May 26, 1998 -- The presidents at BYU, Utah, Air Force, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, Wyoming and UNLV announce their intention to withdraw from the Western Athletic Conference and create their own league in 1999.
Aug. 25, 1998 -- Presidents of the breakaway schools formally resign from the WAC's Board of Directors, allowing the departing institutions to conduct business as a new conference.Oct. 15, 1998 -- The still-unnamed conference selects Craig Thompson as commissioner. Thompson had previously served for eight years as commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference.
Oct. 26, 1998 -- After months of test-marketing and researching, Mountain West Conference is chosen as the name of the new league. Other candidates considered were American West and Great West.
Dec. 5, 1998 -- The Mountain West chooses Colorado Springs, Colo., as the site of conference headquarters.
Jan. 14, 1999 -- The MWC's automatic bid to the NCAA basketball tournament for 2000 is temporarily denied after originally being accepted by the NCAA Management Council. NCAA policies state a new conference must wait five years before earning a guaranteed berth, but the league argued that seven of its eight members have been together for nearly 20 years and requested an exemption to this rule, as did the Big 12.
Feb. 2, 1999 -- The Mountain West officially announces its seven-year television deal with ESPN and ABC, worth $48 million.
May 21, 1999 -- The MWC announces it will commit to send its football champion to face the Conference USA champ in the Liberty Bowl through 2001.
July 1, 1999 -- The official start-up date for the Mountain West Conference.
Sept. 16, 1999 -- BYU and Colorado State will play the first MWC football game in a Thursday-night contest to be televised by ESPN.