Peak Perspective: The MWCConnection 2023 Year in Review

Happy New Year everyone! Thanks for following along with us the past year as we strive to bring you the best coverage of the Mountain West we possibly can. Once again, we take a day to revisit some of our more memorable posts from the previous year. Some of these are on here because they were some of our most viewed posts this year. Some are on here because they were very original or relevant posts at the time. And some were on here just because they were fun or interesting ideas.

Improved MBB coverage.

Matt took over leading our men’s basketball coverage at the start of last season and added weekly columns to the mix, like this one.

MBB Statistics.

The Mountain West had a great year in men’s basketball. In this edition of Stat’s Corner, the statistics explain why so many teams were so good.

Should the Mountain West change their MBB tournament?

This Stat’s Corner proposed a new conference tourney format to help the top teams boost their NCAA tournament resumes as the WCC does.

Four MBB teams go dancing.

For the second year in a row, the Mountain West sent four teams to the NCAA tournament, which was great for teh conference.

Interview with Gloria Nevarez.

Our guy Vic got an exclusive interview with new Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez while she was visiting San Jose State. Read all about it here.

How does making the NCAA tournament benefit the Mountain West financially?

Matt dove into all the money coming the Mountain West’s way after all the March Madness wins. Spoiler: it’s a good chunk of money.

New Mexico stuck in a cycle.

Here, we detail how tough it is to make progress at New Mexico when many good young players end up leaving and offer suggestions to break the cycle.

San Diego State’s historic run.

Jeff was all over the Aztec coverage as they made their way into the NCAA championship game. He even attended the Final Four.

Boise State’s gentle fall.

In one of the more popular stories of the year, this one went all the way back to the Petersen era to talk about when the Broncos began to show some chinks in their armor.

A look at how mid-majors may be able to survive.

Mid-major teams like the ones in the Mountain West have a lot going against them. This post looked at some potential solutions.

Will things be different for the Rebels this time around?

It turns out the answer is a resounding yes.

New summer series.

This offseason, each writer took a turn as the conference commissioner and shared their thoughts on some of the biggest issues the conference faced. It was fun to ponder.

Can Wyoming ever get to the top of the conference with their system?

Not this year. And not any year prior. We explore what the ceiling is for the program under Craig Bohl, which ended up being his last.

Hike’s Peak debuts.

Jack came on board over the summer and we finally had someone to lead us in doing a podcast. He’s brought his weekly thoughts and voice to the Mountain West coverage and it’s been awesome.

Interview with a SID.

Continuing the theme of interviewing different people to learn about various jobs within the college sports world, Mark Wallington was kind enough to answer some questions about being a Sports Information Director.

More Conference Realignment Updates.

And more here. No one likes the topic, and everyone keeps reading.

The start of the 2023 college football season.

There is nothing like college football and the Mountain West is a unique conference as it contains a bit of everything. This post details why.

UNLV upsets Vandy en route to a historic season.

One of the best stories of the year was Barry Odom rebuilding UNLV and riding high into the Mountain West Championship. This thrilling win against Vanderbilt let us know the Rebels were for real.

Life of a Beat Writer.

We interviewed some of the beat writers who cover Mountain West teams to learn more about what the job entails and how they deal with some of the ups and downs of the job.

Interview with Jesse Kurtz.

We spoke with the voice of the Mountain West himself. He talks about his years covering the Mountain West.

Miracle comeback in Fort Collins.

In a wild game, Colorado State came back to win despite being down 20 points with six minutes to play. Boise State fans may want to forget this game ever happened, but this was one of the most exciting games of the season.

Changing of the guard?

In one of our most controversial articles of the year, we examine how the Mountain West traditional top teams have had down years while other teams have improved over the past few years. That being said, Boise State did end up winning the conference.

Improving Rivalry Week.

In the final week of the football season, we detail how the Mountain West schedule falls flat and what they can do to improve it.

PAC2 Partnership.

The Mountain West made a major announcement when they revealed a partnership with the PAC2 teams. Unfortunately, the good vibes were short-lived once the PAC2 announced their partnership with the WCC.