Following the 2025 season, the Mountain West team Conference experienced some big changes. From perennial contenders such as Boise State and San Diego State University (SDSU) leaving for the Pac-12 to Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) powerhouse North Dakota State joining, the group-of-six conference will look much different for the upcoming season.
These changes come as part of a larger conference realignment that saw over 30 Division-I programs move to new conferences. Aside from Boise State and SDSU, Utah State, Colorado State and Fresno State also jumped ship to the Pac-12. Following its mass exodus, the Mountain West added North Dakota State University (NDSU), University of Texas, El Paso (UTEP) and Northern Illinois University (NIU) (as a football-only member), bringing the number of football-competing schools from 12 down to 10.
After all of these changes, Nevada is primed to move from one of the bottom feeders of the league to a truly competitive program. After finishing 3-9 in 2025, the Wolf Pack may have just been given the break they need to land near the top of their conference in 2026.
(Madeleine Gomes/The Nevada Sagebrush)
The Pack has a few things working for them this year: an easier in-conference schedule; an older, more experienced Carter Jones taking snaps at quarterback; and a coach in Jeff Choate who has shown modest improvement over his time in Reno.
Nevada’s schedule may be what aids the team the most on its quest for a winning record this year. The Pack starts the season at home against Western Kentucky before taking on Montana State and Middle Tennessee — both FCS schools that the Union should be able to beat. From there, Nevada begins conference play against an Air Force team that went 4-8 last year and a UTEP team that went 2-10 while competing in Conference USA.
The Pack catches one more non-conference opponent in UCLA on Halloween in Southern California, a winnable matchup against a once-dominant team, before ending the regular season in Las Vegas against UNLV. Other notable matchups include Oct. 24 against San Jose State — a team that Nevada crushed 55-10 in 2025 — and a new-conference matchup on Nov. 14 in DeKalb, Ill. against NIU, who just finished second-to-last in the Mid-American Conference.
Nevada’s favorable schedule isn’t the only thing that could benefit the team in 2026, though. Carter Jones, the team’s sophomore quarterback, started seven games last season as a true freshman. Jones had plenty of ups and downs during his first season under center, though under new offensive coordinator Brett Bartolone, Jones has the chance to flourish.
The slender 6-foot-3-inch quarterback was at times laser-accurate last year, finishing with a 64.3% completion rate, good for one of the better marks in the country. Jones certainly had his fair share of mistakes as well, tossing eight interceptions to just six touchdowns. Though it is important to note that he was not the only player on Nevada to struggle with ball security. The Pack turned the ball over 27 times, the second highest mark in the country. Going into his second year, Jones and the rest of the offense will certainly look to minimize turnovers as much as possible.
The final and most critical factor to Nevada’s success in 2026 is, of course, their coach. Jeff Choate is entering his third season leading Nevada in what is likely a make-or-break year for his team. Though, a competitive season is not unrealistic for his program, which won two out of their last three games last year and has notched one of the better defenses in the Mountain West. Since Choate’s arrival, Nevada has seen an improved defensive unit that has been able to keep them in a lot of games, and an offensive group that has shown flashes to be great. So naturally the path to success seems simple for the Pack, and that is to stay consistent on offense — consistently good that is.
This year, Choate’s group should at least make a bowl game (six wins), if not compete for one of the top spots in an undoubtedly weakened conference. Though only time will tell if the Pack will capitalize on its opportunity to become a top team in the Mountain West.
