Mountain West Conference

The lawsuit, filed in a Colorado court, says the Mountain West and commissioner Gloria Nevarez disregarded the league’s bylaws to punish the five schools leaving for the Pac-12 “in a desperate attempt to prevent further membership departures.”

Bronco Mendenhall has agreed to a six-year deal to become the football coach at Utah State. The 58-year-old Mendenhall comes to Aggies from New Mexico, where he guided the Lobos to a 5-7 mark in his first and only season at the school.

The Spartans were beaten by Colorado State in the Mountain West tournament final. San Jose State’s season was marked by forfeits, limited protests and the topic of gender identity becoming a political issue in an election year.

Boise State pulled out of the conference tournament Wednesday night after securing a spot in Friday's semifinals against the Spartans earlier that day. The Broncos didn’t announce explicitly say why they withdrew.

Boise State advanced to the semifinals of the Mountain West women's volleyball tournament by beating Utah State on Wednesday night. But the Broncos announced later they would not play Friday against San Jose State.

Five schools forfeited regular season atches against San Jose State, which carried a No. 2 seed into the conference tournament. Among those schools: No. 3 Utah State and No. 6 Boise State, who will face off Wednesday with the winner scheduled to play the Spartans in the semifinals on Friday.

Monday’s ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews in Denver comes after a lawsuit was filed by nine current players who are suing the Mountain West Conference challenging the league’s policies for allowing transgender players to participate. The players argued that letting her compete was a safety risk and unfair.

After a first-round bye, San Jose is scheduled to play in Friday’s semifinals against the winner of Wednesday’s quarterfinal match between No. 3 seed Utah State and No. 6 Boise State. Both schools forfeited to the Spartans during the regular season.

So far this season, Southern Utah, Boise State, Wyoming, Utah State and Nevada have canceled games against the Spartans, with Nevada's players stating they “refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes,” without providing further details.

Four teams have canceled games against San Jose State: Boise State, Southern Utah, Utah State and Wyoming. None of the schools explicitly said why.

Gonzaga become the eighth member along with holdovers Washington State and Oregon State, and fellow newcomers Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State, Utah State and Colorado State. Adding Gonzaga still leaves the Pac-12 in need of another football-playing member for CFP purposes.

After the departure of Utah State, the 7 remaining Mountain West schools have agreed to stay in the league amid overtures by the Pac-12 and other conferences to lure away more of its teams.