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This is the Mountain West
From its inception in 1999, the Mountain West Conference has been committed to excellence in intercollegiate athletics, while promoting the academic missions of its member institutions. Progressive in its approach, the MWC continues to cultivate opportunities for student-athletes to compete at the highest level, while fostering academic achievement and sportsmanship. Now in its ninth year, the MWC has been assertive in its involvement with the NCAA governance structure and has taken a leadership role in the overall administration of intercollegiate athletics.
The Mountain West Conference is noted for its geographic diversity. Some of the most beautiful terrain and landscapes in the nation can be found within Mountain West Conference boundaries, including the majestic Rocky Mountain range, which borders four MWC schools (Utah, BYU, Air Force and Colorado State). The high plains of Wyoming (elevation 7,220 feet - the highest Division I campus in the nation) contrast with the desert city of Las Vegas (the fastest growing metropolitan area in the West) and the Pacific Ocean locale of San Diego State. The southwestern flavor of New Mexico complements the western heritage and culture of Fort Worth, Texas, home of the MWC's newest member, TCU.
HISTORY
The Mountain West Conference was conceived on May 26, 1998, when the presidents of eight institutions -- Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV, Utah and Wyoming -- decided to form a new NCAA Division I-A intercollegiate athletic conference.
The split from the former 16-team conference re-established continuity and stability among the membership within the new league and signaled the continuation of its tradition-rich, long-standing athletic rivalries. Five of the MWC's eight original members have been conference rivals since the 1960s (BYU, Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming, Colorado State), while San Diego State (1978) and Air Force (1980) were longtime members as well. UNLV entered the fold in 1996 and TCU began its first year of competition in 2005-06, completing the membership in the MWC as it stands today.
When the MWC officially began operations on July 1, 1999, the new league had in place a seven-year contract with ESPN, giving the broadcaster exclusive national television rights to MWC football and men's basketball, and three-year agreements to send the league's football champion to the Liberty Bowl and a second team to the Las Vegas Bowl. Commissioner Craig Thompson also arranged a third bowl tie-in each of the first three years (1999 Motor City, 2000 Silicon Valley, 2001 New Orleans) before securing a four-year deal with the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco in 2002. An innovator in the postseason bowl structure, the MWC engineered many "firsts," as league teams have participated in five inaugural bowl games (2000 Silicon Valley, 2001 New Orleans, 2002 San Francisco (Emerald), 2005 Poinsettia, 2006 New Mexico), as well as placing the first non-automatic-qualifying BCS team into a BCS bowl game with Utah's appearance in the 2005 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
2006-07 IN REVIEW
The MWC enjoyed a successful 2006-07 campaign. The league sent a record-tying four teams to bowl games and posted a 3-1 mark in those contests. The 2006 season also marked the first time in MWC history two football teams recorded 11 or more wins in a season and finished the year in the top 25 polls. League champion BYU and runner-up TCU each finished the regular season with identical 11-2 records and were ranked No. 16/15 and No. 22/21, respectively, by the Associated Press and USA Today Top 25 polls. The two teams also finished the season ranked among the top four in the nation in win streaks at 10 and eight, respectively. Seventeen football student-athletes earned all-America honors, while another dozen were selected in the 2007 NFL Draft.
The MWC earned its first WNIT Championship title in women's basketball as Wyoming won the crown for the first time in school history. The Cowgirls tallied a school-record 27 wins and shattered their home attendance record with 15,462 fans at the championship game vs. Wisconsin. Overall, the league sent five teams to the postseason, including three to the NCAA Tournament (BYU, New Mexico and TCU). Five different MWC teams (BYU, New Mexico, TCU, Utah and Wyoming) received votes or ranked in the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Top 25 polls during the season. BYU garnered its third MWC regular-season men's basketball crown, while UNLV captured its second MWC Tournament title in front of a tournament finals-record 16,204 fans. The Runnin' Rebels advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, marking the second time in three years an MWC team has advanced past the first and second rounds. Head coach Lon Kruger also became the fifth coach in college basketball history to take four different schools to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, and only the third to coach each of those four teams to an NCAA tourney win. BYU earned an at-large bid to NCAA postseason play, marking the seventh time in the last eight years the MWC has sent multiple teams to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Air Force earned its first trip to the NIT and advanced to the semifinals at Madison Square Garden.
