Jump to content

Mountain West Conference

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 71.59.144.132 (talk) at 17:20, 11 June 2010 (→Members: Following template used by Pac 10). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"Mountain West" redirects here. For the geographic region of the United States, see Mountain States.
Mountain West Conference
File:MountainWestConference 100.png
AssociationNCAA
CommissionerCraig Thompson (since 1999)
Sports fielded
  • 17
    • men's: 8
    • women's: 9
DivisionDivision I
SubdivisionFBS
RegionWestern United States
Official websitehttp://themwc.com/
Locations
Location of teams in {{{title}}}

The Mountain West Conference (or MWC), the youngest of the college athletic conferences affiliated with the NCAA’s Division I FBS (formerly I-A), officially began operations in July 1999. Geographically, the MWC covers a broad expanse of the western United States, with member institutions located in California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. Craig Thompson has served as Commissioner of the MWC since its founding in 1999.

Charter members included Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV, Utah, and Wyoming. Before forming the Mountain West Conference, seven of the eight charter members had been longtime members of the Western Athletic Conference; half were WAC charter members at its formation in 1962 - UNLV had only joined the WAC in 1996.

The WAC expanded from 10 to 16 universities in 1996, absorbing three teams from the defunct Southwest Conference (Rice, SMU, and TCU), adding two from the Big West (San Jose State and UNLV), and Tulsa from the Missouri Valley. After three football seasons, most of the pre-expansion members decided the that the new WAC was oversized, and departed to form the Mountain West Conference. The MWC added a ninth team in 2005: TCU, also a former WAC member, which joined after four seasons in Conference USA. Boise State University joined the conference as its tenth member on June 11th, 2010.

A lesser known "Mountain West Athletic Conference" existed from 1982-88, sponsoring championships for women’s sports at Big Sky Conference institutions. The Big Sky absorbed the MWAC in 1988, forming one league for both men's and women's competition.

Members

Institution Nickname Location Affiliation Enrollment Year Joined
United States Air Force Academy Falcons Colorado Springs, Colorado Public/Federal 4,000 1999
Brigham Young University Cougars Provo, Utah Private/Christian
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
 34,100 1999
Colorado State University Rams Fort Collins, Colorado Public/State
(Colorado State University system) 		26,418 1999
University of New Mexico Lobos Albuquerque, New Mexico Public/State 24,092 1999
San Diego State University Aztecs San Diego, California Public/State
(California State University system) 		34,500 1999
Texas Christian University Horned Frogs Fort Worth, Texas Private/Christian (Disciples of Christ) 8,749 2005
University of Nevada, Las Vegas Rebels Las Vegas, Nevada Public/State
(Nevada System of Higher Education) 		31,000 1999
University of Utah Utes Salt Lake City, Utah Public/State
(Utah System of Higher Education) 		28,976 1999
University of Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls Laramie, Wyoming Public/State 13,301 1999
Locations of current Mountain West Conference full member institutions.

Future member

Institution Nickname Location Affiliation Enrollment Year Joined
Boise State University Broncos Boise, Idaho Public 19,667 2011

Sports

The MWC sponsors championships in baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's golf, women's soccer, swimming and diving, men's and women's tennis, women's volleyball, football, softball, indoor and outdoor track, and cross country. Many of its member schools participate in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation for sports not sponsored by the Mountain West Conference. Two MWC schools have unique affiliations in men's soccer as San Diego State competes as a member of the Pacific-10 Conference, while BYU has completely abandoned the collegiate competitive structure in that sport, opting instead to field a semi-professional team in the USL Premier Development League.

Starting with the 2009-10 season, the Mountain West and Missouri Valley Conferences will hold an annual challenge series between all nine members of the MWC and nine of the ten MVC teams in basketball. The first game was on November 13, 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.[1]

