warriors/Wahine         Big West[c]
University of Texas at El Paso El Paso, Texas 1913 25,121 $241.7 Miners       Conference USA
Notes
  1. ^ Grand Canyon's for-profit status is disputed. The U.S. Department of Education treats it as a for-profit institution, but the Internal Revenue Service, the NCAA, and the state of Arizona consider it a nonprofit.
  2. ^ Includes online students. Current on-campus enrollment is about 25,300.
  3. ^ Current Mountain West football affiliate

Affiliate members

Institution Location Founded Joined Type Enrollment Endowment[37] Nickname Colors MW
sport 		Primary
conference
Colorado College Colorado Springs, Colorado 1874 2014 Nonsectarian 2,266 $908.6 million Tigers     Women's soccer Southern (SCAC)[a]
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Honolulu, Hawaii 1907 2012 Public 19,097 $341.4 million Rainbow Warriors         Football Big West
(MW in 2026)
Washington State University Pullman, Washington 1890 2024 Public 24,139 $1.28 billion Cougars     Baseball Pac-12
Women's swimming
Notes
  1. ^ Currently an NCAA Division III athletic conference

Former full members

Institution Location Founded Joined Left Type Enrollment Nickname Colors Current
conference
Brigham Young University Provo, Utah 1875 1999 2011 LDS Church 34,390 Cougars     Big 12
Texas Christian University Fort Worth, Texas 1873 2005 2012 Disciples
of Christ 		11,938 Horned Frogs    
University of Utah Salt Lake City, Utah 1850 1999 2011 Public 34,900 Utes    

Membership timeline

University of Texas at El PasoConference USAWestern Athletic ConferenceWashington State UniversityColorado CollegePac-12 ConferenceUtah State UniversityWestern Athletic ConferenceBig West ConferenceSan Jose State UniversityWestern Athletic ConferenceUniversity of Nevada, RenoWestern Athletic ConferenceBig West ConferenceUniversity of Hawaiʻi at MānoaWestern Athletic ConferencePac-12 ConferenceCalifornia State University, FresnoWestern Athletic ConferencePac-12 ConferenceBoise State UniversityWestern Athletic ConferenceBig West ConferenceBig 12 ConferenceTexas Christian UniversityConference USAWestern Athletic ConferenceUniversity of WyomingWestern Athletic ConferenceBig 12 ConferencePac-12 ConferenceUniversity of UtahWestern Athletic ConferencePac-12 ConferenceSan Diego State UniversityWestern Athletic ConferenceUniversity of New MexicoWestern Athletic ConferenceUniversity of Nevada, Las VegasWestern Athletic ConferencePac-12 ConferenceColorado State UniversityWestern Athletic ConferenceBig 12 ConferenceWest Coast ConferenceBrigham Young UniversityWestern Athletic ConferenceUnited States Air Force AcademyWestern Athletic Conference

 Full members   Associate members (football only)   Associate members (other)  Other conference  Other conference 

NCAA team championships

See also: List of NCAA schools with the most NCAA Division I championships and List of NCAA schools with the most Division I national championships

Excluded from this list are all national championships earned outside the scope of NCAA competition, including Division I FBS football titles, women's AIAW championships (17), equestrian titles (0), and retroactive Helms Athletic Foundation titles.[38]

School Team Championships
Total Men Women Co-ed
San Jose State 10 7 3 0
Wyoming 3 1 0 2
New Mexico 3 0 2 1
Fresno State 2 1 1 0
UNLV 2 2 0 0
Colorado State 1 1 0 0
Boise State 1 1 0 0
San Diego State 1 1 0 0
Air Force 0 0 0 0
Nevada 0 0 0 0
Utah State 0 0 0 0
Total 23 14 6 3

Sports

The Mountain West Conference sponsors championship competition in eight men's and 11 women's NCAA sanctioned sports.[39] Hawai'i is only an associate member for football, and Colorado College is only an associate member for women's soccer.

