Hike's Peak: The Weekly Mountain West Podcast

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak podcast thank you for coming back to the mountain! What a week of football that was, headlined by New Mexico taking down North Dakota State in the G6 game of the year. We’ll break down everything you need to know about what went down in that titanic matchup for both teams, along with their outlook for the rest of the season with this game now behind them. We’ll also discuss Wyoming upsetting Air Force to end their win streak and place themselves at 4 and 1 in Mountain West play. Could Jay Sawvel and the Cowboys crash the conference championship party? And for the PAC-12, defense is still banned in Fort Collins, but Colorado State did get back into the win column by only allowing 49 points to San Diego State this time around. We’ll break that game down and figure out what’s next for both schools, then we’ll look ahead to the offseason and who every school’s most important retention will be once 2027 begins. Finally, we’ll of course end the show with our Mountain West and PAC-12 games of the week, featuring each league's premier heavyweight to this point. Awesome show for you guys this week, let’s dive in!

Show Notes:

• New Mexico beats North Dakota State in CFP elimination game. How did the Lobos pull it off? What went wrong for the Bison?
• Wyoming upsets Air Force to move to 4-1 in MW play. Are the Cowboys real contenders? Can Air Force survive without their top two QBs?
• Defense BANNED in Fort Collins! Colorado State gets back in the win column in 56-49 shootout vs San Diego State
• Every team's MOST IMPORTANT retention for the 2027 offseason (sponsored by "Jesse Legree's Decision")

• Hawaii: SO QB Micah Alejado
• UNLV: SR LB Cam Santee
• Boise State: JR RB Sire Gaines

• Mountain West/PAC-12 Games of the Week w/ previews & predictions

• MW: New Mexico (6-1) @ San Jose State (4-4)
• PAC-12: Texas State (4-3) @ #20 Boise State (6-1)

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! If you missed my interview on Bison 1660 the other week, North Dakota State’s flagship radio station, you can find the link here! Make sure to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter atMWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news athttps://www.mwcconnection.com/http://MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! One of the craziest weeks of the year just went down, so you know we have plenty of things to talk about! Top of the list, New Mexico was literally a yard away from being upset by Hawaii and knocked out of the Playoff race, but they found a way to escape the islands with a win, we’ll talk about all of the wild things that went down in that one. Then, we’ll also highlight Air Force picking up a massive win over UNLV, stopping the Rebels in their tracks and potentially replacing them as a contender for the Mountain West title! It was a lighter week in the PAC-12, so we’ll do a lightning round on what went down in their three contests before I go on a rant about the new college football playoff format, pushing the total from 12 teams to 24. Last but not least, we’ll end the show with previews and predictions for our games of the week, including the game of the year for the Mountain West between CFP hopefuls North Dakota State and New Mexico. No time to waste, let’s dive right in!

Show Notes:

• Hawaii gets within a yard of upsetting New Mexico, but Lobos keep CFP hopes alive w/ 21-10 comeback win
• Air Force stunts UNLV's momentum, puts the Mountain West on notice as they move to 5-1
• PAC-12 Lightning Round! (Quick recap/thoughts on all 3 W7 games)
• CFP moving to 24 teams in 2027: What changes, what stays the same, & how many different ways does this hurt college football?
• Mountain West/PAC-12 Games of the Week

• MW (GAME OF THE YEAR!): North Dakota State (6-1) @ New Mexico (5-1)
• PAC-12: San Diego State (3-4) @ Colorado State (2-4)

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! If you missed my interview on Bison 1660 last week, North Dakota State’s flagship radio station, you can find the link here! Make sure to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter atMWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news athttps://www.mwcconnection.com/http://MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! Last week we talked about how this was going to be the craziest week of the year, and it certainly delivered. In the most stunning upset of the Mountain West season, UNLV became the first team to beat North Dakota State, winning a defensive slugfest of all things to potentially end the Bison’s Playoff hopes. On the flip side, Boise State won a shootout against Fresno State, with their dynamic duo of Dylan Riley and Sire Gaines powering them to their reclamation of the Milk Can. We’ll break both of those games down, along with what it means for the Playoff race. Then, I was lucky enough to be brought back onto Bison 1660 radio earlier this week, so I’ll let you guys listen to part of that interview as well. After that, we’ll spend some time checking in with the award races in both conferences, and to end the show, as always, we’ll preview and predict the games of the week for the Mountain West and PAC-12. Big show this week, let’s dive in!

