# 2002 Mountain West Conference football season

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

## Bowl games

| Bowl | Date | Stadium | City | Result |
| Las Vegas Bowl | December 25, 2002 | Sam Boyd Stadium | Las Vegas | UCLA 27, New Mexico 13 |
| Liberty Bowl | December 31, 2002 | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium | Memphis, Tennessee | TCU 17, Colorado State 3 |
| San Francisco Bowl | December 31, 2002 | SBC Park | San Francisco | Virginia Tech 20, Air Force 13 |
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 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: Colorado State, 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 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. 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.

## Awards

* Coach of the Year: Rocky Long, New Mexico
* Offensive Player of the Year: QB Bradlee Van Pelt, Jr, Colorado State
* Defensive Player of the Year: CB Jamaal Brimmer, So, UNLV
* Freshman of the Year: RB DonTrell Moore, New Mexico

## All Conference Teams

First-team:
Offense :
| Quarterback | Bradlee Van Pelt, Jr, Colorado State |
| Running back | DonTrell Moore, Fr, New Mexico Cecil Sapp, Sr, Colorado State |
| Wide receiver | Kassim Osgood, Sr, San Diego State J. R. Tolver, Sr, San Diego State |
| Tight end | Joel Dreessen, So, Colorado State |
| Offensive Line | Jordan Gross, Sr, Utah Morgan Pears, Sr, Colorado State Adam Goldberg, Sr, Wyoming Dustin Rykert, Sr, BYU Tony Terrell, Sr, UNLV |
| Kicker | Joey Ashcroft, Jr, Air Force |
| Kick returner | Dexter Wynn, Jr, Colorado State |
Defense :
| Defensive line | Peter Hogan, Sr, Colorado State Jason Kaufusi, Jr, Utah Brady Poppinga, So, BYU Garrett Smith, Sr, Utah |
| Linebacker | Kirk Morrison, So, San Diego State Charles Moss, Sr, New Mexico Anthony Schlegel, So, Air Force |
| Defensive back | Jamaal Brimmer, So, UNLV Wes Crawley, Sr, Air Force Brandon Ratcliff, Sr, New Mexico Antwoine Sanders, Jr, Utah |
| Punter | Matt Payne, So, BYU |
Second-team:
Offense :
| Quarterback | Chance Harridge, Jr, Air Force |
| Running back | Joe Haro, Sr, UNLV Brandon Warfield, Jr, Utah |
| Wide receiver | Reno Mahe, Sr, BYU Earvin Johnson, So, UNLV |
| Tight end | Spencer Nead, Sr, BYU |
| Offensive Line | Jesse Underbakke, Jr, Air Force Mark Dreyer, Jr, Colorado State Jason Lenzmeier, Jr, New Mexico Claude Terrell, So, New Mexico Johnathan Ingram, Sr, San Diego State |
| Kicker | Jeff Babcock, So, Colorado State |
| Kick returner | Dwight Counter, Jr, New Mexico |
Defense :
| Defensive line | Daniel Kegler, Jr, New Mexico D. J. Renteria, Jr, New Mexico Amon Arnold, Sr, San Diego Lauvale Sape, Sr, Utah |
| Linebacker | Eric Pauly, Jr, Colorado State Adam Seward, So, UNLV Sheldon Deckart, Sr, Utah |
| Defensive back | Rhett Nelson, Sr, Colorado State Dexter Wynn, Jr, Colorado State Jeff Shoate, Jr, San Diego State Dave Revill, Jr, Utah |
| Punter | Joey Huber, Sr, Colorado State |