Hike's Peak: The Weekly Mountain West Podcast

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! We’re creeping up on the halfway point of the regular season, and this might’ve been the most insane week yet! Mountain West heavyweights North Dakota State and New Mexico both kicked off conference play with dominant wins, while UNLV continued building on their momentum with a Power Four win over Cal. We’ll break down everything you need to know from those games, and then how are we not going to talk about what happened with Colorado State, Jim Mora, and defensive coordinator Tyson Summers, are you kidding me? This is honestly one of the wildest stories I’ve ever covered in college sports. Once we wrap up everything from Week 5, I want to take a pit stop in the transfer portal and check in on last season’s Top 10 outgoing Mountain West transfers, guys like Anthony Colandrea, Danny Scudero, and Trey White just to name a few, and see how they’re faring at their new homes. Then, to finish the show, we’ll of course go over our Mountain West and PAC-12 games of the week, complete with previews and predictions as title contenders collide in both matchups. Super fun show this week, let’s dive in!

Show Notes:

1. Bison, Lobos dominate first Mountain West home games. Can anyone one else catch them?
2. UNLV outlasts Cal for crucial win. Who shined the brightest, and what's still left to fix?
3. Oregon State drops 56 points on Colorado State, leading to the first halftime firing in CFB history? What we know so far about the Tyson Summers debacle...
4. Revisiting 2025's Top 10 outgoing transfers 2026 performance
   1. Featuring: QB Anthony Colandrea (UNLV-Nebraska), DE Trey White (SDSU-Texas Tech), WR Danny Scudero (SJSU-Colorado), SAF Ty Benefield (Boise St-LSU), WR Jackson Harris (Hawaii-LSU), WR Braden Pegan (USU-Utah), & TE Dorian Thomas (UNM-Cal)
5. MW/PAC-12 Games of the Week
   1. North Dakota State (5-0) @ UNLV (3-2)
   2. #23 Boise State (4-1) @ Fresno State (4-1)

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! Enjoy what is definitely going to be an awesome weekend of college football, hopefully no one loses their job at halftime! If you missed my interview on Bison 1660 last week, North Dakota State’s flagship radio station, you can find that here! Make sure to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! A wild week of football left some schools heading towards new heights and others spiraling towards the bottom. We’ll kick the show off with an investigation on what’s going wrong with San Diego State, who looks unrecognizable after their third straight loss, as well as Hawaii, who dropped another dud as they were beaten handily by Wyoming. Then, we’ll dive into the three teams from the Mountain West and PAC-12 that have separated themselves and have a semi-realistic shot of making the College Football playoff, complete with their resumes to this point, toughest remaining games, and the odds of them making the field of 12. Of course, we’ll end the show with our two games of the week, but before that, I was lucky enough to be brought back onto North Dakota State’s flagship radio station, Bison 1660, so I’ll let you all hear some of the conversation we had about the rest of the Mountain West and the Bison’s historic start to 2026. Super fun episode this week, let’s dive in!

Show Notes:

1. San Diego State drops third straight game, how did this happen and can the Aztecs season be saved?
2. Wyoming thumps Hawaii to take the Paniolo Trophy back. What's going wrong with this Rainbow Warriors' offense?
3. Revealing the MW/PAC-12's three TRUE CFP contenders, complete w/ their resume, toughest remaining games, and odds of making the Playoff
4. Bison 1660 Interview! Talking Mountain West storylines and what makes North Dakota State so dangerous
5. MW/PAC-12 Games of the Week
   1. "Craig Bohl Bowl": Wyoming (2-2) @ North Dakota State (4-0)
   2. Oregon State (2-2) @ Colorado State (2-2)

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! If you want to listen to my full interview on Bison 1660, you can find the link here! Make sure to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news at MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, enjoy another week of impossible to predict football! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! The college football season is in full swing, and we have plenty of big time matchups to analyze. New Mexico fought hard, but ultimately lost a rock fight to Oklahoma, Texas State’s offense finally came to life for their first win against North Texas, and Fresno State outclassed San Jose State in the Battle for the Valley. We’ll go over all of the details you need to know from week 3, and we’ll follow that up with every Mountain West and PAC-12 team’s most impressive and disappointing player to start the 2026 season. To end the show, we’ll of course give you in-depth previews and predictions for both of our games of the week, featuring two Mountain West teams that are at a real tipping point in their journey, and a PAC-12 favorite taking on a squad with the exact same mascot. This is going to be a fun episode, let’s dive in!

