Mountain West football’s Sweet 16: Conference’s 16 most intriguing 2024 non-league games

The Mountain West football non-conference schedule takes on even more importance this season with the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams with the Group of 5’s top-rated champion earning an automatic berth in the playoffs. The MW was last the top-rated Group of 5 champion in 2014, so the conference needs an improved showing in non-league to earn a spot in the first 12-team playoffs. Here are the MW’s 16 most intriguing non-conference games in 2024. We are not including games against Oregon State or Washington State as those are de facto members of the MW this season following a scheduling alliance for the upcoming year.

SMU at Nevada (Aug. 24): Three MW teams play Week 0 games with two of those coming against FCS opponents. The marquee matchup is Nevada against new ACC member SMU, which is a potential preseason Top 25 team. This marks Jeff Choate’s first game as the Wolf Pack’s head coach as he tries to turn around a program that is 4-20 over the last two seasons. Nevada is a three-touchdown underdog versus the Mustangs, but this is a home game and will be Choate’s first impression.

Colorado State at Texas (Aug. 31): Texas is coming off a College Football Playoff berth and will be a top-five team in the preseason poll, so this is a huge task for Jay Norvell’s Colorado State Rams. A MW school went to Austin early last season and put a scare into the Longhorns as Wyoming had the game tied at 10-10 entering the fourth quarter before Texas pulled away. This will be the season opener for Texas and Colorado State with the Rams looking to pull off a miracle.

UNLV at Houston (Aug. 31): UNLV opens its season at Houston in a winnable game against a Big 12 opponent. Barry Odom’s Rebels were the MW’s big surprise last season, but they won’t catch opponents off guard this year. Houston is led by first-year coach Willie Fritz, who was brought in from Tulane. The Cougars went 4-8 overall and 2-7 in league in their first season in the Big 12 last year, so this is one of the MW’s most winnable road games against a power-conference opponent in 2024.

Fresno State at Michigan (Aug. 31): It’s not often a MW team opens its season against the defending national champions, but Fresno State will do so in 2024 when it plays at The Big House. Michigan has a new head coach after losing Jim Harbaugh to the NFL (not to mention quarterback JJ McCarthy), so this Wolverines team isn’t quite as potent. But they’re still good. Fresno State went 2-0 against power-conference teams last season with wins over Purdue and Arizona State.

Boise State at Oregon (Sept. 7): The Broncos and Ducks have played some memorable games over the years with Boise State 3-0 against Oregon all-time, the most recent contest coming in the 2017 Las Vegas Bowl. The Broncos also swept the Ducks in their home-and-home series in 2008 and 2009 with LeGarrette Blount throwing the punch heard ’round The Blue in the latter of those two games. Oregon will be a preseason top-five team in the preseason poll, so this is a huge task for Boise State.

UNLV at Kansas (Sept. 13): This is a rematch of last year’s Guaranteed Rate Bowl, which the Jayhawks won, 49-36, as UNLV ended its season on a three-game skid after starting the year 9-2. Kansas played that game without star quarterback Jalon Daniels, but he returned for a second senior season this year and is a potential Heisman Trophy candidate. UNLV plays four power-conference teams this season (Houston, Kansas, Syracuse, Oregon State), but they’re all winnable games.

Nevada at Minnesota (Sept. 14): The Wolf Pack plays three power-conference opponents (SMU, Minnesota, Oregon State), with this game at the Gophers marking the first between the programs. Minnesota made a bowl last year, but it was 5-7 in the regular season. Minnesota has been strong in non-league games under eighth-year head coach PJ Fleck, who is 29-32 in the Big Ten and 21-2. That includes a 5-0 record in bowl games. The Gophers are tough outside the Big Ten.

Utah at Utah State (Sept. 14): The in-state rivals play in the Battle of the Brothers rivalry for the first time since 2015 with Utah State having lost 14 of the last 15 games in the series, the lone winning coming in 2012, a 27-20 overtime win in Logan. This game also will be played in Logan with the Aggies needing to improve their play against bowl-caliber teams. Utah leads the all-time series 79-29-4, but it’s fun to see this game back on the books after a several-year hiatus.

Air Force at Baylor (Sept. 14): Air Force has won five straight games over power-conference schools and plays Baylor and Oregon State from those ranks this season looking to continue those winning ways. The Bears have gone from 12 wins in 2021 to six wins in 2022 to three wins in 2023, so the program has been headed in the wrong direction. Air Force beat Baylor, 30-15, in the 2022 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl. Baylor beat Air Force three times in the 1960s and 1970s.

Colorado at Colorado State (Sept. 14): The sunglasses and hat game! This year’s Colorado State-Colorado game is unlikely to live up to last year’s edition, either in the pregame lead-in where Norvell’s sunglasses-and-hat comment fired up Deion Sanders and his team, or in the actual game itself, which was a double-overtime thriller won by Colorado, 43-35. Still, this game should have plenty of fireworks with Norvell looking to get some revenge as it hosts the rival Buffaloes.

San Diego State at Cal (Sept. 14): This is a fun regional matchup between SDSU and Cal, which for some reason will play in the ACC this season. SDSU has a decade-long history of success against Pac-12 schools, and while Cal is no longer technically in the Pac-12, it’s still a Pac-12 school to me. Sean Lewis takes over an Aztec program in need of excitement, and beating Cal would bring that. These teams have split their eight matchups with SDSU winning the last game, 45-40, in 2016.

New Mexico at New Mexico State (Sept. 28): This isn’t a marquee game, but it’s a chance for New Mexico to get a victory, and given the sportsbooks have the over/under win total for the Lobos at 1.5, any win would be big in Bronco Mendenall’s first season. NMSU has won back-to-back games in the Rio Grande Rivalry after New Mexico won three straight from 2018-21. This has been a back-and-forth rivalry with the Lobos historically having the upper hand (73-35-5 all-time).

Navy at Air Force (Oct. 5): We’ll include both of the Air Force’s Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy games starting with the contest against Navy, which the Falcons have beaten four straight seasons and nine of the last 14 years.

Air Force at Army (Nov. 2): Air Force draws Army a month later and looks to avenge last season’s 23-3 loss to the Black Knights that cost the Falcons the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, which it has held a record 21 games since it was created in 1972.

Fresno State at UCLA (Nov. 30): This is a rare late-season marquee non-conference matchup for a MW school as the Bulldogs will travel 220 miles south to play in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 2021, a game in which quarterback Jake Haener starred in a 40-37 win. Fresno State has beaten UCLA four straight times, including the last three in Pasadena. That followed UCLA starting the series with six straight wins from 1927-2000. But the Bulldogs have owned this series of late.

Stanford at San Jose State (Nov. 30): The Bill Walsh Legacy Game is back for the first time since 2013 with Stanford having won six straight in the series. Wins have been few and far between for San Jose State in this matchup as the Spartans are 52-14-1 all-time against Stanford with its last victory being a 35-34 decision in 2006. This is the first of a three-game series through 2026 with games also scheduled in 2028, 2034 and 2035.

Sports columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.