The era of the Mountain West Conference is officially over for Utah State. July 1 marks the day on which all of the old MW logos are unceremoniously dropped in the trash and sandblasted off the fields, to be replaced by the newly redesigned Pac-12 shield. Still, the 13 years the Aggies spent as a member of the Mountain West were productive. Utah State went from a school questionably capable of competing in the league to winning nine conference championships in the 2025-26 academic year alone. That success made the baker’s dozen seasons largely enjoyable for the Utah State faithful. In honor of the 13 years the Aggies were in the Mountain West, here are the top 13 of those moments, ranked by a vague combination of significance to the prestige of Utah State and their perceived popularity among fans. Naturally, this is going to end up with bias toward football and men’s basketball, but there’s plenty of room for the great accomplishments of USU’s other often-successful programs. As a note, the definition of “moment” for our purposes is a bit broad. These can be something that happened within mere seconds or span multiple seasons. Some moments are also bundled

The NCAA recently passed a new age-based eligibility model for college athletes, doing away with the old system that had become a magnet for lawsuits and piles of waivers from athletes trying to game the system and play additional seasons. This new model provides athletes with five years from the time they enroll in college or from the time of their 19th birthday. No more 24-year-old professional players entering college for the first time, nor will there be a string of endless injury or mental health waivers. You get five years. No more, no less. The implementation of these rules opened the door to some confusion, primarily in how current athletes will be impacted by these rules. In its press release about the new rule, the NCAA clarified exactly how current and future athletes’ eligibility will be affected. Impact of new NCAA Eligibility Rules Athlete Situation Impact From New Rules Used final year of eligibility in 2025-26 No additional eligibility granted Current athlete with eligibility remaining beyond 2025-26 Either the previous rules OR the new age-based model, whichever is most beneficial to the athlete. Athletes who sign at any point during 2026-27 Either the previous rules OR the new age-based