Television network

See article MountainWest Sports Network

Conference Champions

Men's Championship Winners

See also: Mountain West Conference Baseball Tournament and Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
Football Men's Basketball Baseball Cross Country Golf Swimming
& Diving 		Tennis Track & Field
(Outdoors) 		Indoor Track
1999-2000 BYU
CSU
Utah 		Regular Season
UNLV/Utah
Tournament
UNLV 		Regular Season
New Mexico
Tournament
SDSU 		BYU UNLV BYU Regular Season
SDSU
Tournament
New Mexico 		BYU BYU
2000-2001 CSU Regular Season
BYU/Utah/Wyoming
Tournament
BYU 		Regular Season
and
Tournament
BYU 		BYU BYU BYU Regular Season
SDSU
Tournament
BYU 		BYU BYU
2001-2002 BYU Regular Season
Wyoming
Tournament
SDSU 		Regular Season
SDSU
Tournament
BYU 		BYU UNLV BYU Regular Season
and
Tournament
SDSU 		BYU CSU
2002-2003 CSU Regular Season
BYU/Utah
Tournament
CSU 		Regular Season
and
Tournament
UNLV 		BYU New Mexico BYU Regular Season
and
Tournament
SDSU 		BYU BYU
2003-2004 Utah Regular Season
Air Force
Tournament
Utah 		Regular Season
SDSU
Tournament
UNLV 		Air Force New Mexico BYU Regular Season
and
Tournament
New Mexico 		BYU BYU
2004-2005 Utah Regular Season
Utah
Tournament
New Mexico 		Regular Season
and
Tournament
UNLV 		BYU New Mexico UNLV Regular Season
and
Tournament
SDSU 		BYU BYU
2005-2006 TCU Regular Season
and
Tournament
SDSU 		Regular Season
and
Tournament
TCU 		BYU New Mexico UNLV Regular Season
SDSU
Tournament
TCU 		BYU BYU
2006-2007 BYU Regular Season
BYU
Tournament
UNLV 		Regular Season
and
Tournament
TCU 		BYU BYU UNLV
BYU 		Regular Season
SDSU
Tournament
UNLV 		BYU BYU
2007-2008 BYU Regular Season
BYU
Tournament
UNLV 		Regular Season
and
Tournament
TCU 		BYU CSU Regular Season
BYU
Tournament
UNLV 		Regular Season
New Mexico/TCU/Utah
Tournament
TCU 		BYU BYU
2008-2009 Utah Regular Season
BYU/Utah/New Mexico
Tournament
Utah 		Regular Season
TCU
Tournament
Utah 		BYU TCU Regular Season
and
Tournament
UNLV 		Regular Season
TCU
Tournament
New Mexico 		BYU BYU
2009-2010 TCU Regular Season
New Mexico
Tournament
SDSU 		Regular Season
and
Tournament
TCU 		New Mexico -- Regular Season
TCU
Tournament
UNLV 		Regular Season
BYU
Tournament
TCU 		-- BYU

Source:[2]

