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Mountain West Conference
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The Mountain West Conference (or MWC), the youngest of the college athletic conferences affiliated with the NCAA’s Division I FBS (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.

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Encyclopedia
The Mountain West Conference (or MWC), the youngest of the college athletic conferences affiliated with the NCAA’s Division I FBS (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, joined after four seasons in Conference USA.
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/Mormon (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) | 26,700 | 1999 | | University of Wyoming | Cowboys and Cowgirls | Laramie, Wyoming | Public/State | 13,301 | 1999 |
Potential expansion
Boise radio station KBOI reported on Tuesday Nov. 11, 2008 that Western Athletic Conference member Boise State president Bob Kustra received a letter from the Mountain West Conference with an invitation to join the league. Despite the popularity of potential expansion among fans and reporters, this report, also reported on the Boise newspaper website IdahoStatesman.com, has been denied.
Endowment
- Texas Christian University-$1.1 billion
- University of Nevada, Las Vegas-$567 million
- University of Utah-$509 million
- University of New Mexico-$385 million
- Brigham Young University-$289 million
- University of Wyoming-$259 million
- Colorado State University-$193 million
- San Diego State University-$120 million
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. The first game will be on November 13 between the Bradley Braves and the BYU Cougars in Provo and concluding on December 23 with the Wyoming Cowboys visiting the Northern Iowa Panthers in Cedar Falls, IA. 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.
Television network
- See article MountainWest Sports Network
Conference Champions
Men's Championship Winners
Source:
Women's Championship Winners
Source:
Football Rivalries
Conference
Non-Conference
Postseason Records
| Football Bowl Games | | School | W | L | T | Winning Percentage | BCS | National Championships | | Utah | 10 | 3 | 0 | .769 | 2-0 | 0 | | TCU | 10 | 13 | 1 | .438 | 0-0 | 1 (1938) | | BYU | 9 | 16 | 1 | .365 | 0-0 | 1 (1984) | | Air Force | 8 | 9 | 1 | .472 | 0-0 | 0 | | Wyoming | 5 | 6 | 0 | .455 | 0-0 | 0 | | Colorado State | 4 | 8 | 0 | .333 | 0-0 | 0 | | UNLV | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 0-0 | 0 | | San Diego State | 3 | 4 | 0 | .429 | 0-0 | 0 | | New Mexico | 3 | 7 | 1 | .318 | 0-0 | 0 |
Conference Facilities
| School | Football Stadium | Capacity | Basketball Arenas | Capacity | Baseball Stadium | Capacity | | Air Force | Falcon Stadium | 52,123 | 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 | 35,000 | Moby Arena | 8,745 | No baseball team | | New Mexico | University Stadium | 42,000 | University Arena (The Pit) | 18,018 | No baseball field of their own | | | San Diego State | No stadium of their own; uses Qualcomm Stadium | 71,294 | Cox Arena | 12,414 | Tony Gwynn Stadium | 3,000 | | TCU | Amon G. Carter Stadium | 46,083 | Daniel-Meyer Coliseum | 7,200 | Lupton Stadium | 3,500 | | UNLV | Sam Boyd Stadium | 40,000 | 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 | No baseball field of their own; uses Franklin Covey Field | 15,500 | | Wyoming | War Memorial Stadium | 33,500 | Wyoming at Laramie Arena-Auditorium | 15,028 | No baseball team |
See also
External links
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