Show Notes:

• UNLV stuns North Dakota State in defensive clash. What went wrong for the Bison? How did the Rebels pull it off? Is the Path to the CFP now closed?
• Boise State reclaims the Milk Can, Dylan Riley and Sire Gaines dominate Fresno State
• Bison 1660 Radio Interview Clip: Talking about San Jose State, Hawaii, & more!
• Mid-season Award Race Check-In (includes OPOY, DPOY, & COTY for Mountain West & PAC-12)
• MW/PAC-12 Games of the Week

• (MW) UNLV (4-2) @ Air Force (4-1)
• (PAC-12) [THURS] Colorado State (2-3) @ Texas State (2-3)

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! As we enter the second half of the regular season, we’re already running low on football, so much sure to cherish each week! If you would like to hear my full interview on Bison 1660 last week, North Dakota State’s flagship radio station, you can find the link here! Make sure to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter atMWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news athttps://www.mwcconnection.com/http://MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! We’re creeping up on the halfway point of the regular season, and this might’ve been the most insane week yet! Mountain West heavyweights North Dakota State and New Mexico both kicked off conference play with dominant wins, while UNLV continued building on their momentum with a Power Four win over Cal. We’ll break down everything you need to know from those games, and then how are we not going to talk about what happened with Colorado State, Jim Mora, and defensive coordinator Tyson Summers, are you kidding me? This is honestly one of the wildest stories I’ve ever covered in college sports. Once we wrap up everything from Week 5, I want to take a pit stop in the transfer portal and check in on last season’s Top 10 outgoing Mountain West transfers, guys like Anthony Colandrea, Danny Scudero, and Trey White just to name a few, and see how they’re faring at their new homes. Then, to finish the show, we’ll of course go over our Mountain West and PAC-12 games of the week, complete with previews and predictions as title contenders collide in both matchups. Super fun show this week, let’s dive in!

Show Notes:

• Bison, Lobos dominate first Mountain West home games. Can anyone one else catch them?
• UNLV outlasts Cal for crucial win. Who shined the brightest, and what's still left to fix?
• Oregon State drops 56 points on Colorado State, leading to the first halftime firing in CFB history? What we know so far about the Tyson Summers debacle...
• Revisiting 2025's Top 10 outgoing transfers 2026 performance

• Featuring: QB Anthony Colandrea (UNLV-Nebraska), DE Trey White (SDSU-Texas Tech), WR Danny Scudero (SJSU-Colorado), SAF Ty Benefield (Boise St-LSU), WR Jackson Harris (Hawaii-LSU), WR Braden Pegan (USU-Utah), & TE Dorian Thomas (UNM-Cal)

• MW/PAC-12 Games of the Week

• North Dakota State (5-0) @ UNLV (3-2)
• #23 Boise State (4-1) @ Fresno State (4-1)

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! Enjoy what is definitely going to be an awesome weekend of college football, hopefully no one loses their job at halftime! If you missed my interview on Bison 1660 last week, North Dakota State’s flagship radio station, you can find that here! Make sure to explore the FREEdepth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter atMWCConnection. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! A wild week of football left some schools heading towards new heights and others spiraling towards the bottom. We’ll kick the show off with an investigation on what’s going wrong with San Diego State, who looks unrecognizable after their third straight loss, as well as Hawaii, who dropped another dud as they were beaten handily by Wyoming. Then, we’ll dive into the three teams from the Mountain West and PAC-12 that have separated themselves and have a semi-realistic shot of making the College Football playoff, complete with their resumes to this point, toughest remaining games, and the odds of them making the field of 12. Of course, we’ll end the show with our two games of the week, but before that, I was lucky enough to be brought back onto North Dakota State’s flagship radio station, Bison 1660, so I’ll let you all hear some of the conversation we had about the rest of the Mountain West and the Bison’s historic start to 2026. Super fun episode this week, let’s dive in!

