2025 MW Football Weekly Release - Championship Week

THE MATCHUP
Boise State (8-4, 6-2 MW) will host UNLV (10-2, 6-2) at at Albertsons Stadium for the 2025 Mountain West Football Championship on Friday on FOX at 6 p.m. MT … Host Boise State is appearing in the title game for the fourth straight season and ninth time overall. The Broncos will host the game for the second straight year and seventh time overall and are looking for their sixth title. Boise State is 5-3 overall in the MW Championship. … UNLV is in the championship game for the third straight season and third time overall. The Rebels are seeking their first MW title.

THE REMATCH
The 2025 MW Championship will feature a rematch of the last two MW title games, both won by Boise State. The Broncos claimed a 21-7 win in Boise last year and a 44-20 win in Las Vegas in 2023. This year will mark the first time in MW history that the same two teams have faced each other in the title game in three consecutive seasons. … The only other times the same two FBS teams have appeared in a conference’s championship game in three straight seasons are Alabama and Florida in the SEC (1992-94) and Bowling Green and Northern Illinois in the MAC (2013-15).

HISTORY ON THE LINE
Boise State is seeking the first three-peat in MW history. Only twice have there been back-to-back champions – San Diego State in 2015 and 2016 and the Broncos in 2023 and 2024. … UNLV is attempting to become the sixth MW program to win the title since the championship game was instituted in 2013.

MORE REMATCHES
This will be the ninth time the MW Championship game will be a rematch of a regular-season meeting. The winner of the regular-season game is 4-4 in the Championship game, with Boise State claiming three of those Championships (2014 vs. Fresno State, 2019 vs. Hawai‘i and 2024 vs. UNLV).

BRONCOS’ ANNUAL DOMINANCE
Since its first MW Championship appearance in 2014, Boise State’s nine conference championship appearances are the most of any FBS team in that span. Alabama, Clemson and Georgia are tied for second with eight apiece.

TITLE-GAME APPEARANCES STREAKS
Boise State’s four straight appearances in the MW Football Championship game are tied for the third-longest streak in FBS history. … Clemson (2015-20), Northern Illinois (2010-15) and Marshall (1997-02) each posted streaks of six straight seasons, while Georgia (2021-present) and Florida (1992-96) both own streaks of five straight years in their conference title game.

HOW WE GOT HERE
Boise State, New Mexico, San Diego State and UNLV all finished with 6-2 records in Conference play. Because all four teams did not meet this season, the tie was broken by a composite average of nationally recognized metrics: Connelly SP+, ESPN SOR, KPI and SportSource rankings. UNLV led the foursome with a composite average of 45.50, followed by Boise State at 47.75. With the two participants determined, the tiebreaker reverted to head-to-head to determine the host, with the Broncos earning the right to host the championship due to their 56-31 win over the Rebels in Boise on Oct. 18. San Diego State finished third in the group with a composite average of 51.00 and New Mexico had a composite average of 54.75.

PRESEASON FAVORITES
The MW preseason prognosticators got it right, at least at the top of the standings. Boise State was the preseason favorite to win the Mountain West in 2025, while UNLV was the No. 2 team in the poll. The duo finished among a four-team tie atop the MW standings and will face each other in the MW title game for the third straight season.

BOISE STATE CONSISTENCY
Boise State has recorded at least eight wins in 24 different seasons since 2000. That is tied for the most by any FBS team during that time frame with Georgia and Oklahoma.

UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESS
At 10-2 overall, UNLV has reached 10 wins for the fourth time in program history and in consecutive seasons for the first time.

MORE ON THE 10-WIN CLUB
UNLV’s 10-2 mark ensures that the MW has at least one 10-win team for the 24th time in 26 seasons (does not include the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign). … New Mexico and San Diego State are both currently at nine wins and Boise State is at eight with both the MW Championship and a bowl game to play, meaning the Conference has a chance at four 10-win teams for just the fourth time in league history and first since 2021.

UNLV’S MAGIC NUMBERS
UNLV has scored at least 20 points in each of its last 34 regular-season games (excluding MW championship games), the longest active such streak in the FBS. The Rebels are 28-6 over that stretch. … UNLV has scored at least 29 points in 12 straight games, tied for the longest active streak in the FBS (North Texas). That is the second-longest streak in Mountain West history behind a 13-game stretch by Boise State in 2011.

PACKED HOUSES
Boise State has recorded 14 consecutive sellouts. Included in that total is the 2024 MW Championship game, which set a MW title-game record with 36,663 in attendance.

STACKING BIG WINS
Boise State is one of two FBS teams to have at least five 20-point wins in each of the last four seasons (Ohio State). That is tied for the longest streak in MW history (TCU – 2008-11).

