Mountain West, at a glance.
Top 10 by power rating — 2026 season, through the latest games.
Team
Power
Record
RR50
Home Conferences FBS 2026 season
VERDICT BEGINS · 2026
Mountain West
The Coaching Factory
The 2026 Mountain West season is underway — North Dakota State holds the early power lead, but the picture is still open.
Mountain West reads like a weekly gauntlet. The middle of the league is strong enough that contenders do not get many breathers.
#11overall
#11in FBS
+16.1RR50
+19.1upper strength
10teams
0top-25 teams
Power snapshot
Projected 2026 standing
The Coaching Factory
The Mountain West doesn't have the recruiting budgets of the Power Four, but it has something else: almost every program in the conference plays better than its recruiting class should allow. New Mexico went 9-4 with the 138th-ranked recruiting class. Fresno State finished at SP+ #38 despite recruiting at #103. San Diego State sits at SP+ #32 with a #78 class. The Mountain West is the coaching premium capital of FBS.
0 top-25 teams.
The depth argument for this conference rests on how many credible opponents are clustered behind the leader. The gap between the top and bottom is narrow — a sign of genuine parity.
Where things stand right now.
The 2026 Mountain West season is underway — North Dakota State holds the early power lead, but the picture is still open.
The Premium StoryNew Mexico Went 9-4 With the 138th Recruiting Class
New Mexico's coaching premium is +83 — the gap between their #138 recruiting rank and their #55 SP+ rating. That's one of the largest gaps in FBS. A program that spent most of the last decade finishing under .500 went 9-4 in 2025 and looked competitive against programs with three times the recruiting budget. Whether this is sustainable — or whether the Mountain West starts to lose players to the portal once national attention arrives — is the most interesting story in the conference.
Why it matters →
The Conference LeaderSan Diego State Holds the Mountain West's Best SP+ Rating
San Diego State holds the Mountain West's highest SP+ ranking (#32) entering 2026, with a recruiting class ranked #78 nationally and a +46 coaching premium. The Aztecs went 9-4 in 2025 and are built around the same run-first, defense-first model that made them hard to beat for a decade. In a conference where most programs overperform, San Diego State is the one most likely to make noise in the CFP access conversation.
Why it matters →The Other Side
Nevada and Colorado State Are Recruiting Better Than They're Playing
Not every Mountain West program runs the coaching surplus. Nevada went 3-9 in 2025 with a recruiting class ranked #88 nationally — a -29 coaching gap that's the conference's worst. Colorado State finished 2-10 with a #106 class, a -21 gap. Wyoming went 4-8 despite recruiting at #89. These programs are the ceiling argument for what the conference can produce — and the floor argument for what happens when coaching doesn't amplify the limited recruiting budget that every Mountain West school starts with.
Active arcs our read
Developing1wk ago
Wyoming and Colorado State Announce Border War Contests in Four Sports - Univers
Will the renewed Border War rivalry lead to more competitive matchups across multiple sports?
Wyoming
Developing2wk ago
Memphis football rumors: Insider makes bold Charles Huff prediction after Tigers
Can Memphis sustain its momentum after this debut victory under Charles Huff?
UNLV
Developing2wk ago
College football Week 0 scores, live updates: Follow UNLV vs. Memphis as first d
Can Memphis sustain its playoff momentum after this early-season statement win?
UNLV
Developing2wk ago
Air Force to Wear B-21 Raider-Inspired Uniforms Against Navy
What specific design elements of the B-21 Raider will be featured on the uniforms?
Air Force
Developing2wk ago
Meet the other Mountain West teams: Nevada - Wyoming Tribune Eagle
How will Wyoming perform against its diverse array of opponents?
Wyoming
Fan pulse
21% positive
49% neutral
30% negative
North Dakota State
257
↓ negative
San José State
193
→ neutral
UNLV
171
↓ negative
Wyoming
157
↓ negative
Hawai'i
156
→ neutral
New Mexico
104
↓ negative
Fan confidence — FBS percentile
Where each Mountain West program stands nationally in fan sentiment (100th = most positive in FBS, 0 = least). Conference median: 44th percentile.
Most volatile: Nevada
Fan confidence has swung 92 percentile points in the last 8 weeks — currently at the 1st percentile nationally.
The coaching premium
Recruiting class rank vs. SP+ performance — where coaches add or subtract value
Above line = coaching premium
Below line = underperforming
Gap = recruiting rank minus SP+ rank
Positive gap means the coaching staff won more than the recruiting class predicted. Data: Mountain West teams, 10 programs.
Standings
2026 season, in progress — sorted by power rating. Stature tag = interim Zeitgeist calibration (medium confidence).
| # | Team | Record | RR50 | Resume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
North Dakota StateNational Program II#51
|
3-0 | +18.0 | +98.1 |
| 2 |
New MexicoRegional Program V#128
|
2-0 | +17.7 | +90.6 |
| 3 |
Hawai'iRegional Program IV#108
|
1-2 | +17.4 | +17.7 |
| 4 |
Air ForceRegional Program II#89
|
1-1 | +17.3 | +57.0 |
| 5 |
UNLVRegional Program II#93
|
1-2 | +15.6 | +46.0 |
| 6 |
Northern IllinoisRegional Program IV#107
|
0-2 | +15.2 | +35.2 |
| 7 |
San José StateRegional Program IV#112
|
2-1 | +13.8 | +91.5 |
| 8 |
WyomingRegional Program III#98
|
1-1 | +13.5 | +23.2 |
| 9 |
NevadaRegional Program IV#119
|
1-1 | +10.7 | +78.0 |
| 10 |
UTEPRegional Program V#134
|
1-1 | +10.0 | +80.5 |
Projected Standings · Mountain West · 2026
Win Projection
Odds of winning at least N conference games from current power ratings — full slate played out, not locked to results. AVG = expected wins; W–L = most-likely record.