Show Notes:

• San Diego State drops third straight game, how did this happen and can the Aztecs season be saved?
• Wyoming thumps Hawaii to take the Paniolo Trophy back. What's going wrong with this Rainbow Warriors' offense?
• Revealing the MW/PAC-12's three TRUE CFP contenders, complete w/ their resume, toughest remaining games, and odds of making the Playoff
• Bison 1660 Interview! Talking Mountain West storylines and what makes North Dakota State so dangerous
• MW/PAC-12 Games of the Week

• "Craig Bohl Bowl": Wyoming (2-2) @ North Dakota State (4-0)
• Oregon State (2-2) @ Colorado State (2-2)

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! If you want to listen to my full interview on Bison 1660, you can find the link here! Make sure to explore the FREEdepth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter atMWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news athttps://www.mwcconnection.com/http://MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, enjoy another week of impossible to predict football! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! The college football season is in full swing, and we have plenty of big time matchups to analyze. New Mexico fought hard, but ultimately lost a rock fight to Oklahoma, Texas State’s offense finally came to life for their first win against North Texas, and Fresno State outclassed San Jose State in the Battle for the Valley. We’ll go over all of the details you need to know from week 3, and we’ll follow that up with every Mountain West and PAC-12 team’s most impressive and disappointing player to start the 2026 season. To end the show, we’ll of course give you in-depth previews and predictions for both of our games of the week, featuring two Mountain West teams that are at a real tipping point in their journey, and a PAC-12 favorite taking on a squad with the exact same mascot. This is going to be a fun episode, let’s dive in!

Show Notes:

• Week 3 Recaps + Analysis

• New Mexico loses rock fight to #24 Oklahoma, 14-6
• Texas State's offense comes alive for 49-35 win over North Texas
• Fresno State outclasses San Jose State to hold onto the Battle for the Valley trophy

• Every MW/PAC-12 team's most impressive & disappointing player so far
• MW/PAC-12 Game of the Week Preview + Prediction

• Hawaii (1-2) @ Wyoming (1-2)
• Boise State (2-1) @ Western Michigan (2-1)

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! We’re a quarter of the way through the regular season, I know it seems crazy but this year will be over before you know it so make sure to savor all of the epic moments we get to see in 2026! Make sure to explore the FREEdepth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter atMWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news athttps://www.mwcconnection.com/http://MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, also look out for another radio appearance from myself on Bison 1660 coming soon! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! Week two was a ton of fun to watch, with conference heavyweights Boise State and North Dakota State picking up massive wins, while other squads, cough cough UNLV, weren’t as lucky. We’ll kick the show off by diving into the three most interesting games from this past weekend, complete with analysis and answers to the questions those games left you with. Then, we’ll dive into a stock report for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12, with some teams already way above or below their preseason expectations. Finally, we’ll end the show with our game of the week from both conferences, with important storylines and players to watch, along with my predictions. Alright, lots to get through this episode, let’s dive in!

Show Notes:

• UNLV drops the ball against North Texas. What's going wrong in Vegas?
• North Dakota State bests Air Force for 1st Mountain West win. Are the Bison now the MW favorites?
• Boise State outclasses Memphis to take top spot in G6 Power Rankings
• Stock Up/Down Report for ALL Mountain West/PAC-12 schools
• Mountain West + PAC-12 Games of the Week w/ previews & predictions

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! With Rutgers football in complete disaster mode, the Mountain West and PAC-12 now have my undivided attention! Make sure to explore the FREEdepth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter atMWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news athttps://www.mwcconnection.com/http://MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, come back every Tuesday to talk about whatever college football craziness is up next! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! I hope everyone enjoyed their first full weekend of college football, I’m certainly excited because we have a lot of storylines to discuss. We’re going over everything from Colorado State reclaiming the Bronze Boot against Wyoming, to Boise State nearly upsetting #2 Oregon, as well as several other results that we have to talk about, like what’s going on with Hawaii and Micah Alejado? After breaking down week one’s most intriguing contests and discoveries from them, we’ll get you ready for week 2, with a preview of our Mountain West and PAC-12 games of the week. Strap in for a fun episode, let’s dive in!

Show Notes:

• Colorado State dominates the Border War, reclaims Bronze Boot from Wyoming, 35-13

• Hauss Hejny, Jim Mora have injected new life into the Rams football program
• Is it already time to hit the panic button on Wyoming & Tyler Hughes?

• Boise State goes toe-to-toe w/ #2 Oregon, falls 34-27, stakes claim as top suitor for the G6 CFP spot
• UNLV shuts down Hawaii's offense, cruises to uncontested 21-6 win

• Is the Rebels' defense legit?
• What's going wrong for Micah Alejado & the Run N' Shoot offense?

