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, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Gloria Nevarez took over as Commissioner of the MW on January 1, 2023, following the retirement of founding commissioner Craig Thompson.
Louis Matthew "Sonny" Lubick is a retired American football coach. He was the 15th head football coach at Colorado State University from 1993 to 2007. Lubick won or shared six Western Athletic Conference or Mountain West Conference titles, guided the program to nine bowl games and was named National Coach of the Year by Sports Illustrated in 1994.
The Colorado State Rams are the athletic teams that represent Colorado State University (CSU). Colorado State's athletic teams compete along with 8 other institutions in the Mountain West Conference, which is an NCAA Division I conference and sponsors Division I FBS football. The Conference was formed in 1999, splitting from the former 16-member Western Athletic Conference. CSU has won nine MWC tournament championships and won or shared 11 regular season titles. Rams football teams won or shared the Mountain West title in 1999, 2000 and 2002.
The 2002 Mountain West Conference football season was the fourth since eight former members of the Western Athletic Conference banded together to form the Mountain West Conference. Colorado State won the conference championship in 2002, the Rams' third title since the league began in 1999.
The Wyoming Cowboys football program represents the University of Wyoming in college football. They compete in the Mountain West Conference of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I and have won 14 conference titles. The head coach is Craig Bohl, who entered his first season in 2014.
The Colorado State Rams football program represents Colorado State University and is a member of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Mountain West Conference. The Rams have long-standing rivalries with Colorado, Wyoming, and Air Force. The team is currently led by head coach Jay Norvell, who was hired in December 2021.
The 2013 Colorado State Rams football team represented Colorado State University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Rams were led by second-year head coach Jim McElwain and played their home games at Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium. They were members of the Mountain Division of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 8–6, 5–3 in Mountain West play to finish in third place in the Mountain Division. They were invited to the New Mexico Bowl where they defeated Washington State.
The 2013 New Mexico Bowl was an American college football bowl game that was played on Saturday, December 21, 2013 at University Stadium on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The eighth annual New Mexico Bowl, it featured the Colorado State Rams, representing the Mountain West Conference, against the Washington State Cougars, representing the Pac-12 Conference. The game began at 12:00 noon MST and was televised on ESPN. It was the first of the 35 2013–14 NCAA football bowl games that concluded the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Sponsored by Gildan Activewear, the game was officially known as the Gildan New Mexico Bowl. The Rams won 48–45 after they were down 15 points in the final minutes of the game; they scored a touchdown, Washington State lost two fumbles, after both of which, Colorado State scored, and after the latter of which, as time expired, they kicked a field goal to win the game.
The 2014 Nevada Wolf Pack football team represented the University of Nevada, Reno in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wolf Pack were led by second–year head coach Brian Polian and played their home games at Mackay Stadium. They were members of the West Division of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 7–6 and 4–4 in Mountain West play to finish in third place in the West Division. They were invited to the New Orleans Bowl where they lost to Louisiana–Lafayette.
The 2014 Colorado State Rams football team represented Colorado State University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Rams were led by third-year head coach Jim McElwain and played their home games at Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium. They were members of the Mountain Division of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 10–3, 6–2 in Mountain West play to finish in a tie for second place in the Mountain Division. They were invited to the Las Vegas Bowl where they lost to Utah 45–10.
The 2015 Nevada Wolf Pack football team represented the University of Nevada, Reno in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wolf Pack were led by third–year head coach Brian Polian and played their home games at Mackay Stadium. They were members of the West Division of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 7–6 and 4–4 in Mountain West play to finish in a tie for second place in the West Division. They were invited to the inaugural Arizona Bowl where they defeated fellow Mountain West member Colorado State.
The 2015 Arizona Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game between the Nevada Wolf Pack and the Colorado State Rams played on December 29, 2015, at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona. It was the inaugural edition of the Arizona Bowl and the final game of the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season for both teams. In an unusual circumstance for a postseason bowl game, both teams were from the Mountain West Conference due to issues fulfilling the bowl's conference tie-ins, resulting in the first bowl game to feature conference opponents since the 1979 Orange Bowl.
The 2016 UTSA Roadrunners football team represented the University of Texas at San Antonio in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Roadrunners played their home games at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas and competed in the West Division of Conference USA (C–USA). They were led by first-year head coach Frank Wilson. They finished the season 6–7, 5–3 in C-USA play to finish in second place in the West Division. They were invited to the New Mexico Bowl, the school's first ever bowl game, where they were defeated by New Mexico.
The 2016 Colorado State Rams football team represented Colorado State University during the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Rams were led by second-year head coach Mike Bobo and played their home games at Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium. It was their last season before moving to a new stadium in 2017. They were a member of the Mountain Division of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 7–6, 5–3 in Mountain West play to finish in a tie for fourth place in the Mountain Division. They were invited to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl where they lost to Idaho.
The 2000 Colorado State Rams football team represented Colorado State University in the 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was led by eighth-year head coach Sonny Lubick and played its home games at Hughes Stadium. They finished the regular season with a 9–2 record overall and a 6–1 record in Mountain West Conference games, making them conference champions. The team was selected to play in the Liberty Bowl, in which they defeated Louisville.
The 1999 Colorado State Rams football team represented Colorado State University in the 1999 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was led by seventh-year head coach Sonny Lubick and played its home games at Hughes Stadium. They finished the regular season with an 8–3 record overall and a 5–2 record in the newly formed Mountain West Conference, making them conference co-champions. The team was selected to play in the Liberty Bowl, in which they lost to Southern Miss.
The 2017 Colorado State Rams football team represented Colorado State University during the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Rams were led by third-year head coach Mike Bobo and played their home games at the newly built Sonny Lubick Field at Colorado State Stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado as members of the Mountain Division of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 7–6, 5–3 in Mountain West play to finish in a tie for second place in the Mountain Division. They were invited to the New Mexico Bowl where they lost to Marshall.
The 1998 Colorado State Rams football team represented Colorado State University as a member of the Mountain Division of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by sixth-year head coach Sonny Lubick, the Rams compiled an overall record of 8–4 with a mark of 5–3 in conference play, placing third in the WAC's Mountain Division. The team played home games at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado. This season was Colorado State's last in the WAC before joining the newly-formed Mountain West Conference in 1999.
The 2018 Colorado State Rams football team represented Colorado State University during the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Rams were led by fourth-year head coach Mike Bobo and played their home games at Sonny Lubick Field at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado as members of the Mountain Division of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 3–9, 2–6 in Mountain West play to finish in fifth place in the Mountain Division.
The 2020 Colorado State Rams football team represented Colorado State University in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Originally, there was a cancellation of the 2020 season for the Mountain West Conference due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but this was reversed when the conference agreed to play a conference-only, eight game season. The Rams were to play their opening game at Sonny Lubick Field at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado against New Mexico, but the game was canceled due to virus restrictions. The Rams were led by first-year head coach Steve Addazio.
