1 Mountain West football game is already canceled by COVID-19 before the league’s season even begins

Colorado State tight end Trey McBride (85) sprints to the end zone past the New Mexico defense to score a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game on Friday, Oct. 11, 2019, in Albuquerque, N.M. | Andres Leighton, Associated Press

The Mountain West Conference is set to kick off its delayed 2020 season this weekend. Before play, though, one league game is already canceled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The conference announced Tuesday that New Mexico won’t be able play in its game at Colorado State this Saturday “due to the prevalence of COVID-19 in Bernalillo County and in accordance with state guidelines.” The University of New Mexico is located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the county seat of Bernalillo County.

Due to the prevalence of COVID-19 in Bernalillo County and in accordance with state guidelines, @UNMLoboFB is unable to participate in the game on Oct. 24 at @CSUFootball.

The MW is canceling the game and declaring it a no contest. There is no plan to reschedule the game. pic.twitter.com/NbWHIiKAQB

— Mountain West (@MountainWest) October 20, 2020

The game will be declared a no-contest, the MWC said, and is not planned to be rescheduled.

Prior to the cancellation, all 12 MWC teams were scheduled to play Saturday in the season opener for everyone except Air Force, which played Navy three weeks ago as part of its annual competition among the service academies for the Commander in Chief’s trophy.

Saturday’s MWC schedule now looks like this:

• Utah State at Boise State, 5 p.m. MT
• Wyoming at Nevada, 5 p.m.
• Hawaii at Fresno State, 5:30 p.m.
• UNLV at San Diego State, 8:30 p.m.
• Air Force at San Jose State, 8:30 p.m.

The Mountain West announced its revised eight-game schedule for this fall on Oct. 1, after the league reversed its initial decision to postpone the 2020 season amid the pandemic.

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