• San Jose State grabs first win of 2026 against Eastern Michigan, 27-21
• Nevada finally puts it all together, blow out Western Kentucky 49-13 for biggest season opening win since 2018
• Utah State loses to FCS Idaho State, 29-17. What went wrong, and how scared should Aggies fans now be for 2026?
• Mountain West Game of the Week: FCS Defending National Champion Montana State @ Nevada
• PAC-12 Game of the Week: Battle for top spot in G6 CFP race, Memphis @ Boise State

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! I’m so excited to see how the 2026 college football season unfolds, and I’ll be here every Tuesday so we can talk about the latest! Make sure to explore the FREEdepth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter atMWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news athttps://www.mwcconnection.com/http://MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, Western Michigan should’ve won! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! The 2026 college football season is officially underway, with the big story being North Dakota State steamrolling their way to their first win as an FBS program, as well as disappointing losses from Hawaii & UNLV. We’ll break down all four week 0 games from the Mountain West, & then we’ll dive straight into your week 1 preview, where I’ll let you know the most important storyline to watch for all 13 PAC-12 & Mountain West teams that are playing in their season opener. Lots of games to get through this week, let’s dive in!

Show Notes:

• Week 0 Recap

• North Dakota State steamroll Jacksonville State for 1st win as an FBS program
• UNLV loses steam in second half, falls to Memphis
• Hawaii's late comeback against Stanford thwarted by slow start, controversial finish
• New San Jose State QB Luke Weaver shines in debut @ USC

• Top storyline for all 13 Mountain West/PAC-12 teams' season opener:

• Fresno State: New QB Jayden Mandal

• Boise State: Can the Broncos hang with top-tier Oregon?

• Border War showdown between Wyoming & Colorado State: Which transfer QB will seize the day?

• New Mexico: Jack Layne update, state of the QB room

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! Find all 21 of our full length interviews from Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegashere, as well as our Media Days episodes spotlighting the attending players, every head coach, & MW Commissioner Gloria Nevarez & college sports business expert KC Smurthwaite! Make sure to explore the FREEdepth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West & PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter atMWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news athttps://www.mwcconnection.com/http://MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, hopefully, your favorite team gets off on the right track this weekend! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, & thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! Start popping bottles, because we’ve officially made it through the offseason! College football kicks off for four Mountain West teams this Saturday, so we have full previews ready for all of those! From North Dakota State’s first ever home game in the FBS, to big opportunities for Hawaii and UNLV, I cannot wait to see what these teams are made of. Without further ado, let’s dive in!

Show Notes:

• San Jose State @ #14 USC
• Jacksonville State @ North Dakota State
• Hawaii @ Stanford
• Memphis @ UNLV

Each game features an in-depth preview of both teams, players to watch, and a predicted final score.

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! The end of the offseason is finally upon us, let’s enjoy what will certainly be a one-of-a-kind year of college sports! Find all 21 of our full length interviews from Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegashere, as well as our Media Days episodes spotlighting the attending players, every head coach, and MW Commissioner Gloria Nevarez and college sports business expert KC Smurthwaite! Make sure to explore the FREEdepth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter atMWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news athttps://www.mwcconnection.com/http://MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, we’ve finally reached the start of the football season, congrats everyone! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Hi everyone, welcome back to the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! I’m dealing with some technical difficulties this week, so unfortunately, the episode I recorded on the Mountain West and PAC-12’s settled litigation won’t be ready this week. Apologies for that, I’m away from home right now and I’m working with what I got. I’m not leaving you empty handed though, for this week, please enjoy my first ever radio interview with North Dakota State’s flagship station, Bison 1660, from Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegas! Hosted by Sam Neidermann and Andy Rieckhoff, who are announcers for the team, we talked about some of the top storylines across the conference, X-Factors to watch for North Dakota State and the Mountain West, and my first ever championship game prediction! I had a great time chatting with them, so please enjoy my first on-air interview!

