The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on January 4, 1999. Geographically, the MW covers a broad expanse of the Western United States, with member schools located in California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, as well as an associate member in Hawaii. Gloria Nevarez took over as Commissioner of the MW on January 1, 2023, following the retirement of founding commissioner Craig Thompson.
The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of American college football, including an opportunity for the top two teams to compete in the BCS National Championship Game. The system was in place for the 1998 through 2013 seasons and in 2014 was replaced by the College Football Playoff.
Jordan Alan Gross is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Utah Utes, earning consensus All-American honors. He spent his entire career with the Panthers, who selected him eighth overall in the 2003 NFL Draft, and became their sideline reporter.
John Dalton Beck is an American football coach and former quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 6 seasons. He played college football at Brigham Young University, and was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft. In addition to the Dolphins, Beck played professionally for the NFL's Baltimore Ravens, Washington Redskins, and Houston Texans, as well as the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League.
The Holy War is the name given to the American college football rivalry game played annually by the Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars and the University of Utah Utes. It is part of the larger BYU–Utah sports rivalry. In this context, the term "Holy War" refers to the fact that BYU is owned and administered by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the U of U is a secular, public university with a substantial LDS student population. The current president and head football coach at the U of U are also LDS Church members.
The Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars and the University of Utah (Utah) Utes have a longstanding intercollegiate rivalry. The annual college football game is frequently referred to as the Holy War. In the 1890s, when BYU was still known as Brigham Young Academy (BYA), the two schools started competing athletically. The schools have met continually since 1909 in men's basketball, and met once a year in football from 1922 to 2013, with the exception of 1943–45 when BYU did not field a team due to World War II. Both schools formerly competed in the Mountain West Conference, but both teams left the MWC in 2011—Utah joined the Pac-12 Conference and BYU became a football independent while joining the West Coast Conference for other sports.
Marc Bronco Clay Mendenhall is an American football coach for the University of New Mexico (UNM) Lobos in Albuquerque. He previously coached at the University of Virginia. He stepped down after the 2021 season. Mendenhall joined Virginia in 2015 after spending the previous eleven seasons as the head football coach at Brigham Young University (BYU). He has a career record of 135 victories and 81 losses and has recorded fourteen postseason bowl game appearances with seven victories.
The Utah Utes football program is a college football team that competes in the Pac-12 Conference (Pac-12) of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I and represents the University of Utah. The Utah college football program began in 1892 and has played home games at the current site of Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City since 1927. They have won 28 conference championships in five conferences during their history, and, as of the end of the 2022 season, they have a cumulative record of 711 wins, 476 losses, and 31 ties (.596).
The 2006 BYU Cougars football team represents Brigham Young University in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cougars won the Mountain West Conference (MWC) championship outright with an 11–2 record, their first unbeaten conference play since 2001. This was also BYU's third season with at least a share of the MWC title. The Cougars play their home games at LaVell Edwards Stadium, named after its legendary coach, LaVell Edwards.
The 2001 Mountain West Conference football season was the third since eight former members of the Western Athletic Conference banded together to form the Mountain West Conference. BYU won the conference championship in 2001, the Cougars' second title since the league began in 1999.
The 2007 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University (BYU) in the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. BYU clinched its second consecutive Mountain West Conference (MWC) championship title outright after defeating Utah on November 24. It was BYU's second consecutive, undefeated season in the MWC, its fourth MWC championship since the league began in 1999, and its 23rd conference title. At the beginning of the season the Cougars had won an MWC record 16 straight league games dating back to 2005 and were on a ten-game overall winning streak, the longest winning streak in the country at the time. The Cougars began the season with the second longest winning streak in the country at 11 wins until their loss to UCLA in the second regular season game. The Cougars ended this season ranked 14th in the nation, highest of all schools from non-AQ conferences. This finish was the highest back-to-back rankings in the AP Poll since the Cougars won the national championship in 1984.
The 2008 Mountain West Conference football season was the 10th since eight former members of the Western Athletic Conference banded together to form the MW. The University of Utah won their fourth conference championship, ending the year 13–0 with a victory over Alabama in the 2009 Sugar Bowl.
The 2008 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season.
The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As of the 2024 season, there are 10 conferences and 134 schools in FBS.
Brian Delance Johnson is an American football coach and former quarterback. He most recently served as the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL) in 2023. He previously served as the quarterbacks coach for the Eagles from 2021 to 2022, and also served as an assistant coach at the University of Florida, University of Houston, Mississippi State University and University of Utah.
The 2009 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team, coached by 5th year head football coach Kyle Whittingham, played its home games in Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The 2004 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah in the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. This team was the original 'BCS Buster', meaning, this was the first time that a team from a BCS non-AQ conference was invited to play in one of the BCS bowl games. The team, coached by second-year head football coach Urban Meyer, played its home games in Rice-Eccles Stadium.
The 2005 TCU Horned Frogs football team represented Texas Christian University in the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. TCU finished with an 11–1 record and a #11 ranking in the AP Poll.
The 2011 Mountain West Conference football season was the 13th season of college football for the Mountain West Conference (MW). Eight teams participated in that season: Air Force, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, TCU, UNLV, Wyoming and new member Boise State.
The 2010–13 Mountain West Conference realignment refers to the Mountain West Conference dealing with several proposed and actual conference expansion and reduction plans among various NCAA conferences and institutions from 2010 to 2013. Moves that involved the MW were part of a much larger NCAA conference realignment in which the MW was one of the more impacted conferences. During this period, four schools that had been members at the beginning of the realignment cycle announced plans to join other conferences, and six schools announced plans to join the conference. Two schools—one a pre-2010 member, and the other joining during the cycle—had announced their upcoming departure, but later decided to stay in the MW.
