2026 Mountain West Conference football season
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| 2026 Mountain West Conference football season | |
|---|---|
 | |
| League | NCAA Division I FBS |
| Sport | Football |
| Duration | August 29, 2026 – December 4, 2026 |
| Teams | 10 |
| TV partner(s) | CBS Sports (CBS, CBSSN) Fox Sports (Fox, FS1, FS2) CW Sports |
| 2027 NFL draft | |
| Regular season | |
| Championship Game | |
| Date | December 4, 2025 |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Air Force | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hawaii | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nevada | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Mexico | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Dakota State* | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Illinois | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Jose State | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UNLV | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UTEP | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wyoming | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship: December 5, 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rankings from AP poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 Mountain West Conference football season will be the 28th season of college football play for the Mountain West Conference. It will be part of the 2026 NCAA Division I FBS football season. 10 teams will compete in the conference during the season. The season will begin on August 29, 2026, and conclude with the Mountain West Conference Football Championship Game on December 4, 2026. The full season schedule was released on March 9, 2026.
This season will be the start of new era for the Mountain West. After the 2025 season, marquee schools Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Utah State all departed to the Pac-12 Conference.[1][2] At the same time, the conference will welcome in new members to fill their spots. Two new full members join the conference, one being Hawaii[3] who was already a football-only member, and the other being UTEP.[4] UTEP comes to the conference from Conference USA, and Hawaii leaves their former full time home of the Western Athletic Conference. Additionally, the conference added two football-only members. Northern Illinois[5] moves their program over from their longtime home of the Mid-American Conference, while the rest of their athletic programs moved to the Horizon League. North Dakota State[6] joins the conference from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC). The Bison played in the FCS since they started their Division I transition in 2004, and they played in the MVFC since 2008. Due to the NCAA-mandated two year transition period, North Dakota State will be ineligible for postseason play (MW championship game, bowl games, College Football Playoff) until 2028.
Coaches
Coaching changes
- On February 18, 2026, Thomas Hammock announced his resignation as head coach of the Huskies. Northern Illinois promoted defensive coordinator Rob Harley to interim head coach the same day.[7]
Head coaches
| Team | Head coach | Years at school | Overall record | Record at school | MW record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Force | Troy Calhoun | 20 | 139–97 | 139–97 | 83–63 |
| Hawaii | Timmy Chang | 5 | 22–29 | 22–29 | 13–18 |
| Nevada | Jeff Choate | 3 | 34–41 | 6–19 | 2–13 |
| New Mexico | Jason Eck | 2 | 35–17 | 9–4 | 6–2 |
| North Dakota State | Tim Polasek | 3 | 26–3 | 26–3 | 0–0 |
| Northern Illinois | Rob Harley | 1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| San Jose State | Ken Niumatalolo | 3 | 119–98 | 10–15 | 5–10 |
| UNLV | Dan Mullen | 2 | 113–65 | 10–4 | 6–2 |
| UTEP | Scotty Walden | 3 | 5–19 | 5–19 | 0–0 |
| Wyoming | Jay Sawvel | 3 | 7–17 | 7–17 | 4–11 |
Records are current from the end of the 2025 season
Rankings
| Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Final | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Force | AP | |||||||||||||||||
| C | ||||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| Hawaii | AP | |||||||||||||||||
| C | ||||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| Nevada | AP | |||||||||||||||||
| C | ||||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| New Mexico | AP | |||||||||||||||||
| C | ||||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| North Dakota State | AP | |||||||||||||||||
| C | ||||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| Northern Illinois | AP | |||||||||||||||||
| C | ||||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| San Jose State | AP | |||||||||||||||||
| C | ||||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| UNLV | AP | |||||||||||||||||
| C | ||||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| UTEP | AP | |||||||||||||||||
| C | ||||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| Wyoming | AP | |||||||||||||||||
| C | ||||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | |||||||||||||||||
| Improvement in ranking | ||
| Drop in ranking | ||
| Not ranked previous week | ||
| No change in ranking from previous week | ||
| RV | Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll | |
| т | Tied with team above or below also with this symbol | |