It’s a conference that has seen a fair share of change recently with more coming once the 2025 season ends. For now, though, the Mountain West Conference will see a familiar program atop its standings this season. Boise State has won each of the last two conference championships and is favored to capture a third before leaving for the new-look Pac-12 next season.

The Broncos have more MWC championships (6) than any other school in the conference. Fresno State, the last team not named Boise State to win a conference title, is second on the list with four. The Bulldogs lost a ton of talent from last year’s 6-7 team and have a new head coach, Matt Entz, heading into 2025.

The 2025 Mountain West season should be an interesting one. Boise State loses first-round NFL draft pick RB Ashton Jeanty who helped the Broncos go 12-2 last season and make the College Football Playoffs. Don’t think the cupboard is bare in Boise though. They’ll have nine returning offensive starters and six more on a defense that was top 40 in scoring defense last season.

Will the Broncos or another Mountain West team compete for the CFP Championship in 2025? With the 12-team playoff, anything is possible. Like Fresno State, UNLV, Utah State, and New Mexico all have new head coaches. Bronco Mendenhall, who led the Lobos to a 5-7 record last year, made the jump to Utah State. Jason Eck takes over at New Mexico.

What Teams Are In The Mountain West Conference?

The following College Football teams currently play in the Mountain West Conference:

• UNLV Rebels: joined in 1999
• Air Force Falcons: joined in 1999
• Boise State Broncos: joined in 2011
• Colorado State Rams: joined in 1999
• Fresno State Bulldogs: joined in 2012
• Hawaii Rainbow Warriors: joined in 2012
• Nevada Wolfpack: joined in 2012
• New Mexico Lobos: joined in 1999
• San Diego State Aztecs: joined in 1999
• San Jose State Spartans: joined in 2013
• Utah State Aggies: joined in 2013
• Wyoming Cowboys: joined in 1999

When Is The Mountain West Championship Football Game?

The 2025 Mountain West Conference championship game is scheduled for Friday, December 5. A time has not yet been released. The game will be played on the home field of the MWC team with the highest winning percentage in conference games this season.

Mountain West Conference Odds

Check out the latest NCAAF odds for the Mountain West Conference, courtesy of the top sports betting sites:

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Mountain West Conference Favorites

The following College Football teams are considered the favorites to win the Mountain West Conference:

Boise State Broncos -155

For the 15th consecutive season, Boise State is the favorite to capture the Mountain West Conference in 2025. The Broncos have won each of the last two titles but will have to do it this season without Heisman Trophy finalist and first-round NFL draft pick Ashton Jeanty.

The Broncos still have nine starters from last year’s offense, including QB Maddux Madsen who threw for 3,018 yards and 23 touchdowns. All five starters are back on the offensive line and head coach Spencer Danielson has tons of depth. Three All-MWC players return to the front seven on defense.

The Broncos will play at Notre Dame at the beginning of October. It will be a huge measuring stick to see if Boise belongs back in the playoffs this season. Regardless, they should once again be the class of the Mountain West.

UNLV Rebels +650

Barry Odom took his two seasons of success and parlayed that into a new head coaching job at Purdue. That allowed the Rebels to convince former Florida and Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen to come out of the broadcast booth and get back on the field.

Mullen went 69-46 at Mississippi State and then 34-15 at Florida, but a 5-6 season in 2021 led to his firing. He will have to rebuild the offense which returns RB Jai’den Thomas who rushed for 918 yards last year. Thomas is the only returning starter from 2024. The quarterback will be Virginia transfer Anthony Colandrea.

The defense returns just one starter too, but UNLV has poured a ton of money into NIL and Mullen has stocked the roster with a number of transfers that are expected to make some noise in 2025.

San Jose State Spartans +750

If you want to see a pass-happy offense just shred defenses in 2025, find San Jose State and watch. Remember Ken Niumatalolo? He was the former head coach at Navy running the triple option. The only option you’ll see at San Jose are the numerous option routes run by Spartans wide receivers.

QB Walker Eget returns after starting the final seven games of the season last year. He averaged 301 passing yards per game. He won’t have All-American Nick Nash at wide receiver, but he’ll have three running backs, including senior Floyd Chalk IV, TE Jackson Canaan (28 catches, 314 yards) and WR Matthew Coleman all back from last season.

The Spartans defense needs some help, but they return five starters from last season. The best of those is LB Jordan Pollard who was an All-MWC selection last year and will contend for the conference Defensive Player of the Year award in 2025.

Fresno State Bulldogs +900

As mentioned earlier, Entz takes over as the new head coach at Fresno. He was the assistant head coach at USC last season and prior to that spent five seasons at North Dakota State where he went 60-11 and won two national championships. Entz knows how to win, but he’ll need a year or two to recruit and instill his culture.

Fans should see some of the changes begin this season. The offense returns four starters and get transfer QB E.J. Warner, son of Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner. Warner has played at Rice and Temple and has 8,814 career passing yards.

