The 2026 Mountain West Conference football season will be the 28th season of college football play for the Mountain West Conference. It will be part of the 2026 NCAA Division I FBS football season. 10 teams will compete in the conference during the season. The season will begin on August 29, 2026, and conclude with the Mountain West Conference Football Championship Game on December 4, 2026. The full season schedule was released on March 9, 2026.
This season will be the start of new era for the Mountain West. After the 2025 season, marquee schools Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Utah State all departed to the Pac-12 Conference. At the same time, the conference will welcome in new members to fill their spots. Two new full members join the conference, one being Hawaii who was already a football-only member, and the other being UTEP. UTEP comes to the conference from Conference USA, and Hawaii leaves their former full time home of the Western Athletic Conference. Additionally, the conference added two football-only members. Northern Illinois moves their program over from their longtime home of the Mid-American Conference, while the rest of their athletic programs moved to the Horizon League. North Dakota State joins the conference from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC). The Bison played in the FCS since they started their Division I transition in 2004, and they played in the MVFC since 2008. Due to the NCAA-mandated two year transition period, North Dakota State will be ineligible for postseason play (MW championship game, bowl games, College Football Playoff) until 2028.
Records are current from the end of the 2025 season
The schedule was released on March 9, 2026.
All times Mountain time.
<small>North Dakota State and San Jose State will play as non-conference opponents</small>
2026âÂÂ27 records against non-conference foes:
Regular season
This is a list of games the Mountain West has scheduled versus power conference teams (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Notre Dame and SEC). All rankings are from the current AP Poll at the time of the game.
The following games include Mountain West teams competing against teams from the American, C-USA, MAC, Pac-12 or Sun Belt.
The following games include Mountain West teams competing against FBS Independents, which only includes UConn for 2026.
The following games include Mountain West teams competing against FCS schools.