Show Notes:

• Evolution of the Mountain West to reach 2026
• Mountain West's identity/successful play styles
• North Dakota State QB Nathan Hayes: Biggest wild card in the MW?
• Under-the-radar players to watch out for across the conference
• What is the winning formula in the Mountain West?
• Championship game predicted matchup and winner

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! Apologies again for the technical difficulties pushing back our litigation deep dive, I’ll be back in my normal setup next week! Huge shoutout to Sam and Andy for having me on Bison 1660, I had a blast talking with them at Media Days, and hopefully I can chat with them again soon. Find all 21 of our full length interviews from Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegashere, as well as our Media Days episodes spotlighting the attending players, every head coach, and MW Commissioner Gloria Nevarez and college sports business expert KC Smurthwaite! Make sure to explore the FREEdepth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter atMWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news athttps://www.mwcconnection.com/http://MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, one more week of projecting and then we finally get to watch these teams we’ve talked so much about take the field for the first time together! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! It’s a bit of a different episode this week, as the college sports landscape was just shaken up again with a major change to eligibility rules, colloquially known as the “5 for 5” rule, giving hundreds of 5th years across the country one final year. We’re going to talk about what that means, what Mountain West and PAC-12 players can now play because of it, as well as a whole lot of my thoughts on how this ruling will go on to shape the 2026 season, with some positives and a bunch of negatives. I’ve got a lot to say this week, so let’s dive in!

Note: If you haven’t heard already, the Mountain West and PAC-12 have officially settled their litigation and the divorce is now finally over. We’ll dive into all of the information about that next week, I just wanted to take a little more time to understand the specifics of what we know and don’t know officially.

Show Notes:

• Breakdown of "5 for 5", what is changing and who it affects
• Mountain West/PAC-12 teams that have brought back/are exploring possible returns for 5th year players
• Benefits of this ruling for 2026
• Issues/fallout from this ruling for 2026

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! I had a lot to get off of my chest there, so I hope my ranting gave you a better understanding of what we’re in for for the future of college sports. Find all 21 of our full length interviews from Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegashere, as well as our Media Days episodes spotlighting the attending players, every head coach, and MW Commissioner Gloria Nevarez and college sports business expert KC Smurthwaite! Make sure to explore the FREEdepth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter atMWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news athttps://www.mwcconnection.com/http://MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, tune in next week for our Mountain West/PAC-12 litigation breakdown! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! For our final episode of our Mountain West Media Days trio, we’re going over two of my favorite interviews I’ve ever gotten the chance to do. First, you’ll hear my exclusive discussion with Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez to discuss the new additions of North Dakota State, Northern Illinois, and UTEP, goals for the conference in 2026, and what the Mountain West’s identity will be heading into the future. After that, you’ll hear my conversation with college sports business guru KC Smurtwaite, as we discuss the three incoming schools and how they match up to the rest of the members, along with plenty of other insider info that KC lets us in on. A ton of access in this one that you won’t get anywhere else, let’s dive in!

Show Notes:

• Housekeeping
• Interview w/ Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez on the future of the conference
• Conversation w/ college sports business expert KC Smurthwaite on how North Dakota State, Northern Illinois, & UTEP compare financially to the rest of the conference, plus much more!

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! This is the finale of our three part series from Mountain West Media Days. Find all of our full length interviews from the eventhere, as well as our Media Days episodes spotlighting the attending players and every head coach! Make sure to explore the FREEdepth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter atMWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news athttps://www.mwcconnection.com/http://MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, we’ll be back to regularly scheduled programming next week, and if you’ve been looking at my Twitter the last few days, you can probably figure out what topic I have a lot of things to say about! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain.

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! After spotlighting the players from Mountain West Media Days that we were able to interview, we’ll switch gears this week and go over the best quote I got from all 10 head coaches at the event! Super exciting episode this week, let’s dive in!

Housekeeping:

Last week's MW Media Days Player Special is here.

Every interview that we got from Mountain West Media Days is live right now on my YouTube channel, JackTalksCFB!

Check out the latest episode of Mountain West Connection’s new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, where Derek and I break down a lot of fun PAC 12 storylines!

