The Mountain West Conference (formally abbreviated MW since July 2011; informally MWC), popularly known as the Mountain West, is the youngest of the college athletic conferences affiliated with the NCAA’s Division I FBS (formerly I-A). The MWC officially began operations in July 1999. Geographically, the MW covers a broad expanse of the western United States, with member institutions located in California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Wyoming, and has announced expansion into Hawaii, and back into Utah in 2012. The conference introduced a new logo for the 2011 season to reflect on the changes. Craig Thompson has served as Commissioner of the MW since its founding in 1999.

Charter members included Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV, Utah, and Wyoming. Before forming the Mountain West Conference, seven of the eight charter members had been longtime members of the Western Athletic Conference; half were WAC charter members at its formation in 1962 - UNLV had only joined the WAC in 1996.