The Mountain West Bowl Situation Becomes More Complicated
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Back in June, we discussed how the bowl situation would be more complicated for mid-major conferences, especially the Mountain West and Pac-12, going forward. Now, it appears that the Mountain West will face more obstacles for its bowl teams.
When the Poinsetta Bowl announced its return, the original reports were that it would take the conference champions between the Mountain West and the Pac-12. But the official announcement changed things; the Pac-12 champ stayed and instead they would play a legacy Pac-12 school while the College Football Playoff sorted things out. That left the MW Champion in limbo, and it appears they will remain there for the 2026 bowl season.
At Mountain West Media Days, Gloria Nevarez delivered her annual “State of the Mountain West” speech and discussed a variety of topics. While conference realignment, the conference media deal and the ongoing settlement with the Pac-12 got the big headlines, the comment about bowl games is worth discussing.
The Mountain West Champion has always been placed in the best bowl game available to the conference. It was the Vegas Bowl until the Big Ten decided it wanted to play in Vegas, and a new bowl in the city was created. Then, they took a spot in the LA Bowl, which worked for a few years until the bowl folded this past offseason. Now, it appears that the lack of bowl options has forced the conference to pursue a different direction.
Looking at it from a big-picture perspective, the Mountain West bowl picture not only looks bleak for its champion, but for the conference in general. Check it out:
Unless they make the College Football Playoff, the MW champion will go into the pool of ESPN bowls to find their matchup. It’s a unique fate for a conference champ, now being put in a fluid spot that in the past was often reserved for a MW team that won 9+ games but lost or didn’t place in the MW championship, such as UNLV in recent years.
There should be a moderate level of concern with the news. Overall, the Mountain West Champion will probably be in a similar tier of a bowl game as before. In the Vegas and LA Bowls, they played a mid-tier (6-6 or 7-5) Pac-12/legacy Pac-12 team. In previous seasons, Mountain West teams played mid-tier P4 teams:
- 2025 Rate Bowl: New Mexico vs Minnesota (8-5)
- 2023 Rate Bowl: UNLV vs Kansas (9-4)
- 2022 Armed Forces Bowl: Air Force vs Baylor (6-7)
- 2019 Cheez-It Bowl: Air Force vs Washington State (6-7)
These are the four most recent examples of Mountain West teams ending up in random bowls when paired up with P4 opponents. All had middle-of-the-road or better seasons, showing that a good but not great matchup is likely to be out there for this year’s conference champ. While it amounts to a consolation prize for the top MW team, it’s no different level of competition than previous years. The issue is that rather than a firm destination, it’s now a roll of the dice on whether they will get a quality opponent and where they will be going. Earning a solid bowl game should be a tangible prize for the best Mountain West team, not a hope that they won’t be stuck with a random MAC team at the end of a special season.
Thanks to the simplicity of the flow chart, the best and most straightforward approach is for the Mountain West Champion to earn the CFP spot and play in a playoff game. That problem becomes if they don’t.
Then, they would be shipped off to one of six potential bowl games, each more uninspiring than the last. Here is some info on each bowl game:
- Boca Raton Bowl: Group of 6 vs Mountain West. $900,000 payout
- Potato Bowl: MAC vs Mountain West. $800,000 payout
- Puerto Rico Bowl: MAC vs Group of 6. Not yet determined
- Armed Forces Bowl: American vs Mountain West. $1,350,000 payout
- Frisco Bowl: CUSA vs Group of 6. $650,000 payout
- New Mexico Bowl: CUSA vs Mountain West. $1,050,000 payout
Four out of six bowl games with under a million dollars. Two bowl games against both the MAC and CUSA and another that will be a Group of 6 contest. Throw in the Hawaii Bowl (CUSA, $1,200,000) and Arizona Bowl (MAC, $$350,000), and it’s difficult to find marquee matchups and nearly as challenging to find a seven-figure payout to the team who worked hard to make a bowl game.
Are any of these bowls fit for the conference champion? Should a potential 10-win team have to go to the Frisco Bowl or New Mexico Bowl? Unless it ends up being San Jose State, the 2026 MW Champ will have earned their first Mountain West championship title game ever and may not even play in a bowl game that pays them $1 million. At least the Potato Bowl fry dump is a fitting moment for a team in a magical season, but they have to win the bowl game to enjoy that.
There is a chance that a Mountain West team will play in the Cactus Bowl as a backup if either the Big Ten or Big 12 can’t fulfill all their requirements. That won’t be determined until the end of the year, so it shouldn’t be counted on.
The Mountain West lost its bowl game for its conference champion and, with it, its only guaranteed game against a Power 4 opponent. The top MW team will now be a nomad, shuffled into what is likely but not assured to be a strong matchup. The rest of the teams will be scheduled to face Group of 6 teams, with only one being from the reputable American Conference. The conference had a sad fate prior to 2026, and now, it has only gotten more grim.
The potential silver lining? Perhaps the teams that compete in bowl games will have a better chance to win going up against what is hopefully lesser competition. And at the end of the day, it also hinges on ESPN giving the Mountain West solid matchups in half of its bowl games. Confused? Welcome to the 2026 Mountain West Bowl Discussion.
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