At least three MWC volleyball teams appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in eight years as BYU, Colorado State and Utah were among the 64-team field in 2006. The Utes rode a 25-match win streak to their highest ranking, No. 9, during the season. The MWC also had three soccer teams (BYU, UNLV, Utah) advance to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year. The BYU men's cross country team finished 11th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, led by Josh Rohatinsky's individual title crown. Rohatinsky finished first out of 250 runners. On the women's side, BYU and Colorado State finished 22nd and 24th, respectively, in the 2006 NCAA postseason. BYU senior Niklas Arrhenius earned an individual national championship at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the men's discus throw, while TCU's Jonathan Jackson finished third in the men's triple jump. On the women's side, TCU's Virgil Hodge finished fifth in the women's 200-meter dash and the TCU 4x100 relay squad placed fourth at the NCAA Championships. BYU junior Kassi Andersen finished fifth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, while teammate Ashley McCallister had a fifth-place finish in the pole vault and San Diego State sophomore Decontee Kaye had the fourth-longest mark in the triple jump.
The MWC sent a record six men's golf teams (BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, TCU and UNLV) to the 2007 NCAA Regionals, while the women sent four teams (BYU, New Mexico, TCU and UNLV), with the Cougars, Lobos and Horned Frogs advancing to the NCAA Championship finals. Women's tennis sent a record-tying four teams (BYU, San Diego State, TCU and UNLV) to the 2007 NCAA Tournament. UNLV represented the MWC in the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship, while the MWC qualified another 10 individuals for postseason competition. BYU represented the MWC in the softball NCAA Tournament and advanced to the regional finals before falling to ninth-ranked Arizona State. TCU represented the league for the second consecutive year in the NCAA Baseball Championship.
EXPOSURE
On Aug. 26, 2004, College Sports Television (CSTV) and the Mountain West Conference announced a visionary partnership that revolutionized the college sports landscape. The landmark agreement was the first NCAA Division I football and men's basketball conference-wide deal for CSTV. The advent of the new television model gives the fastest-growing independent cable network exclusive rights to all Conference events, including cable and satellite television coverage, national over-the-air and satellite radio, video-on-demand and online broadcast rights. The CSTV/MWC partnership has guaranteed greater levels of television exposure for all MWC sports and has resoundingly met the fundamental goals of more exposure, preferred start times and competition on select days of the week.
A succession of events since the fall of 2004 have improved the new television model, including the CBS purchase of CSTV, and the merger with Comcast to create The Mtn. - MountainWest Sports Network. The relationship with Comcast also delivered a new national broadcast partner in VERSUS. The MWC was the first exclusive college programming provider for the Comcast-owned entity, with football and both men's and women's basketball games.
In the summer of 2006, the centerpiece of this historic relationship was realized with the launch of The Mtn. - the first sports network dedicated to serving a single collegiate athletic conference 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The Mtn. provides sports fans blanket coverage of MWC athletics across multiple sports, including football, men's and women's basketball, and men's and women's Olympic sports. The Mtn. features more than just live games and has added its own original programming. Fans get a comprehensive array of news, features and analysis about their favorite MWC teams and players. In 2006-07, more than 250 MWC events were shown live on The Mtn., CSTV and VERSUS. CSTV is currently available in over 65 million homes, while VERSUS is in more than 72 million households. With a "fans first" focus, each television partner ensures MWC constituents see more MWC sports at more convenient times and in more media platforms than ever before.
The MWC has remained steadfast in its mission to promote the league's athletic events to national and regional television audiences and will continue to grow its new TV model. Previously, ESPN served as the league's inaugural official television partner, while in-house productions guaranteed coverage for several MWC Olympic sports. Through the league's first eight years, excluding institutional local packages, 982 football, volleyball, men's basketball and women's basketball events have aired on television, with 159 football games and over 132 men's basketball contests broadcast nationally. The MWC is the only conference to have televised all contests from its volleyball and women's basketball championships six of the past seven years, while baseball, softball and women's soccer have had selected games from their respective championships televised in that span.
EDUCATION INITIATIVES
Not only is the MWC committed to the highest academic standards for its member institutions, the league also launched an education initiative utilizing the platform of college athletics to provide a relevant teaching resource for Kindergarten-through-8th grade students. This web-based learning program is available to every public and private, elementary and middle school in the seven-state MWC region, impacting more than 6.5 million students. Designed by Learning Through Sports, Inc., "Kid's College" captivates and motivates children using their favorite sports with Mountain West teams and mascots reinforcing skills taught in the classroom.
