FBS conference belt
The Mountain West Belt
A companion lineage restricted to Mountain West: the belt passes to whoever beats the holder, exactly like the real belt, but only games between two Mountain West members COUNT — and only for the seasons both sides were actually in Mountain West at the time. Caught it by beating Air Force on October 23, 2026.
Next Mountain West gameWyoming at UNLV · November 7, 2026 · CBSSN — UNLV takes it with a win.
66Reigns
211Belt Games
16Programs
Longest Reign
TCU — 2 yrs, 37 days
November 14, 2009 – December 21, 2011
Most Defenses, One Reign
BYU — 17
starting September 28, 2006
Most Reigns, All-Time
Wyoming — 9 separate reigns
16 Mountain West programs have held it
| # | Team | Reign | Length | Def. | Won it | Lost it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BYU | September 16, 1999 – November 13, 1999 | 58 days | 4 | Established it (first game on record) | lost to Wyoming |
| 2 | Wyoming | November 13, 1999 – November 27, 1999 | 14 days | 1 | beat BYU 31–17 | lost to San Diego State |
| 3 | San Diego State | November 27, 1999 – October 14, 2000 | 322 days | 1 | beat Wyoming 39–7 | lost to Utah |
| 4 | Utah | October 14, 2000 – October 21, 2000 | 7 days | 0 | beat San Diego State 21–7 | lost to Colorado State |
| 5 | Colorado State | October 21, 2000 – November 11, 2000 | 21 days | 2 | beat Utah 24–17 | lost to Air Force |
| 6 | Air Force | November 11, 2000 – October 20, 2001 | 343 days | 3 | beat Colorado State 44–40 | lost to BYU |
| 7 | BYU | October 20, 2001 – October 12, 2002 | 357 days | 4 | beat Air Force 63–33 | lost to Air Force |
| 8 | Air Force | October 12, 2002 – October 26, 2002 | 14 days | 0 | beat BYU 52–9 | lost to Wyoming |
| 9 | Wyoming | October 26, 2002 – November 2, 2002 | 7 days | 0 | beat Air Force 34–26 | lost to UNLV |
| 10 | UNLV | November 2, 2002 – November 10, 2002 | 8 days | 0 | beat Wyoming 49–48 | lost to Utah |
| 11 | Utah | November 10, 2002 – October 25, 2003 | 349 days | 5 | beat UNLV 28–17 | lost to New Mexico |
| 12 | New Mexico | October 25, 2003 – November 1, 2003 | 7 days | 0 | beat Utah 47–35 | lost to UNLV |
| 13 | UNLV | November 1, 2003 – November 8, 2003 | 7 days | 0 | beat New Mexico 37–35 | lost to San Diego State |
| 14 | San Diego State | November 8, 2003 – November 15, 2003 | 7 days | 0 | beat UNLV 7–0 | lost to Colorado State |
| 15 | Colorado State | November 15, 2003 – October 2, 2004 | 322 days | 1 | beat San Diego State 21–6 | lost to BYU |
| 16 | BYU | October 2, 2004 – October 8, 2004 | 6 days | 0 | beat Colorado State 31–21 | lost to UNLV |
| 17 | UNLV | October 8, 2004 – October 16, 2004 | 8 days | 0 | beat BYU 24–20 | lost to New Mexico |
| 18 | New Mexico | October 16, 2004 – October 1, 2005 | 350 days | 5 | beat UNLV 24–20 | lost to TCU |
| 19 | TCU | October 1, 2005 – September 28, 2006 | 362 days | 5 | beat New Mexico 49–28 | lost to BYU |
| 20 | BYU | September 28, 2006 – October 16, 2008 | 2 yrs, 18 days | 17 | beat TCU 31–17 | lost to TCU |
| 21 | TCU | October 16, 2008 – November 6, 2008 | 21 days | 2 | beat BYU 32–7 | lost to Utah |
| 22 | Utah | November 6, 2008 – November 14, 2009 | 1 yr, 8 days | 7 | beat TCU 13–10 | lost to TCU |
| 23 | TCU | November 14, 2009 – December 21, 2011 | 2 yrs, 37 days | 17 | beat Utah 55–28 | vacated — left Mountain West before the 2012 season |
| 24 | New Mexico | December 22, 2011 – September 29, 2012 | 282 days | 0 | reverted after TCU left Mountain West | lost to Boise State |
| 25 | Boise State | September 29, 2012 – November 3, 2012 | 35 days | 3 | beat New Mexico 32–29 | lost to San Diego State |
| 26 | San Diego State | November 3, 2012 – October 26, 2013 | 357 days | 4 | beat Boise State 21–19 | lost to Fresno State |
| 27 | Fresno State | October 26, 2013 – November 29, 2013 | 34 days | 3 | beat San Diego State 35–28 | lost to San José State |
| 28 | San José State | November 29, 2013 – September 27, 2014 | 302 days | 0 | beat Fresno State 62–52 | lost to Nevada |
| 29 | Nevada | September 27, 2014 – October 4, 2014 | 7 days | 0 | beat San José State 21–10 | lost to Boise State |
| 30 | Boise State | October 4, 2014 – October 16, 2015 | 1 yr, 12 days | 8 | beat Nevada 51–46 | lost to Utah State |
| 31 | Utah State | October 16, 2015 – October 23, 2015 | 7 days | 0 | beat Boise State 52–26 | lost to San Diego State |
| 32 | San Diego State | October 23, 2015 – November 19, 2016 | 1 yr, 27 days | 11 | beat Utah State 48–14 | lost to Wyoming |
