The Best Mountain West Football Teams Ever According To SP+

The SP+ metric provides its updated perspective on the greatest Mountain West football teams of all time.

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The Best Mountain West Football Teams Ever According To SP+

The SP+ metric provides its updated perspective on the greatest Mountain West football teams of all time.

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Who are the real GOATs?

Earlier this morning, ESPN’s Bill Connelly released an article that ranked the greatest teams of each decade according to SP+. From USC and Notre Dame in the 1920s to Nebraska and Miami (FL) in the 1980s to Alabama and Ohio State in the 2010s, there aren’t a ton of surprises among those who dominated each era with superior efficiency, but Connelly also provided a link to all historical SP+ data dating back to 1885.

We were curious, then: Who are the best teams in the history of the Mountain West, according to SP+? Before we give you that answer, here’s a brief rundown of the best iterations of every team during their time in the conference, dating back to 1999:

  • Air Force — 2019 and 2021 — 35th overall (11-2, 44th offense, 43rd defense in ’19; 10-3, 55th offense, 24th defense in ’21)
  • Boise State — 2011 — 6th overall (12-1, 7th offense, 21st defense)
  • Colorado State — 2000 — 34th overall (10-2, 56th offense, 15th defense)
  • Fresno State — 2018 — 21st overall (12-2, 44th offense, 13th defense)
  • Hawaii — 2021 — 84th overall (6-7, 83rd offense, 87th defense)
  • Nevada — 2021 — 52nd overall (8-5, 39th offense, 56th defense)
  • New Mexico — 2003 — 44th overall (8-5, 69th offense, 29th defense)
  • San Diego State — 2016 — 39th overall (11-3, 41st offense, 45th defense)
  • San Jose State — 2020 — 53rd overall (7-1, 79th offense, 31st defense)
  • UNLV — 2000 — 58th overall (8-5, 74th offense, 48th defense)
  • Utah State — 2018 — 19th overall (11-2, 12th offense, 42nd defense)
  • Wyoming — 1999 — 47th overall (7-4, 56th offense, 46th defense)
  • BYU — 2006 — 16th overall (11-2, 18th offense, 27th defense)
  • TCU — 2009 — 6th overall (12-1, 19th offense, 11th defense)
  • Utah — 2004 — 8th overall (12-0, 3rd offense, 45th defense)

As you’d expect, the list above includes some of the most storied teams in the history of the Mountain West but, interestingly, only seven of those above finished those respective seasons as conference champions. It also comes with a handful of surprising wrinkles, such as the revelation that Wyoming’s best Mountain West squad was its first and that Hawaii’s best team by SP+ was not its West division-winning iteration in 2019 but one under Todd Graham two years later.

How does this list compare, however, to the best teams in the entire history of each current Mountain West program?

  • Air Force — 1985 — 5th overall (12-1 in WAC, 1st offense, 31st defense)
  • Boise State — 2011 — 6th overall (12-1 in MWC, 7th offense, 21st defense)
  • Colorado State — 1915 and 1916 — 11th overall (7-0 in Rocky Mountain Conference, 5th offense, 37th defense in ’15; 6-0-1 in RMC, 8th offense, 42nd defense in ’16)
  • Fresno State — 2018 — 21st overall (12-2 in MWC, 44th offense, 13th defense)
  • Hawaii — 1981 — 18th overall (9-2 in WAC, 12th offense, 32nd defense)
  • Nevada — 1948 — 23rd overall (9-2 as independent, 13th offense, 50th defense)
  • New Mexico — 1964 — 30th overall (9-2 in WAC, 44th offense, 21st defense)
  • San Diego State — 1969 — 11th overall (11-0 in PCAA, 1st offense, 57th defense)
  • San Jose State — 1976 — 31st overall (7-4 in PCAA, 18th offense, 73rd defense)
  • UNLV — 1984 — 40th overall (11-2 in PCAA, 18th offense, 71st defense)
  • Utah State — 1961 — 8th overall (9-1-1 in Skyline Conference, 5th offense, 26th defense)
  • Wyoming — 1966 — 5th overall (10-1 in WAC, 2nd offense, 27th defense)

This list draws connections to some of the greatest names associated with their respective programs — Fisher DeBerry, Merlin Olsen, Randall Cunningham, Kellen Moore, and Don Coryell, to name a few — with only a couple of modern-era pinnacles at Boise State and Fresno State. Enough beating around the bush, though: What does SP+ have to say about the best teams in the history of the Mountain West? Here is a list of every team to have finished in the top 40 during their respective seasons:

  1. 2009 TCU and 2011 Boise State — 6th overall
  2. 2010 TCU — 7th
  3. 2004 Utah — 8th
  4. 2011 TCU — 10th
  5. 2008 Utah — 11th
  6. 2008 TCU — 14th
  7. 2006 BYU — 16th
  8. 2018 Utah State — 19th
  9. 1999 Utah and 2018 Fresno State — 21st
  10. 2006 TCU — 25th
  11. 2008 BYU and 2009 Utah — 26th
  12. 2007 BYU — 27th
  13. 2005 TCU — 28th
  14. 2018 Boise State — 31st
  15. 2012 Boise State — 32nd
  16. 1999 BYU — 33rd
  17. 2000 Colorado State, 2003 Utah, and 2021 Boise State — 34th
  18. 2019 Air Force and 2021 Air Force — 35th
  19. 1999 Colorado State, 2001 BYU, and 2009 BYU — 36th
  20. 2001 Utah and 2010 Utah — 37th
  21. 2016 San Diego State and 2020 Boise State — 39th

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