Next week: MW Commisioner Gloria Nevarez, KC Smurthwaite

Show Notes:

• All 10 head coach's best quote (Topic of quote)

• Air Force || Troy Calhoun, 20th year: What are the odds of a service academy winning a national championship in today's landscape?
• Hawaii || Timmy Chang, 5th year: The impact and coaching style of Defensive Coordinator Dennis Thurman.
• Nevada || Jeff Choate, 3rd year: How the offseason retentions defied the odds, and why seemingly P4-bound players stayed in Reno.
• New Mexico || Jason Eck, 2nd year: Differences between portal recruiting from year one to year two, plus top transfers to watch.
• North Dakota State || Tim Polasek, 3rd year: How the Bison have had better retention than most G6 programs, and the downside of the money flooding college sports.
• Northern Illinois || Rob Harley, interim: How the Huskies landed Taron Dickens, and state of the QB battle.
• San Jose State || Ken Niumatalolo, 3rd year: How SJSU became Wide Receiver U, and Spartan wideouts to watch out for.
• UNLV || Dan Mullen, 2nd year: The legacy of Jai'Den "Jet" Thomas. Is he on the Rebels football "Mount Rushmore"?
• UTEP || Scotty Walden, 3rd year: How the Miners fended off P4 suitors to hold onto starters, and how their move to the Mountain West will continue to elevate their program.
• Wyoming || Jay Sawvel, 3rd year: The story of Tyler Hughes' portal recruitment, and how he's led the offense since arriving in Laramie.

Playlist for all MW Media Days interviews

FREE depth chart tracker app!

MWCConnection Twitter

The Pac-Mountain Pulse

Welcome back everyone, to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! We are back from Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegas, where we were able to interview over 30 players & every head coach. We’re going to dive into what I learned from the players during my conversations with them, highlighted by each team’s best quote. From position battles, to team attitudes & expectations, I certainly left the event with a better handle on all 10 teams entering the 2026 season, & now I’ll pass that insider info onto you!

Some quick housekeeping before we get into things. First up, as of this upload, all of the interviews with 30+ players are now available in their entirety on my YouTube channel. You can find the link to those in the show notes below, & my interviews with all 10 head coaches will be released next week, along with a similar style episode to this one. The following week, our final Mountain West Media Days episode will drop, featuring conversations with MW commissioner Gloria Nevarez & college sports business expert KC Smurthwaite.

Second, if you haven’t already heard, Mountain West Connection has launched a second podcast! It’s called The PAC-Mountain Pulse, hosted by Derek Raridon & Dominic Gutierrez! It’s a much more conversational show, diving into a few key topics each week, & is a perfect addition to your weekly sports diet! The Pulse drops every Thursday, & I’ll actually be on the next episode, so definitely make sure to check the site’s newest show out, you won’t want to miss it! Alright, that’s all I got for now, let’s dive into some stories from Vegas!

Show Notes:

• Rundown of MW Media Days Content Plan
• All 10 team's best quote (players w/ interview clips in this episode)

• Air Force: SR MLB Blake Fletcher
• Hawaii: SR CB Elijah Palmer
• Nevada: SR OT Jack Foster
• New Mexico: SR QB Jack Layne
• North Dakota State: SR SAF Darius Givance
• Northern Illinois: JR DE Jay'shon Thomas
• San Jose State: SR C Joseph Harbert
• UNLV: SR CB Mumu Bin-Wahad
• UTEP: SR SAF Kode Lowe
• Wyoming: SR OT Rex Johnsen

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you for listening! This is week one of our three part series from Mountain West Media Days. Find all of our full length interviews from the event here. Make sure to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app! Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news at https://www.mwcconnection.com/. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you again for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone, to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! As promised, we’re going to spend this week analyzing each PAC-12 team’s projected win totals, along with their most important player for 2026. I’ll let you know what I’m thinking about all eight team’s prospects in the win column, good or bad, which will help explain why a specific player is going to be your favorite team’s X-factor this season. Complete with scouting, depth chart projections, scenarios, and my personal expectations for each pick, this episode should introduce you to the main characters of the upcoming PAC-12 campaign. Lots of scouting reports to get through, let’s dive in!

Real quick before we get going, first off, I’m very happy to announce that I will be attending Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegas on July 15th and 16th at the Palms Casino, providing you with interviews with all 10 head coaches and every attending player! Can’t wait to bring you guys some fantastic, exclusive content for you all, but in order to prepare, we will be taking next Tuesday off. As long as everything goes according to plan, the following Tuesday, you’ll receive the interviews with all of the players, and we’ll talk to every head coach the week after. Second thing, check out the always-free Mountain West PAC-12 Depth Chart Tracker which should have complete stats for every player in the Mountain West in time for Media Days! The PAC-12 stats are on the way, I promise, but since they didn’t want to have an official media day for their conference, I feel okay making them wait an extra week. Alright, enough shop talk, let’s get on with it!