Women's Championship Winners

See also: Mountain West Conference Women's Basketball Tournament
Women's Basketball Softball Soccer Volleyball Cross Country Golf Swimming & Diving Tennis Track & Field (Outdoors) Indoor Track
1999-2000 Regular Season
and
Tournament
Utah 		Regular Season
and
Tournament
Utah 		Regular Season
SDSU
Tournament
BYU 		Regular Season
BYU
Tournament
CSU 		BYU New Mexico BYU Regular Season
SDSU
Tournament
UNLV 		BYU BYU
2000-2001 Regular Season
Utah
Tournament
CSU 		Regular Season
and
Tournament
BYU 		Regular Season
and
Tournament
BYU 		Regular Season
CSU
Tournament
BYU 		BYU New Mexico BYU Regular Season
and
Tournament
BYU 		BYU BYU
2001-2002 Regular Season
CSU
Tournament
BYU 		Regular Season
SDSU
Tournament
Utah 		Regular Season
and
Tournament
BYU 		Regular Season
CSU
Tournament
Utah 		BYU New Mexico BYU Regular Season
SDSU
Tournament
UNLV 		BYU BYU
2002-2003 Regular Season
Utah
Tournament
New Mexico 		Regular Season
SDSU
Tournament
CSU 		Regular Season
and
Tournament
BYU 		Regular Season
CSU
Tournament
Utah 		BYU New Mexico BYU Regular Season
UNLV
Tournament
SDSU 		BYU BYU
2003-2004 Regular Season
Utah
Tournament
New Mexico 		Regular Season
CSU
Tournament
Utah 		Regular Season
Utah
Tournament
BYU 		Regular Season
and
Tournament
CSU 		BYU UNLV BYU Regular Season
New Mexico
Tournament
BYU 		BYU BYU
2004-2005 Regular Season
and
Tournament
New Mexico 		Regular Season
and
Tournament
BYU 		Regular Season
UNLV
Tournament
Utah 		Regular Season
and
Tournament
CSU 		BYU UNLV UNLV Regular Season
and
Tournament
BYU 		BYU BYU
2005-2006 Regular Season
BYU
Tournament
Utah 		Regular Season
SDSU
Tournament
Utah 		Regular Season
Utah
Tournament
UNLV 		Regular Season
BYU
Tournament
Utah 		BYU UNLV Utah Regular Season
and
Tournament
TCU 		BYU CSU
2006-2007 Regular Season
BYU
Tournament
New Mexico 		BYU Regular Season
Utah
Tournament
UNLV 		Regular Season
Utah
Tournament
CSU 		BYU TCU Regular Season
Utah
Tournament
BYU 		Regular Season
BYU and TCU
Tournament
BYU 		BYU BYU
2007-2008 Regular Season
Utah
Tournament
New Mexico 		SDSU Regular Season
UNLV
Tournament
BYU 		Regular Season
CSU
Tournament
UNLV 		CSU New Mexico Regular Season
and
Tournament
BYU 		Regular Season
TCU
Tournament
UNLV 		CSU TCU
2008-2009 Regular Season
Utah/SDSU
Tournament
Utah 		BYU Regular Season
and
Tournament
BYU 		Regular Season
Utah
Tournament
-- 		New Mexico New Mexico Regular Season
and
Tournament
BYU 		Regular Season
UNLV
Tournament
TCU 		BYU BYU
2009-2010 Regular Season
TCU
Tournament
SDSU 		Regular Season
--
Tournament
-- 		Regular Season
BYU
Tournament
SDSU 		Regular Season
CSU
Tournament
-- 		New Mexico Regular Season
--
Tournament
-- 		Regular Season
--
Tournament
-- 		Regular Season
--
Tournament
-- 		-- --

Source:[2]

Football Rivalries

Conference

Schools First
Meeting		 Game Trophy Winner
(Last Meeting)		 All-time Record
Utah BYU 1896 The Holy War Beehive Boot BYU Utah leads 53–34–4
Colorado State Wyoming 1899 Border War Bronze Boot Wyoming Colorado State leads 55-41-5
Air Force Academy Colorado State 1980 Ram-Falcon Trophy Air Force Air Force leads 27-19-1

Since TCU joined the conference in 2005, BYU and TCU have begun to develop a heated rivalry. For at least the 2008 and 2009 football seasons, the TCU team placed a BYU helmet atop its tackling dummy.[3]

Bowl games

The Mountain West Conference will have agreements with the following bowls for 2010-13: The MWC champion will receive an automatic berth in one of the five BCS bowl games if:

  • ranked in the top 12 of the BCS Standings. (Utah qualified under this criterion in 2004-05, 2007-08 and TCU in 2008-09)
  • Or if ranked in the top 16 of the BCS Standings and its ranking is higher than that of a champion of a conference that has an annual automatic berth in one of the BCS bowls.
  • Maaco Bowl Las Vegas: Las Vegas, Nevada (MWC #1 pick against Pac-10 #5 pick)
  • Poinsettia Bowl: San Diego, California (MWC #2 pick against Navy (2010), WAC#1/2/3 pick (2011 & 2012) and Army (2013), with the WAC providing contingency selections in 2010 & 2013)
  • Independence Bowl: Shreveport, Louisiana (MWC #3 pick against ACC #7 pick)
  • Armed Forces Bowl: Fort Worth, Texas (MWC #4/5 pick against C-USA pick)
  • New Mexico Bowl: Albuquerque, New Mexico (MWC #4/5 pick against WAC #1/2/3 pick)

[1]

Non-Conference (Including Basketball)

