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Mountain West Connection

https://www.mwcconnection.com/ | 521 entries published

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

Latest Entries

2025-26 Mountain West Bracketology: January 23

It was another wild wild week in the Mountain West! Every week, especially in conference play, the top never fails to add some zingers. What is our bracketology outlook less than two months from the NCAA Tournament?! Let’s examine! At Large Candidates: Utah State: NET: 25 KenPom: 34 Lunardi: No.9 seed Bracket Matrix (out of 84 brackets; […]

about 18 hours ago | 0 reads

2026 East-West Shrine Bowl Preview

The 2025 college football season is over, but all-star bowls will be occurring over the next few weeks. The most prominent of these bowls are the Hula Bowl, the American Bowl, the East-West Shrine Bowl, and the Senior Bowl. This post will focus on the Shrine Bowl. These events are used primarily as camps with […]

about 21 hours ago | 0 reads

3 Mountain West Basketball storylines to watch over final 2 months

It was another wild wild week in the Mountain West. But now that we are less than two months away from the season’s conclusion — at least before the NCAA Tournament — what are a few storylines to watch out for?! Let’s examine! MW is in unfamiliar NCAA Tournament territory, and not in a good […]

1 day ago | 1 read

Lobos Defend the PIT over Fresno State in Albuquerque

Courtesy of UNM Athletics Lobos Defend the Pit, Stay in the MWC Chase with Win Over Fresno State New Mexico continued to make The Pit a nightmare for visiting teams, pulling away late to secure an 83–74 Mountain West victory over Fresno State on Wednesday night.  The win marked UNM’s 22nd straight at home, a […]

2 days ago | 2 reads

AZTECS LOSE HEARTBREAKER IN FINAL SECONDS AGAINST GRAND CANYON 70-69

Controversial foul call sends Antelopes to home court win against previously undefeated Aztecs  San Diego State attempted to defy odds in their attempt at a first win at Global Credit Union Arena in Phoenix. Grand Canyon plays well at home and were slightly favored against the Aztecs. It took all of 40 minutes to decide […]

2 days ago | 1 read

Stats Corner: Are All Losses Treated Equally?

Are all losses considered equal? Of course not. A home loss to an unranked team carries more weight than a road loss against a top-10 opponent, not to mention the impact of Quadrant 1 versus Quadrant 4 defeats on tournament resumes. But here’s a deeper question: are losses treated differently based on the school’s conference […]

2 days ago | 1 read

Mountaintop View 1-22-26

Jeff Choate expects UCLA transfer QB Luke Duncan to compete for Nevada’s starting job After a season of quarterback inefficiencies, Nevada is not settling for just Carter Jones. Increased competition has arrived in the form of UCLA transfer quarterback Luke Duncan, whom the Wolf Pack are hoping raises the ceiling of that room. Jerrod Calhoun […]

2 days ago | 2 reads

Peak Perspective: Was the 2025 season a success for the Mountain West?

Welcome to another postseason review post. Way back in August, this post looked at some of the main factors that could qualify the 2025 football season as a success for the Mountain West Conference. Now that the season has concluded, it’s time to revisit those factors to see whether or not the MW had a successful season. […]

3 days ago | 1 read

Off the Schneid: CSU Flies Past Air Force, 81-52

Entering their home tilt on Tuesday night, the CSU Rams were on an extended streak best defined by the term “collapse.” After their 9-2 finish in non-conference play, the Rams opened up their MWC slate with a 2-5 record, only winning on the road against GCU and at home against UNLV, while falling to Utah […]

3 days ago | 0 reads

UNLV stuns Utah State in Logan, pulls off 86–76 road upset

UNLV walked into Logan on Tuesday night as 16-point underdogs against a Utah State team that came in rolling with a 15-2 record and a 6-1 record in Mountain West play. And initially, it looked like the Rebels were out of their depth.  UNLV opened the game with empty trips and saw Utah State jump […]

3 days ago | 0 reads

Pure Dominance: Nevada Uses 33-Point Win to Breeze Past SJSU

Offense? Great. Defense? Great. Everything was on point and clicking for Nevada tonight against one of the conference’s rougher teams in San Jose State, leading to an 87-54 win over the Spartans at Lawlor. The threes were flying for the Pack and the defense held the team tight. All around, not much to complain about […]

3 days ago | 0 reads

Spartans take 33 point beating from Nevada

San Jose State’s long, winding road for consistency continued Tuesday night in Reno, as Nevada (14-5, 6-2 MW) delivered an emphatic 87–54 win over the Spartans inside Lawlor Events Center, a venue that has rarely been forgiving to visiting teams and proved no different this time. The Spartans (6-13, 10-7 MW) came in short-handed once […]

3 days ago | 0 reads

Miami vs. Indiana: Comparing the NIL Cost of Two Championship Rosters

 courtesy of Indiana Athletics Indiana’s Long-Dreamed Impossible Became Reality How the Hoosiers Brought Home Their First National Title — and Did It in a Way That Will Work for the NIL & Transfer Portal Generation Miami Gardens — The Hoosier football team spent 127 years wandering the college football desert. Tonight, the Hoosiers finally arrived […]

4 days ago | 2 reads

Air Force fires Joe Scott! Grand Canyon knocks off Utah State w/ off-court shenanigans! Aztecs outlast New Mexico! CSU’s struggles continue! HP Ep. #138 OUT NOW!

Welcome back everyone, to the Hike’s peak podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! We have a wild week of basketball to go over, with there being more chaos off of the court than on it! The most shocking news came from Air Force, who fired head coach Joe Scott for his “treatment […]

4 days ago | 1 read

Mountain West Conference early look in the field of 68

Lobos Walk the Bubble in a Crowded Mountain West Race San Diego State (10–0 MW) tops the league, while Utah State continues to build one of the Mountain West’s strongest NCAA Tournament résumés. As February begins, every game matters for New Mexico and its postseason chances. As the Mountain West season moves into its final […]

4 days ago | 1 read

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: Way Too Early PAC 12 Rankings

The 2025 season is over and we are entering a new era of college football on the West Coast with the PAC 12 rebuilding itself with five teams from the Mountain West. This year the PAC 12 will feature eight teams. Last week, we took an early look at what to expect in the Mountain […]

4 days ago | 1 read

2026 American Bowl Preview

The 2025 college football season is over, but all-star bowls will be occurring over the next few weeks. The most prominent of these bowls are the Hula Bowl, the American Bowl, the East-West Shrine Game, and the Senior Bowl. This post will focus on the American Bowl, which is a brand-new game this year. These […]

4 days ago | 1 read

Mountaintop View 1-20-26

Center set GCU D-I era record with 6 blocks in win vs. No. 23 Utah State Who would’ve guessed the newbies in the Mountain West would cause such a commotion? Utah State and Grand Canyon fans went back and forth on social media after the somewhat controversial Lopes upset of the Aggies. Paul Coro breaks […]

4 days ago | 1 read

Spartans balance grit and growing pains across three-game stretch

San Jose State’s (6-12, 1-6 MW) last three outings offered a clear snapshot of where Tim Miles’ program currently sits: competitive, resilient and still fighting a steep hill against depth issues and execution gaps against more-than-capable Mountain West competition. From a road loss at Grand Canyon last week to a short-handed but determined win over […]

5 days ago | 0 reads