A UNLV Rebels fan yells during the second half of a college football game against the UNLV Rebels at Allegiant Stadium Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023.
Friday, Dec. 1, 2023 | 9:53 a.m.
The Mountain West football slate is going to look slightly different in 2024 after the conference reached a scheduling agreement with Oregon State and Washington State.
The Mountain West announced the agreement on Friday.
The 12-team Mountain West has traditionally played an unbalanced, eight-game conference schedule; under the new arrangement, all 12 teams will play seven conference games against MWC opponents and the eighth contest will be against either Oregon State or Washington State.
The games against Oregon State and Washington State will not factor into the Mountain West standings, and neither team will be eligible for the conference championship. UNLV will play in its first MWC title game on Saturday against Boise State.
Though Friday’s announcement only covers the 2024 season, the agreement could portend a long-term future between the Mountain West and the two Pac-12 holdovers. Oregon State and Washington State are the only schools remaining in the Pac-12 after the rest of the league accepted invitations from power conferences.
In 2024, USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon will join the Big Ten. Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah will join the Big 12, while Stanford and Cal will head to the ACC.
Oregon State and Washington State are trying to retain the Pac-12 brand and rebuild the conference; UNLV and other Mountain West schools could be part of that plan, or OSU and WSU could eventually join an expanded Mountain West.
The scheduling arrangement only covers football, with other Mountain West sports operating as usual.
Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.
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