The days of the Mountain West\u2019s perennial powerhouses are over. San Diego State, Boise State and Utah State have all moved on to the rebuilt Pac-12, with Colorado State and Fresno State following them. That leaves behind a conference that looks much different than it did just a year ago. With five of its most established programs gone, the Mountain West enters a new era with new teams, new contenders and an opportunity for programs such as UNLV, Nevada and New Mexico to take center stage.<\/p>\n
The conference\u2019s new-look lineup will also bring several new programs into the mix. UTEP, Hawaii and UC Davis are joining the Mountain West, adding new competition and giving the conference a different identity heading into the upcoming seasons. Grand Canyon is also poised to play a major role in the conference\u2019s new landscape, bringing another program that could quickly become a team to watch.<\/p>\n
While the conference has lost several of its most recognizable teams, the remaining core still has plenty of experience. New Mexico, Nevada, UNLV, Wyoming and Air Force remain among the programs anchoring the Mountain West\u2019s 10-team basketball lineup. With the conference wide open, teams that may have previously been overshadowed by programs such as San Diego State and Boise State could now have a bigger opportunity to compete for the top of the standings.<\/p>\n
For UNLV, the changes could create an important opportunity. The Rebels have spent recent seasons toward the lower end of the Mountain West\u2019s pecking order, but the departure of several traditional powers could open the door for UNLV to take a bigger role in the conference. With a chance to compete for the top of the standings and strengthen its NCAA Tournament r\u00e9sum\u00e9, the Rebels have an opportunity to help define the next era of Mountain West basketball.<\/p>\n
The conference will also have a new postseason format. The Mountain West Tournament is scheduled to return to UNLV\u2019s Thomas & Mack Center from March 7-13, 2027. Under the revised 10-team format, the top six seeds will receive byes into the second round, giving the highest-ranked teams an advantage as they compete for the conference championship. The new format was designed with the NCAA Tournament\u2019s expanded field in mind and with the goal of creating more opportunities for Mountain West teams to strengthen their postseason r\u00e9sum\u00e9s.<\/p>\n
That opportunity could be especially important after what happened in 2026, when Utah State was the Mountain West\u2019s lone representative in the NCAA Tournament. That came after the conference sent at least four teams to the tournament in each season from 2022 through 2025. The conference\u2019s struggles to earn multiple bids could make the 2026-27 season even more important for teams trying to establish themselves nationally.<\/p>\n
With so much movement across the conference, the Mountain West could look very different when the season begins. The departures of several perennial contenders have opened the door for programs that may have previously played in their shadow. Now, teams such as UNLV, New Mexico, Nevada and the conference\u2019s new additions will have an opportunity to shape what the next chapter of Mountain West basketball looks like.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The days of the Mountain West\u2019s perennial powerhouses are over. San Diego State, Boise State and Utah State…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":831318,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[7,217,664,231,772,1544],"class_list":["post-831317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-basketball","tag-basketball","tag-college-basketball","tag-mountain-west","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-basketball","tag-ncaab"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117239938035132550","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=831317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/831318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=831317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=831317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=831317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}