WAC Championship Game
The Western Athletic Conference football championship game was a short-lived annual postseason college football game played to determine the champion of the Western Athletic Conference (MW).
| WAC football championship game | |
|---|---|
| Conference football championship | |
 | |
| Sport | Football |
| Conference | Western Athletic Conference |
| Played | 1996–1998 |
| Last contest | 1998 |
| Most championships | Air Force, BYU, Colorado State (1) |
| TV partner(s) | ESPN on ABC |
| Host stadiums | |
| Sam Boyd Stadium (1996–1998) | |
| Host locations | |
| Whitney, Nevada (1996–1998) | |
History
The Western Athletic Conference staged a conference title football game during the three years (1996–1998) the league consisted of sixteen members. During this time, the league was split into two divisions, Pacific and Mountain, with eight teams in each division. The top finisher in each division played for the championship, which was held at Sam Boyd Stadium in the Las Vegas Valley. When conference membership was cut in half in 1999 with the formation of the Mountain West Conference, both the championship game and two-division format were discontinued. All participants in the three title games were among the defections to Mountain West.[1]
Results
Results by year
Below are the results from all WAC Football Championship Games played. The winning team appears in bold font, on a background of their primary team color. Rankings are from the AP Poll released prior to the game.
| Year | Mountain | Pacific | Site | Attendance | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 6 BYU Cougars | 28 | 20 Wyoming Cowboys | 25OT | Sam Boyd Stadium • Whitney, NV | 41,238 | [2] |
| 1997 | New Mexico Lobos | 13 | 20 Colorado State Rams | 41 | 12,706 | [3] | |
| 1998 | 17 Air Force Falcons | 20 | BYU Cougars | 13 | 32,745 | [4] | |
Results by team
| Rank | Team | Appearances | Record | PCT. | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BYU | 2 | 1–1 | .500 | 41 | 45 |
| 2 | Air Force | 1 | 1–0 | 1.000 | 20 | 13 |
| 2 | Colorado State | 1 | 1–0 | 1.000 | 41 | 13 |
| 4 | New Mexico | 1 | 0–1 | .000 | 13 | 41 |
| 4 | Wyoming | 1 | 0–1 | .000 | 25 | 28 |
References
- Call, Jeff (1998). "The Great Divide: BYU and Seven Others Leave WAC". BYU Magazine. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
- "CougarStats: BYU Football: BYU vs. Wyoming 1996 WAC Championship Game". cougarstats.com.
- "Western Athletic Conf. Championship". Akron Beacon Journal. Akron, Ohio. December 7, 1997. p. C9. Retrieved March 8, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
- "CougarStats: BYU Football: BYU vs. Air Force 1998 WAC Championship Game". cougarstats.com.