Show Notes:

• MW Media Days Announcement & MW/PAC Depth Chart Tracker App update
• Each PAC-12 teams' O/U win total & Most Important Player w/ analysis

• Most Important Player breakdown (by position):

• Quarterback, Running Back, Safety: 2
• Wide Receiver, Cornerback: 1

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! This completes our preview of each Mountain West and PAC-12 team’s projected win totals and most important player, if you missed the Mountain West version just click here to catch up on that. Make sure to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app! If you like the show and enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection and find all of your Mountain West news at https://www.mwcconnection.com/. Thank you again for listening, I will see you all when I get back from Las Vegas on July 21st with suitcases full of football intel! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone, to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! With the offseason starting to reach its twilight, let’s look forward to the 2026 season and what to expect from your Mountain West teams. This week, we’re going to dive into each school’s projected over/under for total wins provided by DraftKings, complete with my thoughts on how their season’s may go. We’ll also go over each squad’s most important player entering the year, with a full analysis of their strengths, weaknesses, and the situation around them that’s left all this responsibility on their shoulders. A great episode to get you ready for football season, let’s dive right in!

Two things before we get going. First, this week’s episode will be going over the 10 Mountain West teams, and next week we’ll go over the projected win totals and most important player for all 8 PAC-12 teams. Second thing, the Mountain West PAC-12 Depth Chart Tracker app is still going strong and getting better everyday! We fixed a few bugs, added some images to spruce things up, and are about 90% done with adding heights, weights, hometowns, and high school rankings for every player in the PAC-12. That should be done in the next few days, and then we’ll start adding all of the stats into the database. Also I do want to make it clear that this tool is completely free to use, there’s no paid option or anything, there’s only the free version and that’s the best available resource out there for west coast football fans. So, if you haven’t checked it out yet or haven’t looked in a few weeks, take a look at the link in the show notes below, I really think you’ll learn something new about your favorite team.

Show Notes:

• MW/PAC Depth Chart Tracker App update
• Each Mountain West teams' O/U win total & Most Important Player w/ analysis

• Most Important Player breakdown (by position):

• Running Back, Linebacker: 3
• Quarterback: 2
• Edge Rusher, Wide Receiver: 1

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! I sincerely hope you take some time to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app! This project has been a massive undertaking, but I truly believe this is the best fan resource out there if you care about Mountain West or PAC-12 football, so check out the link in the show notes below! If you like the show and enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection and find all of your Mountain West news at https://www.mwcconnection.com/. Of course, the CBK transfer portal tracker is still live on the website now. It’s complete with bios, stats, and previous stops for every player on the list! Thank you again for listening, until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone, to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! For this week, I’m giving you the rundown on the best and brightest transfers entering the Mountain West and PAC-12 for the 2026 season. We’ll go through each position and highlight the top three newcomers at each spot, complete with their stories leading up to this point and how I think they’ll fare at their new homes. This list has it all, from former five stars, to journeymen joining their fourth school or embarking on their seventh year, there’s a good mix of high-profile names and under-the-radar additions. This should be fun, let’s dive right in!

Real quick, here is your Mountain West PAC-12 Depth Chart Tracker App update, of course the link will be in the show notes below. As of now, every single player in the Mountain West has their height, weight, hometown, and high school ranking listed, along with a few depth chart adjustments. Every PAC-12 player should have theirs added over the next few days, and then it’s on to the stats phase!

Transfers Highlighted by Team:

Boise State

- JR RB Juelz Goff (Pitt)

- JR CB JeRico Washington Jr (Kennesaw State)

Colorado State

- SO QB Hauss Hejny (Oklahoma State)

- JR RB Durell Robinson (Auburn)

- SR OT Quinton Harris (TCU)

- JR LB Oumar Diomande (UConn)

Fresno State

- JR DE Dylan Hampsten (Sacramento State) (FCS)

Nevada

- JR RG Ethan Newman (Memphis)

New Mexico

- GR WR Troy Omeire (UNLV)

Oregon State

- SR LB Dylan Layne (Idaho) (FCS)

San Diego State

- SR S Jalen Thomeson (Ohio)

San Jose State

- SR QB Luke Weaver (Hawaii)

