Mountain West Football

Guide Note:

The Mountain West Conference was formed in 1999, and is currently comprised of nine universities. The eight charter members decided to form the league as a result of what they felt was the over-expansion of the Western Athletic Conference, which they were members of at the time. So, in order to allow more focus to set upon themselves, they defected to form their own league. In 2005, they allowed Texas Christian to join their league, giving them their current membership total of nine schools.

Fast Facts:

1. Established: 1999
2. Members: 9
3. Commissioner: Craig Thompson
4. Defending champion: BYU
5. Home Office: Colorado Springs, CO

Now that's "WAC"

The Western Athletic Conference was trying to increase their visibility by adding teams quickly in 1996. They added 3 teams from the Southwest Conference following the league's disbanding: Rice, SMU, and TCU. They also added 3 other schools, to reach a total of 16. But the core group of schools decided to bolt the league three years later. Those schools are: Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV, Utah, and Wyoming.