| # | Team | W–L | PWR | AVG | ≥8 | ≥7 | ≥6 | ≥5 | ≥4 | ≥3 | ≥2 | ≥1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Favorites | ||||||||||||
| 1 | North Dakota State | 5–3 | +3.1 | 4.6 | 1 | 8 | 26 | 53 | 79 | 94 | 99 | ✓ |
| 2 | New Mexico | 5–3 | +2.8 | 4.6 | 1 | 8 | 26 | 53 | 78 | 93 | 99 | ✓ |
| Challengers | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Hawai'i | 5–3 | +2.5 | 4.6 | 1 | 8 | 26 | 53 | 78 | 93 | 99 | ✓ |
| 4 | Air Force | 5–3 | +2.3 | 4.5 | 1 | 7 | 25 | 52 | 77 | 93 | 99 | ✓ |
| 5 | UNLV | 4–4 | +0.7 | 4.0 | 3 | 15 | 37 | 65 | 87 | 97 | ✓ | |
| The Field | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Northern Illinois | 4–4 | +0.3 | 4.1 | 4 | 16 | 39 | 67 | 88 | 97 | ✓ | |
| 7 | San José State | 4–4 | -1.1 | 3.8 | 3 | 12 | 32 | 59 | 83 | 96 | 99 | |
| 8 | Wyoming | 4–4 | -1.4 | 3.6 | 2 | 9 | 26 | 52 | 78 | 94 | 99 | |
| Rebuilding | ||||||||||||
| 9 | Nevada | 3–5 | -4.2 | 3.1 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 38 | 66 | 88 | 98 | |
| 10 | UTEP | 3–5 | -4.9 | 3.0 | 3 | 14 | 35 | 64 | 87 | 98 | ||
How they play
Six advanced-stat dimensions per team, ranked against all 134 FBS programs, 2026 season. Every column reads higher-is-better. Click a column to sort.
ScoringConvertsBig playsDefensePacePass rate
| Team | Scoring | Converts | Defense | Identity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota State | +0.20 | 43.0% | +0.12 | Lockdown defense |
| New Mexico | +0.24 | 47.9% | +0.10 | Lockdown defense |
| Hawai'i | +0.04 | 37.4% | -0.20 | Balanced |
| Air Force | +0.33 | 52.2% | +0.07 | No explosive plays |
| UNLV | +0.03 | 35.5% | -0.19 | Can't sustain drives |
| Northern Illinois | -0.20 | 32.1% | -0.02 | Can't sustain drives |
| San José State | +0.21 | 42.0% | -0.14 | Balanced |
| Wyoming | +0.08 | 41.9% | -0.16 | No explosive plays |
| Nevada | +0.24 | 44.9% | -0.10 | Balanced |
| UTEP | +0.03 | 43.3% | -0.22 | Grind-it-out |
Identity is the single dimension where a team is most above or below the FBS average (pace, defense, big plays, or converting drives) — "Balanced" means nothing stands out either way. CFBD 2026 advanced stats, excludes garbage time.
Top players
Mountain West's highest CFB Index Scores, 2025 season.
| # | Player | Team | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aamaris BrownCB | UNLV | #1 of 364 |
| 2 | Simeon HarrisCB | Fresno State | #6 of 364 |
| 3 | John MillerLB | Utah State | #7 of 583 |
| 4 | Lemondre JoeCB | Colorado State | #8 of 364 |
| 5 | Danny ScuderoWR | San José State | #8 of 485 |
| 6 | Brevin HamblinS | Utah State | #11 of 544 |
| 7 | Ben FlorentineIDL | Wyoming | #13 of 330 |
| 8 | Jeremiah EarbyCB | Boise State | #16 of 364 |
| 9 | Noah AvingerCB | Utah State | #17 of 364 |
| 10 | Tyree MorrisIDL | Utah State | #15 of 330 |
Where Mountain West stands nationally
Conference strength by RR50 (round-robin adjusted power).
1
SEC
SEC
+22.8
2
B10
Big Ten
+21.7
3
IND
FBS Independents
+20.4
4
P12
Pac-12
+20.2
5
B12
Big 12
+19.5
6
ACC
ACC
+19.2
7
AAC
American Athletic
+17.3
8
SB
Sun Belt
+17.0
9
CUSA
Conference USA
+16.6
10
MAC
Mid-American
+16.2
Mountain West title odds
Best available American odds · sportsbook consensus.
| # | Team | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
North Dakota State
|
+160 |
| 2 |
UNLV
|
+250 |
| 3 |
New Mexico
|
+240 |
| 4 |
Air Force
|
+550 |
| 5 |
Hawai'i
|
+700 |
| 6 |
Nevada
|
+1600 |
| 7 |
San Jose State
|
+1400 |
| 8 |
Wyoming
|
+2000 |
| 9 |
Northern Illinois
|
+7500 |
| 10 |
UTEP
|
+10000 |