LARAMIE – The only constant in collegiate athletics is change.
 
On Wednesday, the Mountain West kicked off a new era by officially welcoming its new members while saying farewell to some longtime conference rivals.
 
North Dakota State, Northern Illinois and UTEP are on Wyoming's 2026 football schedule for the first time as MW foes, but these programs are not strangers to Cowboys fans.
 
Craig Bohl built the Bison into an FCS powerhouse before a 10-year run as UW's head coach. His coordinators from the Pokes' nine-win 2023 team, Jay Sawvel and Tim Polasek, will be on opposite sidelines for the inaugural "Bohl Bowl" on Oct. 3 in Fargo, N.D.
 
NIU, formerly of the Mid-American Conference, visits War Memorial Stadium on Oct. 17. A decade ago, the Huskies made the trip to 7,220 feet and suffered a remarkable triple-overtime loss when Josh Allen dove across the goal line for the iconic winning touchdown in the wee hours.
 
UTEP, a former WAC rival, hosts UW on Nov. 14 in El Paso, Texas. Legendary Cowboy squads defeated Texas Tech (1955), Hardin-Simmons (1958) and Florida State (1966) in the Sun Bowl. The Miners also were on the wrong end of a 51-6 loss in 1988 that clinched back-to-back WAC titles for Paul Roach's Pokes.
 
In men's basketball, UW (1943) and UTEP (1966) are in the exclusive group of 37 programs to win the NCAA Tournament. UNLV (1990) is the third MW team to win a national championship, which is something no programs in the new Pac-12 can claim.
 
The MW welcomed emerging men's basketball contender Grand Canyon last season and adds 2026 Big West champion Hawaii and 19-win UC Davis this season.
 
The Border War will live on despite Colorado State's departure to the Pac-12, joining Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State.
 
The Cowboy football team opens the season against the Rams on Sept. 5 at Canvas Stadium. Kaylee Prigge's volleyball team hosts CSU on Sept. 12 and Josh Purdum's Cowgirl soccer team plays CSU on Sept. 17 in Fort Collins. Sundance Wicks and Heather Ezell also plan to battle CSU on the hardwood this season in non-conference games.

UW is one of four remaining charter members of the MW, along with Air Force, New Mexico and UNLV.
 
"We're excited," UW Athletics Director Tom Burman said of the MW reboot. "Anytime you have change and leagues split up like our league did, it causes angst and frustration and concerns. For the University of Wyoming, I feel like we're in a really good place.
 
"We're still going to play Colorado State. We're going to play them all the time. We're still going to play them for the Boot. It's still going to be a big game, and it will be a huge game on September 5 at Canvas Stadium. We're going to play Air Force, we're going to play New Mexico, we're still going to have some longstanding rivals."
 
The MW finalized a new media rights package that features CBS Sports and Fox Sports as the conference's primary linear television partners, with additional exposure on the CW.
 
UW and the MW announced Wednesday the launch of MW+, a new direct-to-consumer digital subscription platform powered by Kiswe, a leading streaming technology and services company.
 
MW+ will deliver expanded coverage of live events and on-demand content, including access to throwback collections featuring Border War, Josh Allen and War Memorial Stadium classics.
 
Much of the money for each subscription purchased by Pokes fans through UW's dedicated page will directly support Wyoming Athletics and the Cowboy Joe Club.
 
"In today's world of college athletics and the need to find new revenue streams and enhance revenue streams it was essential we create this," Burman said. "The build out of this is fast and furious and we're going to have some bumps along the way, but I think the content will be better. There will be more content than was on the Mountain West Network.
 
"It's an opportunity for us to drive new revenue and at the end of the day it will put about 60 cents of every dollar a fan spends on campus. That means it comes down to the athletics department and we can use it for rev share or we can use it for coaching salaries, or we can use it for facilities or whatever we want. But our primary focus is this will be a revenue sharing stream."
 
UW has made significant progress in revenue sharing over the last year, which has helped Sawvel and Wicks retain key players and acquire impact transfers.
 
"We've made it clear to our coaching staff and our support staff the expectations in this league are going to be different," Burman said. "We expect to win championships."
 
Burman said there will be more Cowboy and Cowgirl basketball games on MW+ than there were previously on the MW Network. In addition to providing live streaming of events not available through traditional broadcast partners, the new platform will also provide a dedicated landing page for UW fans, on-demand replays and original content.
 
Some of the vintage content includes:
 
Best of Josh Allen Collection
9-3-16 vs. Northern Illinois
10-1-16 at Colorado State
10-8-16 vs. Air Force
10-29-16 vs. #13 Boise State
11-5-16 vs. Utah State
11-19-16 vs. #25 San Diego State
9-23-17 vs. Hawaii
10-28-17 vs. New Mexico
11-4-17 vs. Colorado State
11-22-25 Jersey Retirement Ceremony
 
Football Border War Wins Collection
10-26-18 at Colorado State
11-22-19 vs. Colorado State
11-12-22 at Colorado State
11-3-23 vs. Colorado State
10-25-25 vs. Colorado State
 
War Memorial Stadium Classics
10-30-14 vs. Montana (Craig Bohl 1st Game and Win)
11-17-18 vs. Air Force (4th QTR Comeback)
8-31-19 vs. Missouri
9-2-23 vs. Texas Tech
9-23-23 vs. Appalachian State (Blocked FG for TD)
10-11-25 vs. San Jose State (4th QTR Comeback)
 
Football Historical Highlights
1959 Season Highlights
1968 Season Highlights
1973 Season Highlights
1988 Season Highlights
1996 Season Highlights
 
Men's Basketball
2-11-14 vs. SDSU
11-22-14 vs. CU
12-31-14 vs. UNLV
1-7-15 vs. CSU
1-17-14 vs. FS
1-24-15 vs. UNM
2-4-15 vs. CSU
2-20-16 vs. CSU
1-24-18 vs. NEV
12-5-18 vs. South Carolina
1-31-22 vs. CSU
2-3-22 vs. BSU
2-8-22 vs. USU
1-21-23 vs. CSU
1-27-24 vs. CSU
1-31-26 vs. CSU
 
Men's Basketball 2015 MW Championship
3-12-15 vs. Utah State
3-13-15 vs. Bose State
3-14-15 vs. San Diego State
 
Men's Basketball Historical Highlights
1981-82 Season Highlights
1987-88 Season Highlights
1993-94 Season Highlights
1994-95 Season Highlights
2001-02 Season Highlights
 
Women's Basketball Historical Highlights
2006-07 Season Highlights
 
Women's Basketball 2021 MW Championship
3-7-21 vs. Utah State
3-8-21 vs. UNLV
3-9-21 vs. Boise State
3-10-21 vs. Fresno State
 
MW+ gives UW fans around the world unprecedented access to live events, classic games and exclusive original content while directly supporting Cowboy and Cowgirl student-athletes.
 
Become a subscriber of MW+ at Watch.TheMW.com/WYOMING/
 
Follow Ryan for more stories on Wyoming athletics on X at @By_RyanThorburn on Facebook at Wyoming Athletics and Instagram at wyoathletics. Also follow him at Pokes Insider at Gowyo.com/pokesinsider.
 
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