Mountain West Bowl Grades: How Every Team Performed
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The Mountain West is going through a big change next season with Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Utah State out – four of them were key bowl teams this season – and Northern Illinois and UTEP coming in.
It would’ve been nice to have closed out with a stronger bowl season – the league’s best teams all lost – but there were a few big performances.
How did the league’s teams do? Here’s our bowl grade for every Mountain West team.
Grading Every Mountain West Team’s Bowl Game Performance
Fresno State Bowl Grade
It wasn’t the best of years overall, but the Bulldogs closed with a dominant performance. It was exactly the type of game to take into the offseason.
Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl
Miami University vs Fresno State
Final Score: Fresno State 18, Miami University 3
Line: Fresno State -5.5, o/u: 40.5
Grade: A
Hawaii Bowl Grade
The Rainbow Warriors opened the season with a win over an ACC team, it closed with a win over an ACC team, and it did it in thrilling fashion. Considering where the program was a few years ago, this was amazing.
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
Cal vs Hawaii
Final Score: Hawaii 35, Cal 31
Line: Cal -3, o/u: 55.5
Grade: A
New Mexico Bowl Grade
It was a great performance and a wonderful fight to close out a terrific year. That was a Big Ten team the Lobos pushed into overtime.
Rate Bowl
Minnesota vs New Mexico
Final Score: Minnesota 20, New Mexico 17 OT
Line: Minnesota -1.5, o/u: 44.5
Grade: A-
San Diego State Bowl Grade
The Aztec defense should’ve come up with something, but with no top wide receivers and down to the third-string quarterback, that was an epic effort.
Isleta New Mexico Bowl
North Texas vs San Diego State
Final Score: North Texas 49, San Diego State 47
Line: North Texas -7.5, o/u: 54.5
Grade: B-
Utah State Bowl Grade
The Aggies didn’t leave the hotel. Washington State was gutted, but it played with the energy and fun that Utah State was supposed to bring.
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Utah State vs Washington State
Final Score: Washington State 34, Utah State 21
Line: Utah State -3.5, o/u: 52.5
Grade: D+
Boise State Bowl Grade
You’re the Mountain West champion. You’re supposed to look and play the part, and Boise State wasn’t even close.
Bucked Up LA Bowl
Boise State vs Washington
Final Score: Washington 38, Boise State 10
Line: Washington -9.5, o/u: 52.5
Grade: D
UNLV Bowl Grade
Yuck. There were some missing parts, but UNLV wasn’t going through anything compared to what Ohio was dealing with, and it was still a total dud of a bowl loss.
Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl
Ohio vs UNLV
Final Score: Ohio 17, UNLV 10
Line: UNLV -4.5, o/u: 62.5
Grade: D
Related: American Bowl Grades: How Every Team Performed
This story was originally published by College Football News on Jan 18, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add College Football News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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