Teams in Mountain West competition[a]
Sport Men's Women's
Baseball 7 –
Basketball 11 11
Cross country 9 11
Football 12 –
Golf 11 9
Gymnastics – 4
Soccer – 12
Softball – 9
Swimming and diving – 9
Tennis 7 11
Track and field (indoor) 8 11
Track and field (outdoor) 8 11
Volleyball – 11
  1. ^ Numbers of teams are as of the 2021–22 school year

Men's sports

Member Baseball Basket­ball Cross
country 		Football Golf Tennis Track
& field indoor 		Track
& field outdoor 		Total
MW
sports
Air Force Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 8
Boise State No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 7
Fresno State Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No[a] Yes Yes 7
Colorado State No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes 6
Nevada Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 6
UNLV Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No 5
New Mexico Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 8
San Diego State Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No 5
San Jose State Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes 7
Utah State No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 7
Wyoming No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes 6
Current Totals 7+1[b] 11 9 11+1[c] 11 7 8 8 69+2
Future members
Hawai'i Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No 5
UTEP No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes 6
2026-27 Totals 6 8 6 8 8 5 5 5 51
  1. ^ Fresno State dropped men's tennis at the end of the 2020–21 school year.[40]
  2. ^ Affiliate member Washington State
  3. ^ Affiliate member Hawai'i

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Mountain West

Future members in gray.

School Fencing[a] Gymna­stics Ice
hockey		 Lac­rosse Rifle[b] Soccer Swimming
& diving		 Volleyball Water
polo		 Wrestling
Air Force Indep­endent MPSF AHA ASUN[41] PRC WAC WAC WCC Big 12
Hawai'i Big West[c] Big West[c]
UNLV WAC WAC
San Diego State WAC
San Jose State WAC WCC
Wyoming WAC Big 12
  1. ^ Fencing is officially a coeducational team sport, although a few schools field only a women's team. Air Force, like most NCAA fencing schools, has a coed team with men's and women's squads.
  2. ^ Rifle is technically a men's sport, but men's, women's, and coed teams all compete against each other. Air Force fields a coed team.
  3. ^ a b Hawai'i has not announced a future affiliation for its men's swimming & diving or men's volleyball programs.

Women's sports

Member Basket­ball Cross
country 		Golf Gymnastics Soccer Softball Swimming
& diving 		Tennis Track
& field indoor 		Track
& field
outdoor 		Volley­ball Total
MW
sports
Air Force Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 9
Boise State Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes 10
Fresno State Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 10
Colorado State Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 10
Nevada Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 10
UNLV Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 10
New Mexico Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 10
San Diego State Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 10
San Jose State Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 11
Utah State Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes 9
Wyoming Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 9
Current Totals 11 11 9 4 11+1[a] 9 9+1[b] 11 11 11 11 108+2
Future members
Hawai'i Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 10
UTEP Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes 9
2026-27 Totals 8 8 7 2 8+1[a] 6 7 8 8 8 8 72+1
  1. ^ a b Affiliate member Colorado College.
  2. ^ Affiliate member Washington State.

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Mountain West

Future members in gray.

School Beach
volleyball		 Equestrian Fencing[a] Lacrosse Rifle[b] Sailing Water
polo
Air Force Independent PRC
Boise State Southland
Fresno State Big 12 Golden Coast
Hawai'i Big West[c] PCCSC Big West[c]
San Diego State Big 12 Golden Coast
San Jose State Southland MPSF
UTEP CUSA[d] PRC
  1. ^ Fencing is officially a coeducational team sport, although a few schools field only a women's team. Air Force, like most NCAA fencing schools, has a coed team with men's and women's squads.
  2. ^ Rifle is technically a men's sport, but men's, women's, and coed teams all compete against each other. Air Force and UTEP respectively field coed and women-only teams.
  3. ^ a b Hawai'i has not announced a future affiliation for its beach volleyball or women's water polo programs.
  4. ^ UTEP has not announced a future affiliation for its beach volleyball program.

Athletic department revenue by school

Total revenue includes ticket sales, contributions and donations, rights and licensing, student fees, school funds and all other sources including TV income, camp income, concessions, and novelties.

Total expenses includes coach and staff salaries, scholarships, buildings and grounds, maintenance, utilities and rental fees, recruiting, team travel, equipment and uniforms, conference dues, and insurance.

