Before Boise State leaves the Mountain West Conference for good, UNLV will have one final crack at its long-time tormentor.
(10-2, 6-2) on Friday in a rematch of the past two Mountain West championship games, . The last time UNLV beat Boise State was in 1976, as the Broncos have won 10 straight games in the series and 12 of 15 overall.
As college football鈥檚 conference realignment continues next fall, Boise State will bolt for a new-look Pac-12 in 2026. It will join six other new members and holdovers Oregon State and Washington State.
Rather than perceive the matchup as a final opportunity to beat Boise State, though, UNLV coach Dan Mullen is more focused on bringing the Rebels their first Mountain West championship in school history.
鈥淲e鈥檙e all in the conference trying to win championships,鈥� Mullen said. 鈥淚n college football, there are only 10 teams that are going to become champions this year. There are nine conferences and the national champion.鈥�
As Mullen pointed out, the Mountain West has taken on many different forms in the past, too. When Mullen was the quarterbacks coach for Utah in 2003 and 2004 鈥� both seasons when the Utes won the Mountain West 鈥� the conference also included BYU.
TCU was also a member from 2005 to 2012 before leaving for the Big 12 like BYU. Boise State, meanwhile, wasn鈥檛 in the Mountain West yet, since the Broncos didn鈥檛 join the conference until 2009.
Upon joining the Mountain West, Boise State won six conference crowns. Like Mullen, Broncos coach Spencer Danielson isn鈥檛 looking too far into the past or future when it comes to Boise State potentially securing a seventh conference title.
鈥淲hat I do know is we鈥檙e in a championship game,鈥� Danielson said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e playing arguably one of the best teams on the West Coast right now, and they鈥檙e playing at a high level. And, we got our work cut out for us.鈥�
Danielson is confident quarterback Maddux Madsen, who hasn鈥檛 played since Nov. 1 due to a leg injury, will start Friday. Should Madsen start, it will be his second chance to win a championship for the Broncos.
鈥淚 told our team (Monday), if you need to be motivated to go play on Friday night, you don鈥檛 belong playing football,鈥� Danielson said. 鈥淚 mean, it鈥檚 a championship game. There鈥檚 18 teams playing in a championship game.鈥�
The Broncos and Rebels are quite fortunate to be playing in the game regardless. There was a four-way tie atop the Mountain West standings, with Boise State, UNLV, San Diego State and New Mexico all finishing the year with 6-2 conference records.
While neither Boise State nor UNLV has cracked the College Football Playoff rankings or has a legitimate shot at qualifying for the CFP, both schools can help transition the conference into its next era, which will include Northern Illinois, Hawaii and UTEP in 2026.
Even so, those realities aren鈥檛 weighing particularly heavily on either Mullen or Danielson鈥檚 mind ahead of Friday鈥檚 game.
鈥淚鈥檓 not focusing on, 鈥榃ell, this is the last time we鈥檙e going to play UNLV in a long time,鈥欌�� Danielson said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about how we鈥檙e going to play an elite football team in a championship game on Friday.鈥�
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AP Sports Writer Mark Anderson in Las Vegas contributed to this report.
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