2026 College Football Preview: Mountain West

Photo by Steve Marcus from The Las Vegas Sun

The Mountain West has a new look this season.

Some of the marquee schools have left for the PAC-12, but the Mountain West added a few new members in their stead.

Some made sense.

One of them…really just doesn’t at all.

But how will they fare in year one of a new look Mountain West?

Better Luck Next Year

Nevada Wolfpack

Jeff Choate had a mountain to climb when he took this job, and two years in, it hasn’t exactly been promising.

The Pack have gone just 6-19 in his two years at the helm, which is not great!

Now, with most of the defense gone, and an offense that hasn’t been good whatsoever, Choate needs a massive improvement from the offense, and for multiple transfers to hit defensively, to make a bowl.

And considering the track record Choate has so far, I just don’t see it.

UTEP Miners

Speaking of coaches where I just don’t see it…

UTEP could be a good program.

It’s a school in Texas, for crying out loud.

But they have, for most of my lifetime, been a terrible program, and Scotty Walden, who went 3-9 in year one, followed it up with a 2-10 year two.

Now, Walden banks on former Incarnate Word QB EJ Colson to lead his offense and try to get the Miners out of the cellar.

But unfortunately, he does so against tougher competition than the Miners faced in Conference USA.

Improvement might save his job for another year, but it would need to be monumental for the Miners to go bowling.

Northern Illinois Huskies

The MAC, a conference that seemed to keep avoiding the constant changing landscape of college football, decided to get in on the fun and have a wacky conference realignment switch, as Northern Illinois now joins the Mountain West.

And they could not have picked a worst time to do so.

Former head coach Thomas Hammock left to go to the NFL extremely late in the offseason. So late, that Northern Illinois has to go into this year with Rob Harley as the interim head coach.

So, an interim coach, a brand new defense, no answer at quarterback, and a harder conference that has more travel week to week.

This team could be really, really bad.

Bowl Game Bound

Air Force Falcons

Say it with me, folks.

If you have an experienced quarterback in an option offense, you are always a threat.

Liam Szarka was a bright spot in a tough season for Air Force last year, but now comes into this year as the penned in starter for Troy Calhoun.

He’s not perfect, and he’s far from the best option QB, but he will do enough to retain possession, use the clock to their advantage, and win the Falcons some games.

Simple as that.

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors

Timmy Chang has Hawaii back to where they should be.

It took a while to clean up a mess, but Hawaii went 9-4 a year ago, and QB Micah Alejado burst onto the scene as a young stud.

Alejado is back in fold, as is his offensive line, and they hit the P4 hard in the portal, getting players like DeVon Rice from Kansas State and Carson Brown from Iowa State.

Can Hawaii win the Mountain West? Absolutely they could.

But Alejado will have to stay healthy, which is not something he did last year.

And if he can’t, that will seal their fate.

Wyoming Cowboys

Wyoming’s defense under Jay Sawvel: Good!

Wyoming’s defense under Jay Sawvel: Very bad!

In steps new offensive coordinator Christian Taylor, who worked with former Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen.

Now, that doesn’t necessarily make him a good play caller, and it doesn’t mean Wyoming’s offense will magically become good.

But being in that Bills room and watching how they ran the ball with James Cook is good news for Wyoming’s backs like Samuel Harris, Markell Holman, and Diore Hubbard.

Run the ball. Play good defense. Win.

This could be the year Sawvel puts it all together.

San Jose State Spartans

I didn’t expect a lot from Ken Niumatololo in his first year at SJSU, but he went 7-6.

Not bad!

So last season, I expected a lot more from Niumatololo. Maybe even contending for the conference title.

And they went 3-9.

So what do I expect this year?

To be honest, not a lot.

The Spartans have to change over basically their entire team, and they have a pretty tough schedule.

But, they actually play 13 games this year, which gives them another chance to get that 6th win and go bowling.

I see 5 games on their schedule in which they’re likely favored (EMU, Cal Poly, UTEP, Nevada, NIU).

Can they steal one more from the bunch?

Why not?

Dark Horses

North Dakota State Bison

North Dakota State can absolutely win the Mountain West this year.

“But Brian, how? This is their first year in FBS, and the NCAA has a dumb rule that states you have to be ineligible for postseason play your first two seasons after jumping from FCS to FBS.”

Well, good news. The NCAA got rid of that dumb rule.

The Bison are free to compete.

And compete they will.

Look, we have seen successful FCS programs make the jump to FBS and not miss a beat.

Delaware last year was good. James Madison famously competed right away after making the jump up. Liberty found success quickly.

There’s those schools.

And then there’s North Dakota State.

NDSU has won 10 FCS championships since 2011, and even in the years they didn’t win the title, they were right there.

The Bison remain dominant in the trenches, and even with new quarterback Nathan Haynes taking over, the Bison can continue to pound the rock with DJ Scott and Cortez LeGrant.

This team would be a force in the Mountain West even if Boise State was still around.

Now that they aren’t?

They can take over.

New Mexico Lobos

I never would have thought I’d have the Lobos here, but Jason Eck deserves the respect.

This was a program that was dead on arrival, and Eck took them to 9-3 in year one.

And he did it the way every G6 school should do it.

If you’re equal with your opponent? Take care of the football, and grind out wins.

If you’re at a talent deficiency? Have some fun with it, like their extremely clever trick play against Michigan that worked to perfection.

And now, heading into year two under Eck, the Lobos return 63% of their production and are ready to compete for the conference title.

I don’t see why they couldn’t.

The Favorites

UNLV Rebels

The Rebels were my favorite team in the G6 last year.

In fact, I picked them to be the G6 representative in the playoff last year.

And I think I could have been right, had Alex Orji not gotten injured last year.

I know, I know, I know.

I say it all the time. If you have multiple starting QBs, you don’t have a starting QB.

And UNLV, technically, has multiple options.

Orji returns from injury, and Jackson Arnold comes from Auburn via the transfer portal.

Neither QB is really good at throwing the ball.

But this is Dan Mullen.

The Dan Mullen who coached Tim Tebow to national titles. The Dan Mullen who had Dak Prescott lead the Bulldogs to the top spot in the original college football playoff rankings. The Dan Mullen who had Nick Fitzgerald break the SEC record for QB rushing yards.

Dan Mullen does not need his QBs to be good at throwing the ball.

And whether it’s Arnold or Orji, they will have Jai’Den Thomas in the backfield with them to push the rush offense to high levels this year.

I am not as high on UNLV this year as I was last year. I don’t think they’re headed towards the playoff.

But in the new Mountain West?

They should be just fine.