The following table shows institutional reporting to the United States Department of Education as shown on the DOE Equity in Athletics website for the 2021–22 academic year.[42] However, since Air Force is not available from that source, it was obtained from Knight Commission for the 2020–2021 academic year.[43]

Institution 2021–22 Total Revenue from Athletics 2021–22 Total Expenses on Athletics
San Diego State University $67,245,917 $67,245,917
United States Air Force Academy $65,914,558 $58,680,602
Colorado State University $59,275,605 $59,275,605
California State University, Fresno $53,448,649 $45,811,581
University of Nevada, Reno $45,228,708 $45,228,708
Boise State University $44,813,743 $44,813,269
University of New Mexico $43,937,555 $43,922,247
Utah State University $43,035,302 $43,035,302
University of Nevada, Las Vegas $42,320,074 $42,320,074
University of Wyoming $41,751,385 $41,751,385
San José state University $37,717,297 $37,717,297

Conference champions

Main article: List of Mountain West Conference champions

Rivalries

Conference (football)

Totals and records following the completion of the 2022 football season.

Teams Rivalry name Trophy Meetings
(last)		 Record Series
leader
Air Force Colorado State Air Force–Colorado State football rivalry Ram-Falcon Trophy 60
(2022)		 38–21–1 Air Force
Hawai'i Air Force–Hawai'i football rivalry Kuter Trophy 22
(2019)		 14–7–1 Air Force
Boise State Fresno State Boise State–Fresno State football rivalry Milk Can 25
(2022)		 17–8 Boise State
Nevada Boise State–Nevada football rivalry — 45
(2022)		 31–14 Boise State
Fresno State Hawai'i Fresno State–Hawai'i football rivalry The Golden Screwdriver 55
(2022)		 30–24–1 Fresno State
San Diego State Battle for the Oil Can Old Oil Can 61
(2022)		 27–30–4 San Diego State
San José state Battle for the Valley Valley Trophy 86
(2022)		 44–39–3 Fresno State
Colorado State Wyoming Border War Bronze Boot 114
(2022)		 59–50–5 Colorado State
Hawai'i San José state Dick Tomey Legacy Game Dick Tomey Legacy Trophy 46

(2023)

22–23–1 San José state
UNLV Hawai'i–UNLV football rivalry Island Showdown Trophy 33
(2022)		 19–14 Hawai'i
Wyoming Hawai'i–Wyoming football rivalry Paniolo Trophy 27
(2022)		 11–16 Wyoming
Nevada UNLV Battle for Nevada Fremont Cannon 48
(2022)		 29–19 Nevada
Utah State Wyoming Bridger's Battle Bridger Rifle 72
(2022)		 40–28–4 Utah State

Non–conference (including other sports)

Schools First
meeting		 Game Trophy Reigning champion
(last meeting)		 Next
meeting
Air Force / Army / Navy 1972 Commander-in-Chief's Trophy Air Force
(2022)		 2023
Boise State Idaho 1971 Battle of Idaho Governor's Cup Boise State
(2010)
Colorado State Colorado 1893 Rocky Mountain Showdown Centennial Cup Colorado
(2023)		 2024
New Mexico Arizona 1908 Arizona–New Mexico football rivalry Kit Carson Rifle Arizona
(2015)		 2024
New Mexico State 1894 Rio Grande Rivalry New Mexico State
(2023)		 2024
San José state Stanford 1900 Bill Walsh Legacy Game Stanford
(2013)		 2024
Utah State Brigham Young (BYU) 1922 Battle for The Old Wagon Wheel The Old Wagon Wheel BYU
(2022)
Utah 1892 Battle of the Brothers Utah
(2015)
Utah State / BYU / Utah 1971 Beehive Boot BYU
(2022)		 2025
UTEP New Mexico State 1914 Battle of I-10 Silver Spade Trophy and the Mayor's Cup New Mexico State
(2023)		 2024

Football

Divisions

See also: Mountain West Conference Football Championship Game

Beginning in 2013, the conference split into two divisions, named the "Mountain Division" and "West Division," of six teams each for football. The Mountain West also added a conference championship game, pitting the winners of the two divisions. This first championship game took place on December 7, 2013, at Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, California, the home stadium of Fresno State, the divisional winner with the higher BCS ranking.[44] Each team played five divisional games and three cross-divisional contests annually.[45] The 2015 championship game featured the Air Force Academy Falcons against the San Diego State University Aztecs. The 2016 championship game featured the San Diego State University Aztecs against the University of Wyoming Cowboys.

