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Mountain West Connection

All you need to know about the Mountain West, and then some

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Lobos’ First Fall Scrimmage Reveals Explosive Potential—and Areas That Still Need Work

Toa Fa’avae and Kiefer Sibley strengthened their cases for larger roles, while New Mexico’s defense continued to set the tone during Saturday’s scrimmage. For the first eight practices of New Mexico’s fall camp, defenders were required to wrap up, tag off and wait for the whistle. That changed Saturday morning at University Stadium. The intensity […]

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: Defensive Preview

Happy Tuesday, Readers! We are now only a few weeks away from our first weekend of college football. With that, we are going to take a deep dive into previewing the top offenses and defenses in the PAC 12 and Mountain West. With that being said, this week’s edition of “The Good, the Bad, the […]

1st Live Radio Interview w/ North Dakota State’s Bison 1660! NDSU predictions & X-Factors, Mountain West storylines, & more! HP Ep. #166 OUT NOW!

Hi everyone, welcome back to the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! I’m dealing with some technical difficulties this week, so unfortunately, the episode I recorded on the Mountain West and PAC-12’s settled litigation won’t be ready this week. Apologies for that, I’m away from home right now and I’m […]

Mountaintop View 8-18-26

Mountain West, 5 Departing Schools Agree to $49M Settlement It was only a matter of time before the settlement leaked. It looks like the Mountain West is “getting” less than half of the original number. Daniel Libit of Sportico has the details. AP Top 25 Poll Another step towards football season! There are no Pac-12 […]

TRANSFER PORTAL PUTS PRESSURE ON HIGH SCHOOL QUARTERBACKS

Recruiting strategies change as colleges look for quarterbacks from the transfer portal instead of from the high schools. High School quarterbacks from around the country are going through their pre-season reps preparing for their senior year. Many have national accolades and hope to play at the college level. More often than not, the highly acclaimed […]

2026 Mountain West Defensive Rankings

Continuing with preseason coverage, and specifically defensive coverage this week, it’s time to start preseason rankings. Last week was the preseason offensive rankings, and next week will be general preseason rankings to start Week 0 game week. See below for the top defenses entering the Mountain West for the 2026 season, based on the votes […]

PAC-12 Power Rankings: Defensive Preview

Each week this season we will be analyzing each PAC-12 team and ranking them from first to last. Rankings will be based on overall record, quality of opponents faced, and the eye test. Leading into the season, we will rank each PAC 12 offense, defense, and give you an overall preseason ranking of the teams. […]

MWCConnection Reacts Results: Top Offensive Team in 2026

This post is brought to you by FanDuel, a proud partner of SBNation. Broncos will have the top offense While this poll couldn’t be split by conference, it still features a potentially strong group of offenses. About half of fans think Boise State will end up with the best offense this season. They are a good […]

A way-too-early look at each MW’s team’s NCAA Tournament chances in 2026-27

We are less than three months away from the start of the 2026-27 college basketball season and roughly six months away from the 2027 NCAA Tournament. All of it is still way too far away, but it’s never too early to forecasting the new season. OK, maybe in this instance, it is. But the new-look […]

Every Mountain West Program’s Best Week One Victory Ever

The hunger for football as summer drags along makes week one, and week zero in some cases, look like the tastiest entree on the menu for the football season. In reality, these early-season matchups end up being nothing better than an appetizer at best. But in some years and special seasons, the college football faithful […]

Friday Five: Top 5 Pac-12 Running Backs

Welcome to another edition of “Friday Five”. We’re only a few weeks away from football season! It’s a new era out west. The “departing five” of the old Mountain West have left to reform the Pac-12. The Mountain West has added the likes of North Dakota State, Northern Illinois, and UTEP to fill the gaps.  […]

Air Force Football: What You May Have Missed

We are inching closer to the start of the 2026 College Football season. The Air Force Falcons have returned to the practice field for their last period of refinement before their opener against Duquesne— “fall” practice. The last time we saw Air Force in action, they were handing in state rivals, Colorado State, a pretty […]

San Jose State’s offense wants to have it both ways and that might be the point

Craig Stutzmann’s offense has a nickname that does half the marketing for it. Spread-and-shred sounds like a system built entirely on space, tempo and receivers running free through a defense that can’t cover sideline to sideline. That part is real. San Jose State has produced a high-volume receiver and passing game the last two years […]

Pac-Mountain Pulse Ep 4: 5-for-5 Rule is Good for College Sports?, Will QBs or RBs be Better in Each Conference, and Which School Will Get the Most AP Votes?

Hello. and welcome back to another episode of the Pac-Mountain Pulse, a Mountain West Connection podcast. Thank you for joining us today! In this episode, Derek and Dom discuss their thoughts and feelings about the new 5-for-5 eligibility rule, whether the Mountain West and Pac-12 will have better quarterbacks or running backs, and which program […]

Mountaintop View 8-13-26

Jim Mora takes on another rebuild as Colorado State joins the revamped Pac-12 Conference Pat Graham of the Associated Press News profiles Jim Mora Jr. and the Colorado State Rams football program as Mora attempts to rebuild yet another program. Can the Rams change the script in this revamped Pac-12? Korey Johnson Ready to Step […]

Boise State’s Top Players: #2

Every year I take a look at who I think will be the top players on Boise State’s football team. With so many unproven players, coming up with this season’s list was a bit tougher than previous years. This team’s squad is definitely more proven on the offensive side of the ball and that is […]

Every Mountain West/Pac-12 Team’s Best Offensive Player in 2026

Continuing the theme of this week, we are highlighting the best offensive player on each of the eighteen teams in either the Mountain West or Pac-12 conference. See below for who begins the year as each team’s best player. Air Force QB Liam Szarka Szarka is a true dual-threat quarterback who has the potential to […]

Mountaintop View 8-12-26: Jack Layne, Clark Hagans, OSU Basketball

No timeline for Lobos Layne to return. Jason Eck said his starting quarterback has no timeline for return from injury. Hagans to be honored by CSU Clark Hagans will join CSU’s Ring of Honor Oregon State basketball working with Diaz Graham returning Jorge Diaz Graham is returning to the Beavers, allowing them to alter their […]

What is Kalshi and how can it disrupt sports betting

Walk into any common dorm room during March Madness and you will find a bracket pool, a group chat full of parlay screenshots and at least one kid explaining why the under on a mid-major’s leading scorer is “basically free money.” That world already exists. What is coming next is stranger. Start with what we […]

Will Khristian Martin win the Fresno State job? Questions remain in Bulldogs camp battle

A lot of PAC-12 fans have talked about the potential for Fresno State’s Khristian Martin, transferring in from Maryland, to take the Bulldogs to the next level. His first opponent out west? Jayden Mandal. “Different personalities, of course.” Fresno State head coach Matt Entz told the media after a recent practice. “Both very out going, […]

MWConnection Reacts Survey: Top offenses in the Mountain West & Pac-12

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NCAA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in MWC fans and fans across the country. Note: Apologies to Texas State. You should definitely be one of the choices listed and I totally spaced when I emailed these in between meetings today. […]