From its inception in 1999, the Mountain West has been committed to excellence in intercollegiate athletics, while promoting the academic missions of its member institutions. Progressive in its approach, the MW continues to cultivate opportunities for student-athletes to compete at the highest level while fostering academic achievement and sportsmanship. Now in its 26th year, the MW has been assertive in its involvement with the NCAA governance structure and has taken a leadership role in the overall administration of intercollegiate athletics.
The Mountain West has marked several achievements during its first 25 years, most notably becoming the first to establish a sports television network dedicated solely to an intercollegiate athletic conference (The Mtn.). The Mountain West also was the first to experiment with the coaches’ challenge in the college football instant replay system and was the first non-automatic-qualifying BCS conference to participate in four BCS bowl games, winning three. In the inaugural year of the new College Football Playoff system, Boise State earned the automatic slot into a New Year’s Six bowl game as the highest-ranked champion from the Group of Five 5 conferences. The Broncos defeated 10th-ranked Arizona 38-30 in the VIZIO Fiesta Bowl. In 2011-12, the Mountain West was among the first conferences to implement a league-wide state-of-the-art basketball instant replay system.
Changes in the NCAA governance structure set the table for another Conference first, when two members of the MW Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) were included in the June 2014 meeting of the Mountain West Board of Directors. New Mexico track and field athlete Kendall Spencer, the national chair of the 2014-15 NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and Air Force Academy volleyball player Emma Dridge joined the BOD members in this historic meeting to advance the discussion on student-athlete involvement in the NCAA and MW governance structure. For the last 10 academic years, MW student-athletes have participated in monthly membership calls and have joined MW administrators in the annual Joint Council Spring Meetings in Arizona.
The Mountain West is well-represented within the NCAA governance structure, including individuals who were appointed to serve on committees tasked with managing the day-to-day business of Division I athletics. Kendall Spencer, the former chair of the DI Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and a UNM track & field athlete, was the first student-athlete in the history of the organization to serve on the Division I Board.
Additionally, the Mountain West was the only conference to have the same member institution with No. 1 overall picks in both the NFL and NBA drafts in the same year (Utah’s Alex Smith and Andrew Bogut, respectively in 2005). With UNLV’s Anthony Bennett claiming the No. 1 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, the Mountain West is one of three conferences to have multiple No. 1 NBA draft selections since 2000. Also, with San Diego State’s Stephen Strasburg earning the No. 1 pick in the 2009 MLB Draft, the Mountain West is one of three conferences to have the No. 1 selection in each of the NFL, NBA and MLB drafts since the MW was founded in 1999.
The Mountain West is noted for its geographic diversity. Some of the most beautiful terrain and landscapes in the nation can be found within Mountain West boundaries, including the majestic Rocky Mountain range, which borders five MW institutions (Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, New Mexico and Utah State). The high plains of Wyoming (elevation 7,220 feet – the highest Division I campus in the nation) contrast with the desert cities of Las Vegas and Reno, home to UNLV and Nevada, respectively, while Fresno State, San Diego State and San José State add a West Coast influence with their locations in Central, Southern and Northern California. The inclusion of the Hawai‘i football program extends the Mountain West footprint to the beautiful islands in the Pacific Ocean, while the addition of the women’s soccer program at Colorado College gives the MW an additional presence in the Rocky Mountains. With the addition of Washington State as an affiliate member in women’s swimming and baseball, the Mountain West footprint stretches into the Pacific Northwest.
HISTORY
The Mountain West was conceived on May 26, 1998, when the presidents of eight institutions — Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV, Utah and Wyoming — decided to form a new NCAA Division I-A intercollegiate athletic conference. The eight presidents then hired the league’s first commissioner, Craig Thompson, on Oct. 15, 1998. The split from a former 16-team conference re-established continuity and stability among the membership within the new league and signaled the continuation of its tradition-rich, long-standing athletic rivalries. Three of the MW’s eight original members have been conference rivals since the 1960s (New Mexico, Wyoming and Colorado State), while San Diego State (1978) and Air Force (1980) were longtime members as well. UNLV and TCU entered the fold in 1996 and the Rebels continued as one of the original eight institutions that formed the MW in 1999. TCU re-joined the group with its first year of competition in the Mountain West in 2005-06. With conference realignment sweeping the nation in recent years, the MW has been proactive in addressing membership changes. Boise State University joined the Mountain West in 2011-12, followed by Fresno State and the University of Nevada on July 1, 2012. Also on July 1, 2012, the University of Hawai‘i became a football-only member of the Conference. On July 1, 2013, the Mountain West further expanded when San José State University and Utah State University joined the Conference, bringing to 11 the number of full-time member institutions and 12 football-playing members. On July 1, 2014, the Colorado College women’s soccer program became the first non-football affiliate member of the Mountain West, expanding that sport to 12 Conference participants. On July 1, 2024, Washington State University joined the Mountain West for women’s swimming and baseball.
When the Mountain West officially began operations on July 1, 1999, the new league had in place a seven-year contract with ESPN, giving the broadcast entity exclusive national television rights to MW football and men’s basketball, and three-year agreements to send the league’s football champion to the Liberty Bowl and a second team to the Las Vegas Bowl. Then Commissioner Thompson also arranged a third bowl tie-in each of the first three seasons (1999 Motor City, 2000 Silicon Valley, 2001 New Orleans) before securing a four-year deal with the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco in 2002.