On May 20, 2022, the conference approved a new football schedule format, set to take effect in the 2023 season.[46][47] Under this format, the conference will remove divisions, and instead play a 2–6 format, where each team plays 2 designated rivals every year along with six separate 6-team rotations that flip every other year, such that every team will have at least one home game and one away game against every other team in a three-year cycle (less than the standard length of a college player's career). The MW Championship will also no longer be determined by the winners of the two divisions; the two teams with the highest conference winning percentage will play instead.[48][49] The designated rivals under this system are as follows:

MW Permanent Matchups[48]
School Rival 1 Rival 2
Air Force Colorado State Wyoming
Boise State New Mexico Utah State
Colorado State Air Force Wyoming
Fresno State Nevada San José state
Hawaii San Diego State UNLV
Nevada Fresno State UNLV
New Mexico Boise State San José state
San Diego State Hawaii Utah State
San José state Fresno State New Mexico
UNLV Hawaii Nevada
Utah State Boise State San Diego State
Wyoming Air Force Colorado State

Prior to this, the division format was as follows:

MW Football Divisions (2013–2022)
Mountain Division West Division
Air Force Fresno State
Boise State Hawaiʻi
Colorado State Nevada
New Mexico UNLV
Utah State San Diego State
Wyoming San José state
  • No other MW sport is split into divisions—including women's soccer, the only other conference sport with 12 competing schools (with Colorado College as the 12th member).

Bowl games

The Mountain West Conference has agreements with six bowls.

Since the 2014 season, the Mountain West champion is eligible for an at-large berth in the Cotton Bowl Classic, Fiesta Bowl, or Peach Bowl, if it is the highest-ranked conference champion among the "Group of Five" conferences (which also includes The American, C-USA, MAC, and Sun Belt) in the final College Football Playoff rankings, if it is not in the top 4. In the 2014 season, Boise State became the first team to receive this berth, being selected for and winning the Fiesta Bowl.

As of 2020,

Pick Name Location Opposing
conference 		Opposing
pick
1 LA Bowl Inglewood, California Pac-12 5
Non–specific Hawaii Bowl Honolulu, Hawaii The American Non–specific
Non–specific Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Boise, Idaho MAC Non–specific
Non–specific New Mexico Bowl Albuquerque, New Mexico C-USA Non–specific
Non–specific Arizona Bowl Tucson, Arizona MAC Non–specific
Conditional* Cactus Bowl Phoenix, Arizona Big 12 or Pac-12 6 (Big 12) or 7 (Pac-12)
Conditional* San Francisco Bowl Santa Clara, California Big Ten or Pac-12 Non–specific (Big Ten) or 4 (Pac-12)
  • If Hawaii is bowl eligible and not MW champions or selected for a CFP bowl, they will receive a berth in the Hawaii Bowl.
    • The MW will only send a team to the Cactus or San Francisco Bowls if one of the primary conferences affiliated with those bowls is unable to fill their slots.

Bowl records

As of the 2019–20 bowl games

School Appearances W L T Win
%		 BCS/
NY6		 National
championships
Air Force 29 15 13 1 .534 0–0 0
Fresno State 28 14 14 0 .500 0–0 0
Boise State 20[a] 13 7 0 .650 3–0 2 — 1958 (NJCAA), 1980 (NCAA Division I-AA[b])
San Diego State 20 10 10 0 .500 0–0 3 — 1966–1968 (NCAA College Division[c])
Nevada 18 7 11 0 .389 0–0 0
Wyoming 18 9 9 0 .500 0–0 0
Colorado State 17 6 11 0 .353 0–0 0
Utah State 15 6 9 0 .400 0–0 0
Hawai'i 14 8 6 0 .571 0–1 0
New Mexico 13 4 8 1 .346 0–0 0
San Jose State 12 7 5 0 .583 0–0 0
UNLV 4 3 1 0 .750 0–0 0
  1. ^ Appeared in the 2018 First Responder Bowl, but the game was canceled midway through the first quarter due to lightning.
  2. ^ In 2006, "Division I-AA" was renamed "Division I Football Championship Subdivision" or "Division I FCS" for short.
  3. ^ The "NCAA College Division" was split into today's "NCAA Division II" and "NCAA Division III" in 1973. The NCAA considers all College Division championships to be part of the histories of Division II championships in the same sports.

