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As the 2024 college football season heads into October, the Mountain West Conference is at the center of some of the biggest storylines in the sport.
UNLV enters Week 6 of the season undefeated and ranked No. 23 in the US LBM Coaches Poll behind a high-powered offense that didn’t lose a step despite starting quarterback Matthew Sluka leaving the program following a much-publicized dispute over NIL payments.
Boise State looks like perhaps the best team from outside the sport’s “Power Four” conferences and has what might be the Heisman Trophy frontrunner on its roster in running back Ashton Jeanty, who has rushed for 845 yards and 13 touchdowns in the Broncos’ first four games.
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At least some of the attention the Mountain West has received, though, is for reasons that go far beyond the football field.
Over the past several weeks, the conference has been engaged in a fight for its survival. Last month, the league lost a handful of its members to the Pac-12 and had to work tirelessly to keep the rest aboard. In the meantime, conference leadership has looked to fortify its ranks and get enough schools so that it can be a viable entity — all while the Pac-12 works to do the same in what is becoming a high-stakes race between college football’s two western-based conferences.
Here’s what you need to know about the Mountain West, its current membership, what schools it has lost and more:
How many schools are in the Mountain West?
The Mountain West currently has 12 members, but following a series of departures that will become official in advance of the 2026-27 season, it will be down to just six full-time members. Hawai’i is a football-only member that competes in the Big West Conference in most other sports.
The Mountain West lost…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/mountain-west-realignment-current-members-101520079.html
Author : USA TODAY Sports
Publish date : 2024-10-05 10:15:20
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