| 33 | Wyoming | November 19, 2016 – November 26, 2016 | 7 days | 0 | beat San Diego State 34–33 | lost to New Mexico |
| 34 | New Mexico | November 26, 2016 – September 14, 2017 | 292 days | 0 | beat Wyoming 56–35 | lost to Boise State |
| 35 | Boise State | September 14, 2017 – November 25, 2017 | 72 days | 6 | beat New Mexico 28–14 | lost to Fresno State |
| 36 | Fresno State | November 25, 2017 – December 2, 2017 | 7 days | 0 | beat Boise State 28–17 | lost to Boise State |
| 37 | Boise State | December 2, 2017 – October 6, 2018 | 308 days | 1 | beat Fresno State 17–14 | lost to San Diego State |
| 38 | San Diego State | October 6, 2018 – October 27, 2018 | 21 days | 2 | beat Boise State 19–13 | lost to Nevada |
| 39 | Nevada | October 27, 2018 – November 24, 2018 | 28 days | 2 | beat San Diego State 28–24 | lost to UNLV |
| 40 | UNLV | November 24, 2018 – September 28, 2019 | 308 days | 0 | beat Nevada 34–29 | lost to Wyoming |
| 41 | Wyoming | September 28, 2019 – October 12, 2019 | 14 days | 0 | beat UNLV 53–17 | lost to San Diego State |
| 42 | San Diego State | October 12, 2019 – November 9, 2019 | 28 days | 2 | beat Wyoming 26–22 | lost to Nevada |
| 43 | Nevada | November 9, 2019 – November 30, 2019 | 21 days | 1 | beat San Diego State 17–13 | lost to UNLV |
| 44 | UNLV | November 30, 2019 – October 24, 2020 | 329 days | 0 | beat Nevada 33–30 | lost to San Diego State |
| 45 | San Diego State | October 24, 2020 – November 6, 2020 | 13 days | 1 | beat UNLV 34–6 | lost to San José State |
| 46 | San José State | November 6, 2020 – October 9, 2021 | 337 days | 5 | beat San Diego State 28–17 | lost to Colorado State |
| 47 | Colorado State | October 9, 2021 – October 22, 2021 | 13 days | 1 | beat San José State 32–14 | lost to Utah State |
| 48 | Utah State | October 22, 2021 – November 20, 2021 | 29 days | 2 | beat Colorado State 26–24 | lost to Wyoming |
| 49 | Wyoming | November 20, 2021 – November 27, 2021 | 7 days | 0 | beat Utah State 44–17 | lost to Hawai'i |
| 50 | Hawai'i | November 27, 2021 – October 8, 2022 | 315 days | 0 | beat Wyoming 38–14 | lost to San Diego State |
| 51 | San Diego State | October 8, 2022 – October 29, 2022 | 21 days | 1 | beat Hawai'i 16–14 | lost to Fresno State |
| 52 | Fresno State | October 29, 2022 – October 7, 2023 | 343 days | 6 | beat San Diego State 32–28 | lost to Wyoming |
| 53 | Wyoming | October 7, 2023 – October 14, 2023 | 7 days | 0 | beat Fresno State 24–19 | lost to Air Force |
| 54 | Air Force | October 14, 2023 – November 11, 2023 | 28 days | 1 | beat Wyoming 34–27 | lost to Hawai'i |
| 55 | Hawai'i | November 11, 2023 – November 18, 2023 | 7 days | 0 | beat Air Force 27–13 | lost to Wyoming |
| 56 | Wyoming | November 18, 2023 – October 12, 2024 | 329 days | 2 | beat Hawai'i 42–9 | lost to San Diego State |
| 57 | San Diego State | October 12, 2024 – November 1, 2024 | 20 days | 0 | beat Wyoming 27–24 | lost to Boise State |
| 58 | Boise State | November 1, 2024 – November 1, 2025 | 1 yr | 8 | beat San Diego State 56–24 | lost to Fresno State |
| 59 | Fresno State | November 1, 2025 – November 22, 2025 | 21 days | 1 | beat Boise State 30–7 | lost to Utah State |
| 60 | Utah State | November 22, 2025 – November 28, 2025 | 6 days | 0 | beat Fresno State 28–17 | lost to Boise State |
| 61 | Boise State | November 28, 2025 – December 13, 2025 | 15 days | 1 | beat Utah State 25–24 | vacated — left Mountain West before the 2026 season |
| 62 | Wyoming | December 14, 2025 – October 3, 2026 | 293 days | 1 | reverted after Boise State left Mountain West | lost to North Dakota State |
| 63 | North Dakota State | October 3, 2026 – October 10, 2026 | 7 days | 0 | beat Wyoming 28–0 | lost to UNLV |
| 64 | UNLV | October 10, 2026 – October 17, 2026 | 7 days | 0 | beat North Dakota State 13–7 | lost to Air Force |
| 65 | Air Force | October 17, 2026 – October 23, 2026 | 6 days | 0 | beat UNLV 41–31 | lost to Wyoming |
| 66 | Wyoming | October 23, 2026 – Present | 8 days | 0 | beat Air Force 28–14 | — present — |
No reigns match “.”
Membership is judged season by season from every game a team played, so realignment moves a team’s games with it. A holder that stays in Mountain West keeps the belt through any stretch without a game against another member; a holder that leaves vacates the belt on its last game as a member, and it reverts to the most recent earlier holder that is a member of the season it left for. If no one is left to inherit it, the belt retires with its last holder. Days count the offseason; switch to games to measure a reign by belt games only.