On defense, the Bulldogs only have three starters back, but there is hope. CB Al’Zillion Hamilton entered the transfer portal and then ultimately came back. That was a huge win for the Bulldogs. Still, there was a lot of roster turnover. That’s where Entz will have to work his magic.

The Best MWC Betting Value

There are numerous ways to skin a cat. San Jose State (+750) chooses to do it with a passing game that could be the best in the country. Offensive coordinator Craig Stutzmann calls it “Spread-and-Shred.” Opponents don’t know what to call it.

The Spartans finished fifth in passing offense last year, averaging 321.6 yards per game. San Jose State led the country in pass attempts per game. They are not afraid to throw it. Eget will only get better at quarterback.

If the defense can step up and improve over last year’s performance, the Spartans are a team that could find themselves playing for a conference title on Dec. 5.

The Top MWC Longshot

The big question for Air Force (+1600) is at quarterback. In the Falcons triple option offense, two positions make it go – fullback and quarterback. The fullback is senior Dylan Carson, who led Air Force in rushing last season. RB Kade Frew is a senior and returns with his 5.8 yards per carry average. Three starters return on the offensive line. The two other slots will be taken by a junior and a senior who both have experience.

That leaves quarterback. Quentin Hayes will not return this season. Junior Josh Johnson took most of the snaps in the spring. If he comes around, the Falcons offense could be special. It’s already hard enough to stop. Johnson could make it harder.

The defense will be fine. Three starters are back. The Falcons allowed just 188.5 passing yards per game last season. That was good enough to finish in the top 40 in the FBS. Service academies are notorious for overachieving on defense. The schedule is difficult with UNLV and San Jose State on the road, but crazier things have happened.

Mountain West Conference Predictions

They are the class of the Mountain West and a year from now we’ll have to find a new Mountain West Conference favorite. Until then, there is simply no reason to believe any other program other than the Broncos is going to win the conference title.

The Broncos offense will miss Jeanty, but they will continue to roll with Madsen at quarterback and eight other starters. The defense returns six starters and should be the best unit in the conference.

Boise State does not play San Jose State and gets UNLV and Fresno State at home. The schedule is favorable which means we should see the Broncos hosting another Mountain West Conference championship game in December.

Bet: Boise State Broncos -155

The Best Mountain West Conference Win Total Bets

Check out our favorite MWC win total wagers below:

San Jose Spartans Over 7.5 Wins (+130)

The Spartans could really surprise some people this fall with a pass-happy offense that should be even better than last year. As mentioned, they were fifth in the nation in passing. The running game should be better as should the defense.

The big thing is the schedule. Most experts, including our own ScoresandState CFB gurus have the Spartans among the top three or four teams in the conference. Of those top teams in the conference, San Jose State does not face favorite Boise State or contender UNLV. The Spartans get Fresno State at home in the regular season finale.

The nonconference slate does feature a trip to Texas, but that is sandwiched around home games against Central Michigan and FCS Idaho. Our CFB experts will surely have NCAAF picks for those early season Mountain West games as well as throughout the conference schedule this season.

Wyoming Cowboys Under 5.5 Wins (-150)

The Cowboys went from 9-4 in 2023 to 3-9 last season. They do have four offensive line starters back, but that’s it on offense. Kaden Anderson started the last few games at quarterback and he’ll take over the offense this season, but it’s an offense that averaged 19.9 points per game last year. That was 115th in the nation.

Defensively, the Cowboys return one starter and that could be an issue. The schedule isn’t terrible. The Cowboys do avoid Boise State in the regular season, but they play UNLV, San Jose State and Fresno State, the top contenders to the Broncos in the MWC. There’s also a home non-conference game against Utah and a trip to Colorado. Don’t expect six wins from Wyoming.

Bet: San Jose Spartans O 7.5 (+130), Wyoming Cowboys U 5.5 (-150)

Which Mountain West Teams Will Make the Playoffs?

Boise State had a season to remember in 2024, making the first-ever 12-team playoff. The Broncos are expected to win the Mountain West Conference once again in 2025, but don’t expect the Broncos to make another playoff.

The test will come when Boise State travels to Notre Dame in early October. The Fighting Irish, who lost in the national championship game last year, are one of the favorites to win the CFP championship this season. Should Boise State pull the upset in South Bend, we would reconsider the Broncos as a playoff team.

For now, though, there is not a Mountain West team that appears ready to make that leap to a playoff team. Group of 5 teams have to run the table in their conference and then do something that opens eyes in their non-conference slate. Last season, Boise State beat Georgia Southern and FCS Portland State as expected. They also had a big win over Washington State and then lost by a field goal (37-34) to CFP No. 1 seed Oregon.

Bet: None

Mountain West Conference Winners

Check out the latest Mountain West Conference champions: