The Mountain West Takes Center Stage During Saturday’s Week 0 Games

Week 0 is the annual college football appetizer few people actually asked for, but nearly everyone will consume anyway. There’s a smattering of college football lines and a novelty game in Ireland where Americans drink all the beer in Dublin by halftime. Cool.

A lot of the focus this week will be on the North Carolina vs. TCU game, and I’ve already written about my favorite bet in that game if you want to check it out.

But for the true college football lovers, this week provides unusually compelling stakes. One FBS conference has multiple games this week that will shape its season-long perception in the evolving NCAA landscape.

I’m talking, of course, about the new Mountain West. Pillaged by the Pac-12, the reloaded Mountain West is now without standard-bearer Boise State, which has been the centerpiece of the conference since arriving in 2011. It’s also lost Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State, and Colorado State.

Together, those five teams account for 12 of the 13 football champions the conference has produced since adding a championship game in 2013.

Needless to say, the Mountain West is due to suffer a reputational hit. Just two years removed from placing a team in the College Football Playoff, the Mountain West will now need to re-establish itself as a conference capable of putting forward top G6 competitors alongside the Pac-12, American, and Sun Belt. This will be one of the overarching goals of the conference this season and in seasons to come.

Fortunately, this week provides multiple opportunities to build positive momentum on that goal. UNLV’s Saturday night game against Memphis will have genuine College Football Playoff ramifications, according to my G6 Playoff odds tracker.

Both teams are shorter than 15-to-1 to make the 2026 CFP, which makes their head-to-head non-conference bout a pretty meaningful outcome – both individually and in terms of conference comparison.

If the Rebels hold serve at home, UNLV football odds could make a real jump in the playoff table.

The other major data point the Mountain West will deliver in Week 0 is the long-awaited FBS debut for North Dakota State. The Bison have terrorized the FCS for the last 15 years, winning national championships at a rate that would make Nick Saban blush.

They’ve also produced multiple FBS head coaches and first-round NFL draftees, mostly at quarterback and offensive line.

How well will the NDSU style and culture translate to FBS? And can the Bison provide a plug-and-play replacement for the power that Boise State lent to the conference?

These will be themes present throughout North Dakota State’s 2026 football season, and you can read my full NDSU football season preview by following that link. But this Saturday, NDSU will host former FCS foe Jacksonville State in a game that is almost certainly the most interesting game of the day.

Jacksonville State has quickly built itself into a regional G6 power in Conference USA, appearing in each of the last two conference championship games. The Gamecocks are a great measuring stick for the Bison in Game 1.

If North Dakota State loses, it’s just one game. There’s no need to overreact. Plenty of teams new to FBS football lose their first game. But if NDSU wins – especially if it wins convincingly – there will be a lot of chatter as the season goes on about the Bison carrying the Mountain West standard in 2027 and beyond.

And if UNLV and NDSU both score wins this weekend, it’ll be the best possible scenario for the remaining Mountain West fans. Nothing can replace the loss of those Pac-12 schools, but a two-game sweep would put the MWC on great footing for the coming 2026 season.