Bowl Challenge Cup

ESPN created the Bowl Challenge Cup in 2002 for the conference that had the best college football bowl record among Division I Football Bowl Subdivision conferences. The conference has won it five times, more than any other conference, by finishing with bowl game records of 2–1 in 2004–05,[50] 4–1 in 2007–08,[51] 4–1 in 2009–10,[52] 4–1 in 2010–11[53] and 5–1 in 2021–22.[54]

Men's basketball

The Mountain West and Missouri Valley Conferences hold an annual challenge series that was renewed in the 2015–16 season after a two-year hiatus. The series began in the 2009–10 season but temporarily ended when the original contract ran out after the 2012–13 season, During the first four seasons of the series, it involved all members of the MW and an equal number of the 10 MVC teams in basketball. With the MW now having 11 basketball members to the MVC's 10, the renewed series involves all MVC teams, with one MW team sitting out.

The first game was on November 13, 2009, featuring the Bradley Braves and the BYU Cougars in Provo and it concluded on December 23 with the Wyoming Cowboys visiting the Northern Iowa Panthers in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The challenge is similar to the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, which pits men's basketball teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big Ten Conference.[55]

NCAA tournament records

As of the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season

School Appearances W L Win
%		 Wins per
appearance		 National
championships
Utah State 23 6 24 .200 0.273 0
UNLV 20 33 19 .635 1.650 1 (1990)
San Diego State 16 11 14 .440 0.733 0
Wyoming 16 9 21 .300 0.563 1 (1943)
New Mexico 15 8 16 .333 0.533 0
Colorado State 12 5 12 .250 0.363 0
Nevada 11 6 10 .375 0.600 0
Boise State 10 0 9 .000 0.000 0
Fresno State 5 2 5 .286 0.400 0
Air Force 4 0 4 .000 0.000 0
San Jose State 3 0 3 .000 0.000 0

Women's basketball

NCAA tournament records

School Appearances W L Win
%		 Wins per
appearance		 National
championships
UNLV 10 3 10 .231 0.300 0
New Mexico 8 3 8 .273 0.375 0
San Diego State 9 6 9 .400 0.571 0
Fresno State 7 0 7 .000 0.000 0
Boise State 6 0 6 .000 0.000 0
Colorado State 6 5 6 .455 0.833 0
Wyoming 2 0 2 .000 0.000 0
Air Force 0 0 0 – 0.000 0
Nevada 0 0 0 – 0.000 0
San Jose State 0 0 0 – 0.000 0
Utah State 0 0 0 – 0.000 0

