The Mountain West and Western Athletic Conferences

Is Colorado State or New Mexico State in the Mountain West or the Western Athletic Conference? Which one is considered to be a Mid-Major conference? The WAC and the MWC get confused quite a bit, so it’s up to use to help clarify the situation. They both use the word West, and they both inhabit the same basic region, so it’s pretty easy to see how these two conferences could get confused, especially if you live in the East. Here are the rosters. Memorize these teams!

Western Athletic Conference:

  • Boise State
  • Fresno State
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Louisiana Tech
  • Nevada
  • New Mexico State
  • San Jose State
  • Utah State

Mountain West Conference:

  • Air Force
  • Brigham Young
  • Colorado State
  • University of New Mexico
  • San Diego State
  • Texas Christian
  • UNLV
  • Utah
  • Wyoming

High Major and Mid Major:

Which one of these two conferences is considered to be a mid-major by college basketball terms? According to the Mid-Majority, a blog dedicated to mid-majors, the Western Athletic Conference is actually considered a mid-major. They rank the conferences by athletic budget and see which ones have the real power in the game of hoops. The Average athletic budget of the Mountain West was roughly $241,000, while the average athletic budget of the Western Athletic was roughly $185,000, technically dipping it below the mid major status line. Football is another story altogether, as both schools can send teams to compete in the BCS Championship.

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Permalink - Posted in General on July 29, 2009 - Post a comment