DUAL-THREAT REBEL
UNLV’s Anthony Colandrea has a passing touchdown and at least 15 rushing yards in all 12 games this season, most in the FBS. That is the most such games by any MW player in a single campaign, one more than the Wyoming’s Brett Smith posted in 2011. … Colandrea is one of two FBS players this season to have at least 3,000 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, a 68.0 completion percentage and eight rushing touchdowns (Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia). The only MW players to finish a season with such marks are Fresno State’s Marcus McMaryion (2018) and Boise State’s Grant Hedrick (2014).

INTERCEPTIONS GALORE
Since the beginning of 2022, Fresno State (63) is second in the FBS in interceptions and UNLV (62) is third, trailing only Notre Dame (66). … The MW has three different players with multiple pick-sixes this season (Boise State’s A’Marion McCoy, San Diego State’s Chris Johnson and UNLV’s Aamaris Brown), while all other FBS conferences have combined for seven such players. The only other season the MW had at least three players with two or more interception returns for touchdowns was 2017 (also three).

JET’S EFFICIENCY
UNLV running back Jai’Den “Jet” Thomas leads the FBS with four games this season in which he has recorded at least 100 yards rushing on fewer than 15 carries. Not surprisingly, Thomas leads the FBS with 7.43 yards per carry. He needs just 66 more rushing yards to reach 1,000 on the season.

MULTI-FACETED BRONCOS
Boise State’s Sire Gaines and Dylan Riley are the only FBS duo this season to each have 700 rushing yards, seven rushing touchdowns and 10 receptions. This is the third time since 2022 that Boise State has had such a duo, most by any FBS team during that span.

STRENGTH ON STRENGTH
UNLV is third in the MW and 33rd nationally in passing offense at 258.6 yards per game, while Boise State is third in the MW and 11th in the FBS in passing defense at 167.1 yards allowed per game.

STRENGTH ON STRENGTH II
Coming into this year’s contest, Boise State is 5-1 at home and UNLV is 5-1 on the road. The Rebels’ lone road loss this season came at Boise State on Oct. 18 in a 56-31 Bronco win.

HOME (BLUE) FIELD ADVANTAGE
Over the last 26 seasons, Boise State is 146-16 (.901) at home. The 16 losses are tied for the fewest over that time (with Oklahoma) among teams that have been in the FBS every season since 2000.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Since the start of the 2024 season, UNLV leads the FBS with 11 road wins, ahead of BYU and Oregon, who have 10 each. … The Rebels have also won six straight road games against non-MW teams, the longest such win streak by any Mountain West team in conference history.

CONSISTENT WINNERS
Also since the start of the 2024 season, UNLV and Boise State are both in the top 10 in total wins in the FBS. The Rebels are tied for eighth with 21 wins in that span, while the Broncos are tied for 10th with 20. The only teams ahead of UNLV and BSU are autonomous programs, with defending national champion Ohio State leading the way with 26.

ALL-MW HONORS
Boise State (8) and UNLV (6) combined for 14 All-Mountain West selections, with Rebel quarterback Anthony Colandrea named the MW Offensive Player of the Year. The Broncos put offensive linemen Kage Casey and Mason Randolph and defensive backs Ty Benefield and A’Marion McCoy on the first team, while UNLV running back Jai’Den Thomas joined Colandrea on the first team.

MW AGAINST THE A4
MW teams went 3-1 against A4 opponents at home this season. Hawai‘i earned the MW’s first A4 win of the 2025 season with its 23-20 win over Stanford in Week 0. UNLV made it 2-0 with a 30-23 win over UCLA in Week 2. San Diego State picked up a third MW home win over an A4 when it throttled California 34-0 in Week 4. … MW teams have played 16 autonomous conference opponents in 2025, including three of the four CFP semifinalists from last season (Nevada at Penn State, San José State at Texas, and Boise State at Notre Dame).

MIDSEASON ALL-AMERICANS
Five MW players earned spots on The Associated Press Midseason All-America football teams, including a pair of first-team selections. Hawai‘i senior kicker Kansei Matsuzawa and San Diego State senior defensive back Chris Johnson earned first-team nods. San José State sophomore wide receiver Danny Scudero, Colorado State sophomore linebacker Owen Long and UNLV senior defensive back Aamaris Brown were named to the second team. The MW’s two first-team selections are as many as the other non-autonomous conferences combined, while the Conference’s five total selections surpassed the combined total of its peer leagues.

NATIONAL POTY RUN
Hawai‘i’s Kansei Matsuzawa is one of three finalists for the Lou Groza Place-Kicker of the Year Award. He is seeking to become the Mountain West’s fifth player to earn a national player of the year award in the last five seasons. … Former Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty won the Maxwell Award (outstanding player) and the Doak Walker Award (outstanding running back) last season in addition to unanimous All-America honors and being the Heisman Trophy runner-up. Former Air Force safety Trey Taylor won the 2023 Paycom Jim Thorpe Award (best defensive back), Colorado State’s Trey McBride won the 2021 John Mackey Award (best tight end) and San Diego State’s Matt Araiza won the 2021 Ray Guy Trophy (top punter).