ACADEMIC CONSORTIUM
From the outset, the MWC's member institutions were committed to creating academic relationships, as well as athletic competition. To that end, the chief academic officers of each institution meet on an annual basis and have explored academic exchange programs, library crossovers and shared research. In addition, the faculty athletics representatives routinely provide academic assistance and test-taking services for student-athletes visiting from fellow member institutions for competition.
OPPORTUNITY
The MWC provides a first-class athletic and academic experience for more than 4,000 student-athletes each year. The past eight years, 17 MWC student-athletes have earned NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships, and since the league's inception in 1999, an additional 16 student-athletes were named MWC Student-Athlete of the Year and awarded league-sponsored postgraduate scholarships. Two student-athletes have earned distinction as Rhodes Scholars (Jessica Mellinger, Wyoming and Delavane Diaz, Air Force).
Conference student-athletes are also given a voice regarding pertinent issues within the MWC and NCAA governance structure through representation on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). The Mountain West Conference SAAC consists of 10 representatives; one student-athlete from each member institution and one faculty athletics representative. The committee reviews and reacts to legislation and to other topics referred by the Conference constituent groups or committees related to the student-athlete experience.
ACHIEVEMENT
The MWC has produced 500 All-America selections among its 19 sponsored sports in the last eight years, including a league-record 84 All-America honorees in 2004-05. More than 80 MWC student-athletes have also earned Academic All-America accolades in that span. In 2006-07, three MWC student-athletes earned NCAA postgraduate scholarships, bringing the total to 17. The MWC has sent at least 30 teams to NCAA postseason events each of the past eight years.
BYU has captured three NCAA team national championships in women's cross country, while the MWC has had several NCAA individual national champions in the sports of men's golf, indoor track and outdoor track. MWC members have participated in 26 bowl games in eight years, led by Utah's 6-0 mark in postseason contests. The MWC has earned 34 postseason bids in men's basketball, including 18 NCAA Tournament appearances. MWC women's basketball has tallied 37 postseason bids, including 21 NCAA bids, four Sweet 16 appearances and one Elite Eight berth since 2000. Wyoming won the MWC's first WNIT championship in 2007 with a win over Wisconsin. In women's volleyball, the MWC has had 23 NCAA bids with seven Sweet 16 appearances. Women's soccer has earned 16 NCAA bids since 1999, including multiple berths five straight years, with BYU advancing to the Sweet 16 in 2000 and the Elite Eight in 2003. MWC men's golf has had at least five representatives in the NCAA Golf Regionals each of the last eight years, including a record six bids to the 2007 field. In women's golf, the Conference sent four teams to the NCAA Regionals for the third consecutive year with a record three institutions (BYU, UNM and TCU) moving on to the National Championships.
SPORTSMANSHIP
Named a Sports Ethics Fellow by the Institute for International Sport in 1998, Commissioner Thompson has been a driving force for sportsmanship within intercollegiate athletics. As part of its continuing growth and development, the Mountain West Conference implemented an extensive Sportsmanship Initiative, developed by the league's Ethics and Sportsmanship Committee and ultimately endorsed by both the MWC Joint Council and MWC Board of Directors. The program is made up of several elements, which are both practical and philosophical in nature. While the MWC has significant penalties in place to deal with violations, the Sportsmanship Initiative is primarily promotional and educational in nature. The goal is to develop an environment that fosters appropriate behavior from all Conference constituencies.
The MWC has teamed up with Learning Through SportsTM to launch the award-winning STAR Sportsmanship - the first in a new, seven-part Character Development Series on CD-ROM. An interactive learning program for 6-to-14 year-old boys and girls, STAR Sportsmanship was recently honored with the BESSIE Award as best physical education software for upper elementary students. The program is based on an analysis of young athlete's needs and aptitudes, research literature and instructional content as well as extensive dialogue with coaches, parents, educators and young athletes. STAR Sportsmanship effectively provides young athletes the ability to apply the appropriate ethical attitudes and decision-making abilities in sports and in real-world social environments. It teaches courtesy, diligence, humility, integrity, respect and teamwork.
LEADERSHIP
The Conference office and institutional administrators have aggressively pursued committee appointments within the NCAA governance structure and a visible vote for the MWC within the legislative process. Commissioner Thompson chaired the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee in the league's inaugural season, completing a five-year term. Thompson is also at the forefront of the recent evolution of the postseason format for NCAA Bowl Subdivision college football. Currently, the MWC is represented on 28 NCAA committees, including several sport committees, cabinets, the Division I Management Council and the NCAA Board of Directors.