- JR DT Jayland McGlothen (Sacramento State) (FCS)

UNLV

- SR QB Jackson Arnold (Oklahoma)

- JR OG BJ Tolo (New Mexico State)

- SR LB Cam Santee (Holy Cross) (FCS)

Utah State

- SR WR Javon Robinson (Georgia State)

UTEP

- JR WR Carver Cheeks (Northern Colorado) (FCS)

Wyoming

- SR RB Markell Holman (Western Illinois) (FCS)

- GR DE Thaddeus Gianaris (Dartmouth) (FCS)

Washington State

- JR S Jeremiah Bernard (Cal Poly) (FCS)

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! I sincerely hope you take some time to explore the depth chart tracker app! This project has been a massive undertaking, but I truly believe this is the best fan resource out there if you care about Mountain West or PAC-12 football, so check out the link in the show notes below! If you like the show and enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection and find all of your Mountain West news at https://www.mwcconnection.com/. Of course, the CBK transfer portal tracker is still live on the website now. It’s complete with bios, stats, and previous stops for every player on the list! Thank you again for listening, until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone, to the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! With summer just around the corner, it’s time to hand out report cards to all 12 of the 2025 Mountain West teams. We’ll be taking an overhead look at how each school’s football and basketball programs fared this past season, complete with highs and lows, star players, and the biggest storylines that went down or came up during the offseason. No time to waste, let’s dive right in!

Mountain West/PAC 12 Depth Chart Tracker App Link!

Show Notes:

• MW/PAC Depth Chart Tracker roadmap update
• Report Cards (Football, Basketball, Cumulative) for all 12 2025 Mountain West teams!

• One grade from each team

• Air Force: Football - C-
• Boise State: Basketball - C+
• Colorado State: Cumulative - C-
• Fresno State: Football - B
• Hawaii: Basketball - A-
• Nevada: Cumulative - C+
• New Mexico: Football - A+
• San Diego State: Basketball - B-
• San Jose State: Cumulative - D
• UNLV: Football - B+
• Utah State: Basketball: A+
• Wyoming: Cumulative - C+

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! I sincerely hope you take some time to explore the depth chart tracker app! This project has been a massive undertaking, but I truly believe this is the best fan resource out there if you care about Mountain West or PAC-12 football, so check out the link in the show notes below! If you like the show and enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection and find all of your Mountain West news at https://www.mwcconnection.com/. Of course, the CBK transfer portal tracker is still live on the website now. It’s complete with bios, stats, and previous stops for every player on the list, and is updated whenever news drops, so bookmark that to never miss out on transfer movement! Thank you again for listening, one last time, click the link in the show notes to check out the Mountain West PAC 12 Depth Chart Tracker App! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone, to the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! As promised last week, the official Mountain West PAC-12 Depth Chart Tracker App is now live with every rostered player in the PAC-12 conference! That now means no matter if you root for Boise State or New Mexico or Texas State or Wyoming, you can now find your complete projected depth chart for 2026 right now with the link in the show notes below. To celebrate, we’ll be going through all eight PAC-12 teams and tabbing their top position group entering this pseudo-inaugural season, since I can now confidently say I know all of their rosters like the back of my hand. We’ll also kick the show off with a demonstration of when the depth chart tracker app will be useful for all of you fans out there. Time to get going, let’s dive right in!

Mountain West/PAC 12 Depth Chart Tracker App Link!

Show Notes:

• MW/PAC Depth Chart Tracker roadmap, features, & more!
• Each Mountain West Team's top position group entering 2026

• Tally by position:

• Wide Receiver: 2
• Running Backs: 2
• Offensive Line: 1
• Cornerbacks: 1
• Linebackers: 1
• Safeties: 1

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! I sincerely hope you take some time to explore the depth chart tracker app! This project has been a massive undertaking, but I truly believe this is the best fan resource out there if you care about Mountain West or PAC-12 football, so check out the link in the show notes below! If you like the show and enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection and find all of your Mountain West news at https://www.mwcconnection.com/. Of course, the CBK transfer portal tracker is still live on the website now. It’s complete with bios, stats, and previous stops for every player on the list, and is updated whenever news drops, so bookmark that to never miss out on transfer movement! Thank you again for listening, one last time, click the link in the show notes to check out the Mountain West PAC 12 Depth Chart Tracker App! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!