9. UTEP: Most of the schools in the MW are good in football or men’s basketball, the revenue sports. That’s not the case for UTEP, which has two winning football seasons since 2006 (both 7-6 years) with its last league title in 2000. In men’s basketball, the Miners last made an NCAA Tournament in 2010, […]
9. UTEP: Most of the schools in the MW are good in football or men’s basketball, the revenue sports. That’s not the case for UTEP, which has two winning football seasons since 2006 (both 7-6 years) with its last league title in 2000. In men’s basketball, the Miners last made an NCAA Tournament in 2010, also the last time it won a league title. The program has way-back history and is 12-3 this year. There’s some upside potential here, but it must be mined (pun intended).3. Grand Canyon: Of the newcomers, Grand Canyon is the most to get excited about even though the Antelopes don’t have a football program — Could it add one down the road? A relatively new Division I athletic department, GCU has funded sports at a high level, and it’s paid off. Grand Canyon should compete for MW titles in a number of sports immediately, including men’s basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball and track and field. The Antelopes won 12 WAC titles during the 2023-24 season.
Mountain West’s 2026 membership
*****Full members: Air Force, Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State, UNLV, Wyoming, Hawaii, UTEPWe will not include Northern Illinois or Colorado College in these rankings as they are one-sport affiliates, but we will have a breakdown of where the Huskies will fit in the MW football landscape at the end of the article.On occasion, a Monday Mailbag question requires too much time for me to include in the weekly feature, so I end up writing that question up separately as a “Mailbag leftover.” I got such a question this week from Patrick Tobin, who asked for my 2026 Mountain West power rankings. Patrick specifically asked for football, but I will make this full-department power rankings for the revised 2026 MW, since I think that’s fun. Let’s get to it.7. Nevada: The Wolf Pack has the longest active title drought among MW schools as it’d been nearly 1,000 days since its last title (men’s tennis, April 2022). Men’s basketball has been one of the league’s top teams over the last decade, but football has been in the gutter (7-30 in the last three seasons, including 2-21 in league). Baseball; women’s swimming and diving; and men’s golf have had some high points in the MW era, but Nevada will not immediately be an elite department in the new MW.As a reminder, here is what the MW’s membership will look like starting July 1, 2026.Non-football members: Grand Canyon, UC DavisSports columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.Football-only members: Northern IllinoisWomen’s soccer-only members: Colorado College4. Air Force: The Falcons have won 16 MW titles since 2013, which puts its third among the six remaining MW schools behind only New Mexico (42) and UNLV (28). A lot of that success is cross country and track and field, which are really strong programs (nine combined titles). Falcons football is coming off a down year (5-7) but should regularly compete for MW titles in the new conference. Baseball has been sneaky good, too. Men’s basketball has been a sore spot, though.10. UC Davis: The MW’s most surprising addition was UC Davis as a non-football members (the Aggies’ solid football team will stay in the FCS). UC Davis joined Division I in 2004. Since then, it’s been OK in men’s basketball and better in women’s basketball. It could make an immediate impact in women’s track and field/cross country and men’s and women’s golf. It will be interesting to see if UC Davis eventually tries to move its football program to the FBS to join the MW.8. Wyoming: As much as Nevada has struggled, the Cowboys have even fewer MW titles than the Wolf Pack since the current membership formed in 2013 — just five to Nevada’s 10. Women’s soccer has had its high points as has women’s basketball. The football program was solid under Craig Bohl, but the first season under his predecessor, Jay Sawvel, didn’t go very well (a 3-9 record). Men’s basketball has just two top-five league finishes under the current membership, too.2. New Mexico: Since the MW’s current membership formed in 2013, New Mexico has the league’s second-most titles with 42, trailing only SDSU’s 46. A lot of this success comes down to men’s and women’s cross country and men’s and women’s track and field, which have combined for 19 conference championships since 2013. But New Mexico is good in men’s and women’s basketball; men’s and women’s golf; and baseball. It must fix a football program that has largely lagged. 1. UNLV: The Rebels are on the ascent in football, dominant in women’s basketball and have typically been solid in men’s basketball, although that program has not made an NCAA Tournament since 2013, which was its last in a string of six berths in a seven-year period. UNLV is typically good in golf, swim and dive and tennis and solid in softball and baseball, although that sport could use a boost. UNLV could have joined the new Pac-12. Now it’s the big fish in the smaller pond that is the MW.6. Hawaii: Adding Hawaii as a full member was a no-brainer for the MW. The Rainbow Warriors have some instability in administration (popular AD Craig Angelos was controversially fired last month), but Hawaii has an elite volleyball program and should help the MW in baseball. Men’s and women’s basketball and softball are usually solid, too. Football hasn’t been good since joining the MW (63-102 overall, 34-69 in league), which holds back an otherwise solid athletic department.5. San Jose State: After gigantic struggles in its first several seasons in the MW, SJSU has improved competitively in recent years with a MW football title in 2020 and three straight bowl berths from 2022-24; a nationally elite women’s golf program; and some success in women’s soccer (five MW titles) and baseball. The issue here are the basketball programs, which have combined for just two winning seasons since the move to the MW in 2013 (the women in 2019-20 and the men in 2022-23).As for Northern Illinois, the Huskies should immediately become one of the MW’s top football programs, having won five MAC titles with 11 winnings seasons in the last 15 years. In terms of football power in 2026, UNLV, Air Force and NIU would appear to be the top dogs post-realignment.