Facilities

School Football stadium Capacity Basketball arena Capacity Baseball stadium Capacity
Air Force Falcon Stadium 39,441 Clune Arena 5,858 Erdle Field 1,000
Boise State Albertsons Stadium 36,387 ExtraMile Arena 12,480 Non-baseball school
Colorado State Canvas Stadium 41,000 Moby Arena 8,745 Non-baseball school
Fresno State Valley Children's Stadium 40,727 Save Mart Center 15,544 Pete Beiden Field 5,757
Hawaiʻi Clarence T. C. Ching Athletics Complex[a] 15,000 Stan Sheriff Center 10,300 Les Murakami Stadium 4,312
Nevada Mackay Stadium 27,000 Lawlor Events Center[b] 12,000 William Peccole Park 3,000
New Mexico University Stadium 39,224 The Pit 15,411 Santa Ana Star Field 1,000
San Diego State Snapdragon Stadium 35,000 Viejas Arena 12,414 Tony Gwynn Stadium 3,000
San Jose State CEFCU Stadium 21,520 Provident Credit Union Event Center 5,000 Excite Ballpark 4,200
UNLV Allegiant Stadium 65,000 Thomas & Mack Center (men)
Cox Pavilion (women) 		17,923
2,500 		Earl Wilson Stadium 3,000
Utah State Maverik Stadium 25,513 Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 10,270 Non-baseball school
UTEP Sun Bowl Stadium 51,500 Don Haskins Center 12,222 Non-baseball school
Washington State Baseball (and women's swimming)-only member Bailey–Brayton Field 3,500
Wyoming War Memorial Stadium 30,514 Arena-Auditorium 11,612 Non-baseball school
Notes
  1. ^ Temporary stadium until the new Aloha Stadium is completed.[56]
  2. ^ Nevada men's basketball currently plans to move to a new 10,000-seat off-campus arena at the Grand Sierra Resort in 2026 or 2027. The Lawlor Events Center will remain home to women's basketball.[57]

Elevation

The Mountain West's slogan is "Above the rest", and over half of the member institutions, plus women's soccer-only member Colorado College, are at more than 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) above sea level. This impacts endurance in sports like football, soccer, and the distance races in track & field and swimming meets; air resistance in sprints and horizontal jumps in track & field; and aerodynamics in baseball, softball, tennis, golf, and the discus and javelin throws. The Mountain West's institutions have the highest average elevations in NCAA Division I sports.

Campus and football stadium elevations

Schools in italics are single-sport members. In the case of women's soccer-only member Colorado College, "stadium elevation" refers to the school's soccer venue.

School Campus
elevation (ft) 		Stadium
elevation (ft)
Air Force Academy 7,258 6,621
Wyoming 7,220 7,220
Colorado College 6,053 6,053
New Mexico 5,174 5,100
Colorado State 5,007 5,190
Utah State 4,777 4,710
Nevada 4,564 4,610
Boise State 2,697 2,695
UNLV 2,024 1,600
San Diego State 433 25
Fresno State 338 335
Hawai'i 105 19
San Jose State 85 93

References

  1. ^ Murray, Chris (August 18, 2017). "Face of the Mountain West: Craig Thompson has been conference's anchor for 19 years". Reno Gazette-Journal. Archived from the original on May 28, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  2. ^ "Gloria Nevarez Named Mountain West Commissioner" (Press release). Mountain West Conference. November 11, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
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  5. ^ Adelson, Andrea. "Utah State turned down invite to MWC". ESPN. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
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  7. ^ Hawkins, Stephen (November 29, 2010). "Big East Gets Bigger, Adds TCU For 2012 Season". NBCSports.MSNBC.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2010. Retrieved November 29, 2010.
  8. ^ "TCU Accepts Invitation To Join Big 12 Conference". TCU Athletic Department. October 10, 2011. Archived from the original on October 12, 2011. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
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  13. ^ McMurphy, Brett (March 28, 2012). "New C-USA, MWC league will be completed by early June". CBSSports.com. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
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  30. ^ Vannini, Chris. "Utah State agrees to join Pac-12 as league pushes for Mountain West members, Gonzaga: Sources". The Athletic. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
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  32. ^ Tsai, Stephen (October 14, 2024). "Most of UH's non-football sports will join Mountain West". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
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  35. ^ a b As of June 30, 2023. U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Endowment Market Value, and Change* in Endowment Market Value from FY21 to FY22 (Report). National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA. February 15, 2024. Archived from the original on February 15, 2024. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
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  50. ^ "2007 Bowl Challenge Cup standings". ESPN. December 26, 2007.
  51. ^ Mountain West Posts Top Bowl Win Percentage Among FBS Subdivision Conferences
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  56. ^ "Plans for new Aloha Stadium move forward as state reaches out to developers" (Press release). KHNL/KGMB. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
  57. ^ "Historic $1 Billion Private Capital Investment Announced for the Grand Sierra Resort" (Press release). Nevada Wolf Pack. September 27, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
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