Entering the 2024 season, the MW has eight (8) postseason opportunities, including a spot in the revamped College Football Playoff (five [5] highest-ranked conference champions, plus the next seven [7] highest-ranked at-large teams), six (6) primary bowl positions with the Los Angeles Bowl, Arizona Bowl, Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, New Mexico Bowl, Hawai‘i Bowl and an ESPN Events-operated bowl, likely to be held in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex – and one (1) secondary position.
An innovator in the postseason bowl structure, the MW engineered many “firsts,” as league teams have participated in seven inaugural bowl games (2000 Silicon Valley, 2001 New Orleans, 2002 San Francisco (Emerald), 2005 Poinsettia, 2006 New Mexico, 2015 Arizona, 2015 Cure), as well as placing the first non-automatic-qualifying FBS team into a BCS bowl game with Utah’s appearance in the 2005 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and into the College Football Playoff (CFP) with Boise State’s selection to the 2014 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
On Dec. 31, 2022, Thompson retired after nearly 24 years at the helm of the MW, and Gloria Nevarez was named the league’s second Commissioner, beginning her post on Jan. 1, 2023.
ACADEMIC CONSORTIUM
From the outset, Mountain West member institutions have been committed to creating strong academic relationships, as well as athletic competition. To that end, the chief academic officers of each institution have explored academic exchange programs, library crossovers and shared research. In addition, the faculty athletics representatives routinely provide educational assistance and test-taking services for student-athletes visiting from fellow member institutions for competition.
OPPORTUNITY
The Mountain West provides a first-class athletic and academic experience for more than 5,000 student-athletes each year. Over the past 25 years, 44 Mountain West student-athletes have earned NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships, and since the league’s inception in 1999, an additional 50 student-athletes have been named MW Scholar-Athlete of the Year and awarded league-sponsored postgraduate scholarships. Five Mountain West student-athletes have earned distinction as Rhodes Scholars (Jessica Mellinger, Wyoming, and Delavane Diaz, Brittany Morreale, Rebecca Esselstein and Madelyn Letendre, Air Force).
Conference student-athletes are also given a voice regarding pertinent issues within the MW and NCAA governance structure through representation on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). The Mountain West SAAC is comprised of 24 members (22 student-athlete representatives, the MW representative to the Division I National SAAC and one faculty athletics representative). The committee reviews and reacts to legislation and to other topics referred by the Conference constituent groups or committees related to the student-athlete experience. Since the inclusion of two SAAC members at the June 2014 meeting of the MW Board of Directors, the Conference maintains its commitment to the participation of student-athletes in its governance structure, which is consistent with the Mountain West’s focus on enhancing the student-athlete experience.
ACHIEVEMENT
The MW has produced 1,769 All-America selections among its 19 sponsored sports (men’s swimming was discontinued as a Conference sport following the 2010-11 season and women’s gymnastics was added in 2023-24) in the last 25 years, including a league-record 103 All-America honorees in 2016-17. A total of 249 MW student-athletes have also earned Academic All-America accolades in that span. The Mountain West has sent at least 25 teams to NCAA postseason events in each of the past 25 years, capturing five team national championships in women’s cross country and producing 54 individual national champions in the sports of men’s golf, men’s cross country, women’s diving, and men’s and women’s indoor track & field and outdoor track & field.
Mountain West members have earned 128 bowl bids under the league umbrella, including four appearances in BCS games and one CFP game. The MW has earned 101 postseason bids in men’s basketball, with eight Sweet 16 appearances, one Final Four, one runner-up finish (San Diego State; 2022-23), and three NIT Final Four berths. MW men’s basketball has been the best league on the West Coast from 2022-2024, sending at least four teams to the NCAA tournament each of those three seasons, including a record six in 2024. MW women’s basketball has tallied 87 postseason slots, including 41 NCAA bids, five Sweet 16 appearances and one Elite Eight berth since 2000. Wyoming won the MW’s first WNIT championship in 2007 with a win over Wisconsin. In women’s volleyball, the MW has had 50 NCAA bids with nine Sweet 16 berths and one Elite Eight appearance. Women’s soccer has earned 38 NCAA bids since 1999, with two Sweet 16 berths and one Elite Eight appearance. Mountain West men’s golf has sent at least three teams to the NCAA Men’s Golf Regionals in each of the 24 years the postseason was held (canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic), while women’s golf has had at least three teams participate in NCAA Regionals 17 of the last 24 years.
SPORTSMANSHIP
The Mountain West has been a driving force for sportsmanship within intercollegiate athletics. As part of its continuing growth and development, the MW implemented an extensive Sportsmanship Initiative, endorsed by both the MW Joint Council and MW Board of Directors. The program is made up of several elements, which are both practical and philosophical in nature. While the MW has significant penalties in place to deal with violations, the Sportsmanship Initiative is primarily promotional and educational in nature. The goal is to develop an environment that fosters appropriate behavior from all Conference constituencies.
Mountain West Quick Facts
Founded: July 1, 1999
Members for the 2024-25 academic year: Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, Colorado College (women’s soccer only), Fresno State, Hawai‘i (football only), Nevada, New Mexico, San Diego State, San José State, UNLV, Utah State, Washington State (women’s swimming and baseball only), Wyoming
Team NCAA Championships: 5
Individual NCAA Championships: 54
NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Winners: 44
Academic All-America Selections: 249
All-America Selections: 1,769