NEXT UP
Friday, September 24 TV/Digital Time
UNLV at #25/22 Fresno State* CBS Sports Network 7 p.m. PT
Saturday, September 25 TV/Digital Time
Boise State at Utah State* CBS 10 a.m. MT
San José State at Western Michigan ESPN+ 2 p.m. ET
Towson at San Diego State Stadium 12:30 p.m. PT
Colorado State at #6/5 Iowa FS1 2:30 p.m. CT
Wyoming at UConn CBS Sports Network 3:30 p.m. ET
Hawai‘i at New Mexico State FloFootball 6 p.m. MT
Florida Atlantic at Air Force FS2 6 p.m. MT
New Mexico at UTEP ESPN+ 7 p.m. MT
*Mountain West game
AROUND THE MOUNTAIN WEST
• Fresno State are ranked No. 22 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 25 in the USA TODAY AFCA Coaches Poll. The Bulldogs are ranked for the first time since 2018. At least one Mountain West program has been nationally ranked each year since the league’s inception in 1999.
• Fresno State is coming off a victory at No. 13/13 UCLA, the Conference’s first victory over a top-15 nationally-ranked nonconference opponent since 2014 (Boise State def. No. 10 Arizona in Fiesta Bowl).
• Through Week 3, the Mountain West has five victories over autonomous-5 opponents, the most of any non-autonomous-5 conference in 2021. The league has a .500 record against opponents from the Pac-12.
• San Diego State has opened the 2021 season with a 3-0 record, which includes a pair of victories over autonomous-5 opponents (Arizona and Utah). The Aztecs are the only non-autonomous-5 team with multiples wins over autonomous-5 opponents this season.
• Utah State is 3-0 for first time since 1978, when the Aggies opened the season 5-0. The Aggies are receiving votes in the USA TODAY AFCA Coaches Poll.
• Wyoming is off to a 3-0 start and a victory on Saturday at UConn would put the Cowboys at 4-0 for the first time since 1996 (9-0).
• San José State is riding a nine-game win streak in Mountain West play, which is tied for the fourth-longest active league win streak nationally. In 2020, the Spartans were 7-0 in MW play and they haven’t lost a league contest Nov. 23, 2019.
• Fresno State RB Ronnie Rivers is the nation’s active FBS leader with 48 career touchdowns, setting the program career record on Saturday, Aug. 28. Rivers is four touchdowns shy of tying for fifth-most in Mountain West history, a spot currently held by San Diego State’s Rashaad Penny (2014-17).
• Dating back to the 2019 season, the Mountain West has won 16 games against autonomous-5 opponents, including 14 against the Pac-12.
• In the past 17 years, the Mountain West has been the top non-autonomous 5 conference nine times and second five times.
• The Mountain West has been nationally-ranked in 21 of the last 28 College Football Playoff Rankings.
• The Mountain West produced the first non-automatic-qualifying FBS team into a BCS bowl game (Utah – 2005 Fiesta Bowl) and into the College Football Playoff (Boise State – 2014 Fiesta Bowl).
