2018 Mountain West Conference football season


The 2018 Mountain West Conference football season, part of that year's NCAA Division I FBS football season, will be the 20th season of college football for the Mountain West Conference. Since the 2012 12 teams have competed in the MW-football conference. The season will begin on August 25 and will end on November 24. Mountain West is a "Group of Five" conference under the College Football Playoff format along with the American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, and the Sun Belt Conference. The Mountain West Championship Game will be played on December 1. The entire schedule was released on March 1.

Preseason

Mountain West Media

2018 Mountain West media days took place on July 24 and 25 at the Cosmopolitan.

Preseason Polls

PlaceMountain DivisionWest Division
1Boise State 132Fresno State 126
2Wyoming 95San Diego State 116
3Colorado State 82UNLV 78
4Utah State 78Nevada 72
5Air Force 52Hawaii 45
6New Mexico 23San Jose State 25

PositionPlayerClassTeam
QBBrett Rypien**SR.Boise State
WRKeeSean Johnson**SR.Fresno State
WRMcLane MannixSO.Nevada
RBAlexander MattisonJR.Boise State
RBLexington Thomas*SR.UNLV
OLEzra ClevelandSO.Boise State
OLJohn MolchonJR.Boise State
OLAaron JenkinsSR.New Mexico
OLKeith Ismael**SO.San Diego State
OLTyler Roemer**SO.San Diego State
TEDax RaymondJR.Utah State

PositionPlayerClassTeam
DLDavid Moa**SR.Boise State
DLCurtis Weaver*SO.Boise State
DLYouhanna Ghaifan*JR.Wyoming
DLCarl Granderson*DLWyoming
LBJeffrey Allison*JR.Fresno State
LBJahlani Tavai**SR.Hawaii
LBMalik ReedSR.Nevada
DBTyler Horton*SR.Boise State
DBDameon Baber**SR.Nevada
DBTariq Thompson**SO.San Diego State
DBAndrew Wingard*SR.Wyoming

;Brett Rypien, SR., QB, Boise State
;Andrew Wingard, SR., DB, Wyoming
;Avery Williams, SO., KR/PR, Boise State

Coaches

NOTE: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season
TeamHead CoachYears at SchoolOverall RecordRecord at SchoolMW Record
Air ForceTroy Calhoun1282–6082–6049–39
Boise StateBryan Harsin549–1742–1225–7
Colorado StateMike Bobo421–1821–1815–9
Fresno StateJeff Tedford292–6110–47–1
HawaiiNick Rolovich310–1610–165–12
NevadaJay Norvell23–93–93–5
New MexicoBob Davie765–7030–4516–32
San Diego StateRocky Long8129–9864–2942–13
San José StateBrent Brennan22–112–111–8
UNLVTony Sanchez412–2412–249–15
Utah StateMatt Wells634–3234–3223–17
WyomingCraig Bohl5126–6122–2915–17

Rankings

Listed are the Mountain West teams who were ranked or received votes at some point during the season. Air Force, Colorado State, Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State, UNLV, and Wyoming were never ranked or received any votes.

Schedule

Regular season

Week Zero

Week One

Players of the Week
Boise State cornerback Tyler Horton was also named the Bronko Nagurski Trophy National Defensive Player of the Week.

Week Two

Players of the Week

Week Three

Players of the Week

Week Four

Players of the Week

Week Five

Players of the Week

Week Six

Players of the Week

Week Seven

Players of the Week

Week Eight

Players of the Week

Week Nine

Players of the Week

Week Ten

Players of the Week

Week Eleven

Players of the Week

Week Twelve

Players of the Week

Week Thirteen

Players of the Week

Mountain West Championship Game

Postseason

Bowl games

Bowl gameDateSiteTelevisionTime MW teamOpponentScoreAttendance
New Mexico BowlDecember 15Dreamstyle Stadium • Albuquerque, NMESPN12:00 p.m.Utah StateNorth Texas52–1325,387
Las Vegas BowlDecember 15Sam Boyd Stadium • Whitney, NVESPN1:30 p.m.Fresno StateArizona State31–2037,146
Frisco BowlDecember 19Toyota Stadium • Frisco, TXESPN6:00 p.m.San Diego StateOhio0–2711,029
Hawaii BowlDecember 22Aloha Stadium • Honolulu, HIESPN8:30 p.m.HawaiiLouisiana Tech14–3130,911
First Responder BowlDecember 26Cotton Bowl • Dallas, TXESPN11:30 a.m.Boise StateBoston CollegeNo contest†
Arizona BowlDecember 29Arizona Stadium • Tucson, AZCBSSN11:15 a.m.NevadaArkansas State16–13 OT32,368

†The First Responder bowl was delayed and ultimately cancelled with 5:08 remaining in the 1st quarter with Boston College leading 7–0. The game was ruled a no contest.

Records against FBS Conferences

Power Five conferences

Group of Five conferences

FCS Subdivision

Awards and honors

All Conference Teams

Offense:
Defense:
Honorable Mentions:
TeamStadiumCapacityGame 1Game 2Game 3Game 4Game 5Game 6Game 7TotalAverage% of Capacity
Air ForceFalcon Stadium46,69233,41523,70740,175 †27,75323,72317,432166,20527,70159.3%
Boise StateAlbertsons Stadium36,38734,51536,679 †32,29935,24133,11835,960207,81234,63595.2%
Colorado StateCanvas Stadium41,20031,00731,89426,25936,514 †32,12519,226177,02529,50471.6%
Fresno StateBulldog Stadium41,03131,17033,40128,50133,65936,123 †26,162189,01631,50376.7%
HawaiiAloha Stadium50,00029,702 †23,11226,17523,90724,47521,47625,697174,54424,93549.9%
NevadaMackay Stadium30,00017,52520,46215,36721,431 †14,54513,755103,08517,18057.3%
New MexicoDreamstyle Stadium39,22418,21318,804 †16,70814,64616,88314,26999,52316,58742.3%
San Diego StateSDCCU Stadium54,00045,755 †34,64130,89825,32630,45124,98628,014220,07131,43958.2%
San Jose StateCEFCU Stadium30,45612,67516,363 †13,80216,16512,27171,27614,25546.8%
Utah StateMaverik Stadium25,51318,22315,01122,720 †21,21216,11919,017112,30218,71773.4%
UNLVSam Boyd Stadium35,50014,12214,78618,94917,88115,27619,921 †100,93516,82347.4%
WyomingWar Memorial Stadium29,18124,131 †20,29322,27118,37813,23814,996113,30718,88564.7%

Bold – Exceed capacity

†Season High