Show Notes:

1. Week 3 Recaps + Analysis
   1. New Mexico loses rock fight to #24 Oklahoma, 14-6
   2. Texas State's offense comes alive for 49-35 win over North Texas
   3. Fresno State outclasses San Jose State to hold onto the Battle for the Valley trophy
2. Every MW/PAC-12 team's most impressive & disappointing player so far
3. MW/PAC-12 Game of the Week Preview + Prediction
   1. Hawaii (1-2) @ Wyoming (1-2)
   2. Boise State (2-1) @ Western Michigan (2-1)

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! We’re a quarter of the way through the regular season, I know it seems crazy but this year will be over before you know it so make sure to savor all of the epic moments we get to see in 2026! Make sure to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news at MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, also look out for another radio appearance from myself on Bison 1660 coming soon! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! Week two was a ton of fun to watch, with conference heavyweights Boise State and North Dakota State picking up massive wins, while other squads, cough cough UNLV, weren’t as lucky. We’ll kick the show off by diving into the three most interesting games from this past weekend, complete with analysis and answers to the questions those games left you with. Then, we’ll dive into a stock report for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12, with some teams already way above or below their preseason expectations. Finally, we’ll end the show with our game of the week from both conferences, with important storylines and players to watch, along with my predictions. Alright, lots to get through this episode, let’s dive in!

Show Notes:

1. UNLV drops the ball against North Texas. What's going wrong in Vegas?
2. North Dakota State bests Air Force for 1st Mountain West win. Are the Bison now the MW favorites?
3. Boise State outclasses Memphis to take top spot in G6 Power Rankings
4. Stock Up/Down Report for ALL Mountain West/PAC-12 schools
5. Mountain West + PAC-12 Games of the Week w/ previews & predictions

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! With Rutgers football in complete disaster mode, the Mountain West and PAC-12 now have my undivided attention! Make sure to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news at MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, come back every Tuesday to talk about whatever college football craziness is up next! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! I hope everyone enjoyed their first full weekend of college football, I’m certainly excited because we have a lot of storylines to discuss. We’re going over everything from Colorado State reclaiming the Bronze Boot against Wyoming, to Boise State nearly upsetting #2 Oregon, as well as several other results that we have to talk about, like what’s going on with Hawaii and Micah Alejado? After breaking down week one’s most intriguing contests and discoveries from them, we’ll get you ready for week 2, with a preview of our Mountain West and PAC-12 games of the week. Strap in for a fun episode, let’s dive in!

Show Notes:

1. Colorado State dominates the Border War, reclaims Bronze Boot from Wyoming, 35-13
   1. Hauss Hejny, Jim Mora have injected new life into the Rams football program
   2. Is it already time to hit the panic button on Wyoming & Tyler Hughes?
2. Boise State goes toe-to-toe w/ #2 Oregon, falls 34-27, stakes claim as top suitor for the G6 CFP spot
3. UNLV shuts down Hawaii's offense, cruises to uncontested 21-6 win
   1. Is the Rebels' defense legit?
   2. What's going wrong for Micah Alejado & the Run N' Shoot offense?
4. San Jose State grabs first win of 2026 against Eastern Michigan, 27-21
5. Nevada finally puts it all together, blow out Western Kentucky 49-13 for biggest season opening win since 2018
6. Utah State loses to FCS Idaho State, 29-17. What went wrong, and how scared should Aggies fans now be for 2026?
7. Mountain West Game of the Week: FCS Defending National Champion Montana State @ Nevada
8. PAC-12 Game of the Week: Battle for top spot in G6 CFP race, Memphis @ Boise State

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! I’m so excited to see how the 2026 college football season unfolds, and I’ll be here every Tuesday so we can talk about the latest! Make sure to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news at MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, Western Michigan should’ve won! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! The 2026 college football season is officially underway, with the big story being North Dakota State steamrolling their way to their first win as an FBS program, as well as disappointing losses from Hawaii & UNLV. We’ll break down all four week 0 games from the Mountain West, & then we’ll dive straight into your week 1 preview, where I’ll let you know the most important storyline to watch for all 13 PAC-12 & Mountain West teams that are playing in their season opener. Lots of games to get through this week, let’s dive in!

Show Notes:

1. Week 0 Recap
   1. North Dakota State steamroll Jacksonville State for 1st win as an FBS program
   2. UNLV loses steam in second half, falls to Memphis
   3. Hawaii's late comeback against Stanford thwarted by slow start, controversial finish
   4. New San Jose State QB Luke Weaver shines in debut @ USC
2. Top storyline for all 13 Mountain West/PAC-12 teams' season opener:
   1. Fresno State: New QB Jayden Mandal
   1. Boise State: Can the Broncos hang with top-tier Oregon?
   1. Border War showdown between Wyoming & Colorado State: Which transfer QB will seize the day?
   1. New Mexico: Jack Layne update, state of the QB room

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! Find all 21 of our full length interviews from Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegas here, as well as our Media Days episodes spotlighting the attending players, every head coach, & MW Commissioner Gloria Nevarez & college sports business expert KC Smurthwaite! Make sure to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West & PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news at MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, hopefully, your favorite team gets off on the right track this weekend! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, & thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! Start popping bottles, because we’ve officially made it through the offseason! College football kicks off for four Mountain West teams this Saturday, so we have full previews ready for all of those! From North Dakota State’s first ever home game in the FBS, to big opportunities for Hawaii and UNLV, I cannot wait to see what these teams are made of. Without further ado, let’s dive in!

