The 2002 Mountain West Conference football season was the fourth since eight former members of the Western Athletic Conference banded together to form the Mountain West Conference.

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

won the conference championship in 2002, the Rams' third title since the league began in 1999.

Bowl games

In 2002, the Mountain West Conference had four contractual tie-ins with bowl games. In order, the Liberty Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl,

San Francisco Bowl The San Francisco Bowl was an annual postseason college football bowl game certified by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA and played in the San Francisco Bay Area. Originally named the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl during its f ...

and Seattle Bowl had the first through fourth selections of bowl eligible MW teams. However, following the conclusion of the 2002 college football season, only three MW teams had good enough records (six wins or more) to make them eligible for bowl games:

, New Mexico, and Air Force. The Liberty Bowl, with the first selection of eligible MW teams, picked the MW champion Colorado State Rams to represent the conference in its 2002 game. The Rams played the TCU Horned Frogs of

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

and lost, 17–3. With the second pick, the Las Vegas Bowl selected the New Mexico Lobos. Though New Mexico lost to favored UCLA, 27–13, the Lobos featured the first female player to play in a Division I football game,

Katie Hnida Katharine Anne Hnida (; born May 17, 1981) is a former American football player who became the first woman to score in an NCAA Division I-A game, college football's highest level. She accomplished this as placekicker for the University of New ...

. The third bowl with an MW tie-in, the San Francisco Bowl, was thus forced to select the Air Force Academy Falcons, who were the sole remaining bowl-eligible MW team. Facing the Falcons were the Virginia Tech Hokies, who earned a 20–13 victory over the Falcons.The Associated Press
"Suggs makes the most of his final VT game"
ESPN.com. December 31, 2002. Accessed September 26, 2008.

Awards

*Coach of the Year: Rocky Long, New Mexico *Offensive Player of the Year: QB

Bradlee Van Pelt Bradlee Van Pelt (born July 3, 1980) is a former American football quarterback and safety. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL Draft, and was also a member of the Houston Texans, Bergamo Lions in Italy and Le ...

, Jr, Colorado State *Defensive Player of the Year: CB Jamaal Brimmer, So, UNLV *Freshman of the Year: RB

DonTrell Moore DonTrell Jamar Moore (born September 25, 1982) is a former American football running back who last played for the New Mexico Stars of the Indoor Football League (IFL). An undrafted free agent in the 2006 NFL Draft, Moore eventually signed with th ...

, New Mexico

All Conference Team

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2002 Mountain West Conference Football Season