The newest conference in the nation has quickly emerged as one of the best. The Mountain West Conference, which officially commenced operation on July 1, 1999, sent three football teams to bowl games and won a national championship (women's cross country) in its first year.

The MWC was conceived on May 26, 1998, when eight teams announced they were breaking away from the Western Athletic Conference. Those teams -- Utah, Air Force, Brigham Young, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV and Wyoming -- brought immediate credibility to their new league.

From a team perspective, when the eight schools splintered off and created the Mountain West Conference, they took the backbone of the WAC with them. Half were charter members of the WAC when it was founded in 1962: Utah, BYU, New Mexico and Wyoming. Colorado State (1967) and San Diego State (1978) both competed as WAC members for at least two decades, while Air Force (1980) was also a longstanding member. Only UNLV, which joined the WAC during its expansion in 1996, was a newcomer.

The split from the former 16-team WAC signaled the end to an unwieldy nine-state, five-time-zone conference. However, the Mountain West Conference has maintained its geographical diversity. Some of the most beautiful geography in the nation can be found within Mountain West Conference boundaries, including the unparalleled Rocky Mountain range, which borders four MWC schools (Utah, BYU, Air Force and Colorado State). The high plains of Wyoming (elevation 7,000 feet) contrast with the desert city of Las Vegas (the fastest growing metropolitan area in the West), the balmy weather and Pacific Ocean locale of San Diego State and the southwestern flavor of New Mexico.

In addition to the 19 MWC-sponsored sports, programs like Utah and BYU have national titles in non-league sports. The Utes have won 10 national championships apiece in women's gymnastics and skiing, while BYU won the 1999 and 2001 NCAA men's volleyball championship.

In the two year history of the Mountain West Conference, BYU has won 27 of 38 conference championships. During the 2000-01 Season BYU claimed 16 of the 18 MWC championships (men's cross country, women's cross country, women's soccer, women's volleyball, men's swimming and diving, women's swimming and diving, men's indoor track and field, women's indoor track and field, men's basketball, men's tennis, women's tennis, men's golf, softball, baseball, men's outdoor track and field, women's outdoor track and field). The Cougars finished the season ranked 17th in the final Sears Directors Cup standings.

In basketball the MWC qualified 9 of 15 eligible teams for post-season play. Four of seven eligible men's teams advanced into the post-season (BYU-NCAA, Utah-NIT, Wyoming-NIT, New Mexico-NIT) and five of eight women's teams (Colorado State-NCAA, Utah-NCAA, New Mexico-WNIT, BYU-WNIT, UNLV-WNIT), with New Mexico losing in the finals of the WNIT. The Mountain West Conference set new marks for attendance and tickets sold for its Basketball Championships at the Thomas Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev.

The MWC sent 31 teams and 60 individuals on to NCAA post-season action. Thirty-eight student-athletes from member institutions were named first-team All-America

The Mountain West Conference office is located in Colorado Springs, Colo., and is under the guidance of Commissioner Craig Thompson.