DENVER, Colo. – The Mountain West Conference today made several announcements prompted by the new 12-team football alignment and 11-institution configuration in all other sports beginning with the 2013-14 academic year. The league’s directors of athletics formed two football divisions based upon common geographic regions and traditional rivalries, while also creating the first Mountain West football championship game. The group also established schedule models for men’s and women’s basketball and received an update on the implementation of the recently announced Mountain West Digital Network.
The new football alignments will feature Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, New Mexico, Utah State and Wyoming in the Mountain Division and Fresno State, Hawai`i, Nevada, San Diego State, San Jose State and UNLV in the West Division. Each team will play five divisional games and three cross-divisional contests annually. The actual rotational sequence and matchups will be developed via computer scheduling models.
The inaugural Mountain West Football Championship game will be played December 7, 2013 at the home stadium of the team with the highest BCS ranking.
There will not be divisions for Mountain West men’s and women’s basketball. The teams will play an 18-game Conference schedule that will include home and home games with eight opponents and single-play games against a rotation of two remaining teams in the Conference.
The group also discussed various format options for the postseason men’s and women’s basketball championships and scheduling formats for 2013 and beyond in all other sports. The Olympic sports scheduling formats are currently being reviewed by the respective coaches groups, who will then provide recommendations via the Mountain West governance structure.
