The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington.
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) sponsored football and crowned a champion every year from 1962 to 2012. Once considered one of the best conferences in college football, steady attrition from 1999 to 2012 forced the WAC to drop football after fifty-one years.
The New Mexico State University teams are called the Aggies, a nickname derived from the university's agricultural beginnings. The mascot is known as "Pistol Pete". NMSU's colors are crimson and white. Since 2023 the Aggies have competed in Conference USA in all men's and women's sports. New Mexico State sponsors six men's and ten women's teams in NCAA sanctioned sports. The athletic director is Mario Moccia, who has held the position since January 2015.
The New Mexico State Aggies football team represents New Mexico State University in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football as a member of Conference USA.
The Utah State Aggies are a college football team that competes in the Mountain West Conference (MWC) of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I, representing Utah State University. The Utah State college football program began in 1892 and has played home games at Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium since 1968. They have won thirteen conference championships in four different conferences during their history, most recently in 2021.
The 2008 Utah State Aggies football team represented Utah State University as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Aggies were led by fourth-year head coach Brent Guy and played their home games in Romney Stadium in Logan, Utah.
The 2009 Utah State Aggies football team represented Utah State University as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Aggies were led by first-year head coach Gary Andersen and played their home games at Romney Stadium. Utah State finished the season with a record of 4–8 overall and 3–5 in WAC play.
The 2009 New Mexico State Aggies football team represented New Mexico State University as members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Aggies were led by first–year head coach DeWayne Walker and played their home games at Aggie Memorial Stadium. They finished the season with a record of 3–10 overall and 1–7 in WAC play to tie for eighth place.
The 2010 New Mexico State Aggies football team represented New Mexico State University as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by second-year head coach DeWayne Walker, the Aggies compiled an overall record of 2–10 with a mark of 1–7 in conference play, placing eighth in the WAC. New Mexico State played home games at Aggie Memorial Stadium in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
The 2011 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Vandals were led by fifth-year head coach Robb Akey and played their home games at the Kibbie Dome. They finished the season 2–10 overall and 1–6 in WAC play to place last out of eight teams.
The 2011 Nevada Wolf Pack football team represented the University of Nevada, Reno in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wolf Pack were led by Chris Ault in his 27th overall and 8th straight season since taking over as head coach for the third time in 2004. They played their home games at Mackay Stadium and were members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). They finished the season 7–6 and 5–2 in WAC play to finish in a tie for second place. They were invited to their seventh straight bowl game, the Hawaii Bowl, where they lost to Southern Miss by 17 to 24.
The 2011 New Mexico State Aggies football team represented New Mexico State University as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by third-year head coach DeWayne Walker, the Aggies compiled an overall record of 4–9 with a mark of 2–5 in conference play, placing seventh in the WAC. New Mexico State played home games at Aggie Memorial Stadium in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
The 2011 San Jose State Spartans football team represented San Jose State University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Spartans were led by second year head coach Mike MacIntyre and played their home games at Spartan Stadium. They are members of the Western Athletic Conference. The Spartans finished the season with a record of 5–7, 3–4 in WAC play to finish in a three way tie for fourth place.
The 2012 Utah State Aggies football team represented Utah State University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Aggies were led by fourth-year head coach Gary Andersen and played their home games at Merlin Olsen Field at Romney Stadium. This was the Aggies' final season as members of the Western Athletic Conference, winning the final WAC football title outright. They joined the Mountain West Conference on July 1, 2013 for the 2013 season.
The 2012 San Jose State Spartans football team represented San Jose State University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Spartans were led by third year head coach Mike MacIntyre and played their home games at Spartan Stadium. They were members of the Western Athletic Conference. This was the Spartans' final season as members of the WAC. They joined the Mountain West Conference on July 1, 2013. They finished the season 11–2, 5–1 in WAC play to finish in second place. They were invited to the Military Bowl where they defeated Bowling Green.
The 2012 UTSA Roadrunners football team represented the University of Texas at San Antonio in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. This was the second season for football at UTSA and their first as members of the Western Athletic Conference. Larry Coker returned as the team's coach for a second season. The team played its home games at the Alamodome. This was the second of a two-year FCS to FBS transition period for UTSA, so they were not bowl-eligible. It was UTSA's only season in the WAC, as they joined Conference USA on July 1, 2013. They finished the season 8–4, 3–3 in WAC play to finish in fourth place.
The 2008 New Mexico State Aggies football team represented New Mexico State University as members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Aggies were led by fourth year head coach Hal Mumme who was fired after the end of the season and played their home games at Aggie Memorial Stadium. They finished the season 3–9 overall and 1–7 in WAC play to tied for eighth place.
The 2012 Western Athletic Conference football season was the 51st and final college football season for the Western Athletic Conference in the top level of NCAA football, known since 2006 as Division I FBS. Seven teams competed in the 2012 season: Idaho, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, San Jose State, Texas State, Utah State, and UTSA. Utah State went undefeated against its conference opponents to become, at the time, the final WAC conference champion. It was also chosen to represent the WAC in one of its two bowl berths; conference runner-up San Jose State was chosen to fill the conference's other bowl berth.
The 2010–13 Western Athletic Conference realignment refers to the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) dealing with several proposed and actual conference expansion and reduction plans among various NCAA conferences and institutions from 2010 to 2013. Moves involving the WAC were a significant part of a much larger NCAA conference realignment in which it was one of the most impacted conferences. Of the nine members of the WAC in 2010, only two—the University of Idaho and New Mexico State University—remained in the conference beyond the 2012–13 school year, and Idaho departed for the Big Sky Conference after the 2013–14 school year. Five pre-2010 members are now all-sports members of the Mountain West Conference (MW), and another joined the MW for football only while placing most of its other sports in the Big West Conference. Another pre-2010 member joined Conference USA (C-USA) in July 2013.
The 2017 Arizona Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 29, 2017, at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The third edition of the Arizona Bowl featured the New Mexico State Aggies of the Sun Belt Conference against the Utah State Aggies of the Mountain West Conference. Kickoff was scheduled for 3:30 p.m. MST and the game aired on CBS Sports Network. It was one of the 2017–18 bowl games concluding the 2017 FBS football season. Sponsored by the Nova Home Loans mortgage broker company, the game was officially known as the Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl. The win for New Mexico State ended a 57-year drought for bowl wins.
