The Mountain West Conference’s football roster will change significantly for the 2026 season when five teams will leave the fold to become full-time members of the rebuilding Pac-12 Conference.
Teams slated to make the move besides San Diego State Universi¬ty include Boise State, Utah State, Colorado State and Fresno State.
All five teams will play one more season of MW games before officially joining the Pac-12 on July 1, 2026.
Any bowl eligible teams from the group will have the opportunity to play both the 2024 and 2025 seasons as MW members in post-season competition.
They look to leave their mark.
Boise State, the 2024 MW champion, has qualified as the No. 3 seed in the newly expanded 12-team College Football Playoff field. The 12-1 Broncos, who defeated UNLV, 21-7, in the MW title game on Dec. 6, will play either No. 11 seed SMU (11-2, 8-0-0 ACC) or No. 6 Penn State (11-2, 8-1 Big Ten) in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31.
Overall, a total of five MW teams qualified for the 2024 bowl season.
Colorado State (8-4, 6-1 MW) will play Miami of Ohio (8-5, 7-1 MAC) in the Arizona Bowl on Dec. 28 while Fresno State (6-6, 4-3 MW) will meet Northern Illinois (7-5, 4-4 MAC) in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Dec. 23. San Jose State (7-5, 3-4 MW) will play South Florida (6-6, 4-4 AAC) in the Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 24 while UNLV (10-3, 6-1 MW) will meet the Cal Bears (6-6, 2-6 ACC) in the LA Bowl on Dec. 18.
Including the five bowl teams this season, the MW has earned 133 bowl bids since 1999 and holds a 69-56 (0.552) all-time record.
Locals abound on the MW’s bowl-bound teams, including former Granite Hills defensive lineman Damarrion White on Fresno State’s roster and Bonita Vista alumnus Dante Scott (defensive back) on Colorado State’s roster.
Boise State is represented by Torrey Pines alums Matt Lauter (tight end) and Marco Notaraini (linebacker) and edge Jayden Virgin-Morgan (Mt. Carmel).
Lincoln alum Corey Thompson Jr. (receiver) is on UNLV’s roster
Fresno State’s roster also includes Oceanside’s Kamron Beachem (tight end), Mira Mesa’s Makei Thompson (nickel), Lincoln’s Nathan Acevedo (receiver) and Poway’s Ezra Christensen (defensive lineman).
San Jose State’s roster includes San Marcos’ Emmett Brown (quarterback), Jalen Bainer (cornerback) and Zavion Reese (defensive back), St. Augustine’s Justin Stearns (defensive lineman) and Scripps Ranch’s Grant Norberg (tight end).
Also on Colorado State are Madison’s Chris Jackson (defensive back) and San Marcos’ Dane Olson (receiver).
Mountain West Football Standings
Conference/Overall
Boise State 7-0 12-1
UNLV 6-1 10-3
Colorado State 6-1 8-4
Fresno State 4-3 6-6
San Jose State 3-4 7-5
New Mexico 3-4 5-7
Hawaii 3-4 5-7
Utah State 3-4 4-8
Air Force 3-4 5-7
SDSU 2-5 3-9
Wyoming 2-5 3-9
Nevada 0-7 3-10