Show Notes:

1. San Jose State @ #14 USC
2. Jacksonville State @ North Dakota State
3. Hawaii @ Stanford
4. Memphis @ UNLV

Each game features an in-depth preview of both teams, players to watch, and a predicted final score.

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! The end of the offseason is finally upon us, let’s enjoy what will certainly be a one-of-a-kind year of college sports! Find all 21 of our full length interviews from Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegas here, as well as our Media Days episodes spotlighting the attending players, every head coach, and MW Commissioner Gloria Nevarez and college sports business expert KC Smurthwaite! Make sure to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news at MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, we’ve finally reached the start of the football season, congrats everyone! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Hi everyone, welcome back to the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! I’m dealing with some technical difficulties this week, so unfortunately, the episode I recorded on the Mountain West and PAC-12’s settled litigation won’t be ready this week. Apologies for that, I’m away from home right now and I’m working with what I got. I’m not leaving you empty handed though, for this week, please enjoy my first ever radio interview with North Dakota State’s flagship station, Bison 1660, from Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegas! Hosted by Sam Neidermann and Andy Rieckhoff, who are announcers for the team, we talked about some of the top storylines across the conference, X-Factors to watch for North Dakota State and the Mountain West, and my first ever championship game prediction! I had a great time chatting with them, so please enjoy my first on-air interview!

Show Notes:

1. Evolution of the Mountain West to reach 2026
2. Mountain West's identity/successful play styles
3. North Dakota State QB Nathan Hayes: Biggest wild card in the MW?
4. Under-the-radar players to watch out for across the conference
5. What is the winning formula in the Mountain West?
6. Championship game predicted matchup and winner

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! Apologies again for the technical difficulties pushing back our litigation deep dive, I’ll be back in my normal setup next week! Huge shoutout to Sam and Andy for having me on Bison 1660, I had a blast talking with them at Media Days, and hopefully I can chat with them again soon. Find all 21 of our full length interviews from Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegas here, as well as our Media Days episodes spotlighting the attending players, every head coach, and MW Commissioner Gloria Nevarez and college sports business expert KC Smurthwaite! Make sure to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news at MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, one more week of projecting and then we finally get to watch these teams we’ve talked so much about take the field for the first time together! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! It’s a bit of a different episode this week, as the college sports landscape was just shaken up again with a major change to eligibility rules, colloquially known as the “5 for 5” rule, giving hundreds of 5th years across the country one final year. We’re going to talk about what that means, what Mountain West and PAC-12 players can now play because of it, as well as a whole lot of my thoughts on how this ruling will go on to shape the 2026 season, with some positives and a bunch of negatives. I’ve got a lot to say this week, so let’s dive in!

Note: If you haven’t heard already, the Mountain West and PAC-12 have officially settled their litigation and the divorce is now finally over. We’ll dive into all of the information about that next week, I just wanted to take a little more time to understand the specifics of what we know and don’t know officially.

Show Notes:

1. Breakdown of "5 for 5", what is changing and who it affects
2. Mountain West/PAC-12 teams that have brought back/are exploring possible returns for 5th year players
3. Benefits of this ruling for 2026
4. Issues/fallout from this ruling for 2026

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! I had a lot to get off of my chest there, so I hope my ranting gave you a better understanding of what we’re in for for the future of college sports. Find all 21 of our full length interviews from Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegas here, as well as our Media Days episodes spotlighting the attending players, every head coach, and MW Commissioner Gloria Nevarez and college sports business expert KC Smurthwaite! Make sure to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news at MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, tune in next week for our Mountain West/PAC-12 litigation breakdown! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! For our final episode of our Mountain West Media Days trio, we’re going over two of my favorite interviews I’ve ever gotten the chance to do. First, you’ll hear my exclusive discussion with Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez to discuss the new additions of North Dakota State, Northern Illinois, and UTEP, goals for the conference in 2026, and what the Mountain West’s identity will be heading into the future. After that, you’ll hear my conversation with college sports business guru KC Smurtwaite, as we discuss the three incoming schools and how they match up to the rest of the members, along with plenty of other insider info that KC lets us in on. A ton of access in this one that you won’t get anywhere else, let’s dive in!

Show Notes:

1. Housekeeping
2. Interview w/ Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez on the future of the conference
3. Conversation w/ college sports business expert KC Smurthwaite on how North Dakota State, Northern Illinois, & UTEP compare financially to the rest of the conference, plus much more!

That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! This is the finale of our three part series from Mountain West Media Days. Find all of our full length interviews from the event here, as well as our Media Days episodes spotlighting the attending players and every head coach! Make sure to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news at MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, we’ll be back to regularly scheduled programming next week, and if you’ve been looking at my Twitter the last few days, you can probably figure out what topic I have a lot of things to say about! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain.