Mountain West Football Rankings: Week 9.

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO - OCTOBER 24: Cornerback Ormanie Arnold #8, safety CJ McBean #3 and safety Drew Speech #12 of the New Mexico Lobos celebrate after McBean intercepted a pass during the first half of a game B at University Stadium on October 24, 2026 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images) | Getty Images The college football season is firing on all cylinders, and games are happening every weekend. The rankings are back for another week. Read on to see how this week’s slate of games affected each team’s status in the MWCConnection Mountain West rankings.1) New Mexico (0)The Lobos didn’t have their A-game on offense this weekend, but still found a way to win. Led by the strength of their defense, which stepped up when needed, notching two turnovers and allowing only 238 yards of total offense. On the other hand, the offense struggled, and that showing won’t work against tougher competition later in the year. Still, good teams find ways to win, and New Mexico did just this against San Jose State. 2) North Dakota State (+1) The Bison took a bit to get going in this game, but had the sort of laugher they needed after a few tough games recently. But playing the Miners proved to be the best medicine for a team that’s been trending in the wrong direction. After trailing 7-0 after the first quarter, North Dakota State went on to score 31 unanswered points to put this game out of reach. The passing game was pretty strong and obviously the defense was stout, with three forced turnovers and holding UTEP to under 100 yards passing on the day. NDSU is still a very good team in their first year at the FBS level. 3) UNLV (-1)The Rebels have been inconsistent all season, and this weekend was the latest result of that. Barely getting by NIU, the worst team in the Mountain West and probably all of FBS football this year, is an embarrassing effort no matter how you look at it. The talent is there, but the execution has been lacking week to week. Maybe that’s the coaching, maybe that’s players, maybe some other things. Regardless, they still could play in the conference championship despite not yet playing their best. 4) Wyoming (0)BYE WEEK5) Air Force (0)The Falcons got back to their winning ways, taking care of business against UConn. In typical academy fashion, they won the game despite not having any passing yards, attempting only three passes on the day. Kemper Hodges was dominant, accounting for 200 yards and 4 touchdowns all by himself. But it was a balanced attack and it was nice to see the team regroup and get back in the win column following their injuries. 6) San Jose State (+1)The Spartans came out with an inspired effort, not backing down against New Mexico. They forced some turnovers, and their defense proved up to the task for a Lobo’s offense not on its game. However, the Spartan offense failed to put up enough points. They actually had no offensive touchdowns, settling for field goals and a pick-six accounting for their only scores. That won’t win football games and this is supposed to be a team built on the strength of their passing attack, but that hasn’t materialized much this season. 7) Nevada (-1)Things were not pretty for the Wolf Pack in their last game. Their defense wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible either, only surrendering 27 points facing UCLA, although maybe that was partly by design for the Bruins. The larger issue is Nevada not being able to muster any points. To make matters worse, there is still a lot of question marks at quarterback, with three different ones playing in this contest and throwing a combined four interceptions on the day to go along with a paltry 65 yards rushing from the supposed strength of the offense. In a season where they were supposed to take some steps forward due to their retention efforts, it hasn’t been the case for Nevada this year. 8) Hawaii (0)BYE WEEK9) UTEP (0)It’s later, rinse, and repeat for the Miners. They came out and snagged an early lead against North Dakota State, but the wheels fell off quickly and completely, as they looked overmatched for the rest of the game. That’s more or less been the case for them all season. UTEP’s hopes to gain another victory this season pretty much come down to the last game of the season against Northern Illinois, the only conference team they are better than at this point. 10) NIU (0)Credit to the Huskies, they played their best game of the season this past weekend. Unfortunately, it still ended with a loss. But their offense moved the ball and put up points while their defense came away with some turnovers. It’s nice to see Northern Illinois hasn’t quit on the season, which would have been easy to do at this point. Hopefully they can be rewarded with a win at some point before the end of the year.