The Mountain West has existed in several different forms since its foundation in 1999, all backed by the same basic idea. It started out as a splinter from the old WAC, with all eight inaugural members – Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV, Utah and Wyoming – deciding to form their own league in the wake of the 1996 realignment cycle, which had welcomed Rice, San Jose State, SMU, TCU, Tulsa and UNLV. The departing schools wanted little to do with some of those newco…