Schools First
Meeting		 Game Trophy Reigning Champion
(Last Meeting)		 Next
Meeting
Air Force / Army / Navy
 1972 Commander-in-Chief's Trophy Navy (2009) 2010
Utah Utah State 1892 Battle of the Brothers Beehive Boot Utah (2009) 2012
Colorado State Colorado 1893 Rocky Mountain Showdown Centennial Cup Colorado State (2009) 2010
New Mexico New Mexico State 1894 Battle of Interstate 25 Rio Grande Rivalry New Mexico State (2009) 2009
New Mexico Arizona 1908 The Kit Carson Rifle New Mexico (2008)
TCU SMU 1915 Battle for the Iron Skillet The Iron Skillet TCU (2009) 2010
New Mexico UTEP 1919 Rio Grande Championship UTEP (2007) 2010
BYU Hawaii 1930 BYU (2002) 2012
BYU Utah State 1922 Battle for the old Wagon Wheel The Wagon Wheel BYU (2009) 2010
San Diego State San Jose State 1935 San Jose State (2008)
Nevada-Las Vegas Nevada-Reno 1969 Battle for Nevada The Fremont Cannon Nevada (2009) 2010

Postseason Records

Women's NCAA Basketball Tournament
School Appearances W L Wins Per
Appearance 		National Championships
Utah 7 9 6 0
UNLV 2 0 2 0
BYU 5 3 6 0
Wyoming 1 0 1 0
New Mexico 7 3 6 0
TCU 3 1 3 0
Colorado State 2 1 2 0
San Diego State 2 3 2 0
Air Force 0 0 0 .000 0

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 three times, more than any other.

(1) - Tied for 2005-06 championship.

Conference Facilities

School Football Stadium Capacity Basketball Arenas Capacity Baseball Stadium Capacity
Air Force Falcon Stadium 52,480 Clune Arena 5,939 Falcon Baseball Field 1,000
BYU LaVell Edwards Stadium 64,045 Marriott Center 22,700 Larry H. Miller Field 2,710
Colorado State Hughes Stadium 34,000 Moby Arena 8,745 No baseball team
New Mexico University Stadium 40,094 University Arena (The Pit) 18,018 Isotopes Park 12,215
San Diego State Qualcomm Stadium 71,400 Viejas Arena 12,414 Tony Gwynn Stadium 3,000
TCU Amon G. Carter Stadium 44,358 Daniel–Meyer Coliseum 7,200 Lupton Stadium 3,500
UNLV Sam Boyd Stadium 36,800 Thomas & Mack Center (men)
Cox Pavilion (women) 		18,776
2,472 		Earl Wilson Stadium 3,000
Utah Rice–Eccles Stadium 45,017 Jon M. Huntsman Center 15,000 Spring Mobile Ballpark 15,500
Wyoming War Memorial Stadium 30,514 Arena-Auditorium 15,028 No baseball team

Elevation

The Mountain West's slogan is "Above the rest," and most member institutions are at more than 4,000 feet above sea level. This impacts endurance in sports like football, soccer, and the distance races in track & field and swimming meets, and aerodynamics in baseball, softball, golf, and the discus and javelin throws. The Mountain West's institutions have the highest average elevation in NCAA Division I sports.

  School   Elevation   Notes Conference (Top 5 in elevation) Average campus elevation
Wyoming 7,220 ft. Highest altitude school in Division I Mountain West 4,060 feet
Air Force Academy 7,050 ft. Falcon Stadium is at 6,600 ft. Big Sky 3,503 feet
Colorado State 5,200 ft. WAC 2,160 feet
New Mexico 5,100 ft. Big 12 1,390 feet
BYU 4,660 ft. The Summit 1,240 feet
Utah 4,660 ft.
UNLV 2,024 ft. Sam Boyd Stadium is at 1,600 ft.
TCU 635 ft.
SDSU 441 ft. Qualcomm Stadium is at 100 ft.
Conference average 4,060 ft.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Missouri Valley, MWC to start basketball series". Las Vegas Review-Journal. January 15, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessdatee= ignored (help)
  2. ^ a b Mountain West Conference Championships
  3. ^ "TCU Coach Talks About BYU Helmet on Tackling Dummy". Salt Lake Tribune. October 20, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessdatee= ignored (help)
  4. ^ Bowl Challenge Cup 2002-03
  5. ^ a b c d 2007 Bowl Challenge Cup standings
  6. ^ Mountain West Posts Top Bowl Win Percentage Among FBS Subdivision Conferences
  7. ^ 2008 Bowl Challenge Cup Standings
  8. ^ 2009-2010 Conference Bowl Wins

Template:Bowl Challenge Cup winners

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Mountain_West_Conference&oldid=367453036"