Hike's Peak: The Weekly Mountain West Podcast

por Mountain West Connection

Portal madness continues! 16 new CBB transfers, big-time CFB news, & all NFL Draft picks/UDFAs from the Mountain West!

Welcome to episode 49.5 (episode 50 needs one more week to be perfect)! We have a mountain of portal news to cover, with new landing spots for stars like Lamont Butler and Rytis Petraitis, to the John Tonje chronicles! We also hit you with the most important updates from the CFB spring transfer window, and we end the show by going over both of the players from the Mountain West that got drafted into the NFL, along with all of the players who have been signed as undrafted free agents! Enjoy, and make sure to tune in for an awesome episode 50!

E495

30 abr 2024

10:01

1st Live Radio Interview w/ North Dakota State's Bison 1660! NDSU predictions & X-Factors, Mountain West storylines, & more!

Hi everyone, welcome back to the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! I’m dealing with some technical difficulties this week, so unfortunately, the episode I recorded on the Mountain West and PAC-12’s settled litigation won’t be ready this week. Apologies for that, I’m away from home right now and I’m working with what I got. I’m not leaving you empty handed though, for this week, please enjoy my first ever radio interview with North Dakota State’s flagship station, Bison 1660, from Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegas! Hosted by Sam Neidermann and Andy Rieckhoff, who are announcers for the team, we talked about some of the top storylines across the conference, X-Factors to watch for North Dakota State and the Mountain West, and my first ever championship game prediction! I had a great time chatting with them, so please enjoy my first on-air interview! Show Notes: Evolution of the Mountain West to reach 2026 Mountain West's identity/successful play styles North Dakota State QB Nathan Hayes: Biggest wild card in the MW? Under-the-radar players to watch out for across the conference What is the winning formula in the Mountain West? Championship game predicted matchup and winner That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! Apologies again for the technical difficulties pushing back our litigation deep dive, I’ll be back in my normal setup next week! Huge shoutout to Sam and Andy for having me on Bison 1660, I had a blast talking with them at Media Days, and hopefully I can chat with them again soon. Find all 21 of our full length interviews from Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegas here, as well as our Media Days episodes spotlighting the attending players, every head coach, and MW Commissioner Gloria Nevarez and college sports business expert KC Smurthwaite! Make sure to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news at MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, one more week of projecting and then we finally get to watch these teams we’ve talked so much about take the field for the first time together! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

E166

18 ago 2026

15:46

"5 for 5" eligibility ruling throws college sports into chaos! What does it mean? What Mountain West/PAC-12 teams benefit? Insider analysis, takeaways, & how the ruling HURTS college sports in 2026

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! It’s a bit of a different episode this week, as the college sports landscape was just shaken up again with a major change to eligibility rules, colloquially known as the “5 for 5” rule, giving hundreds of 5th years across the country one final year. We’re going to talk about what that means, what Mountain West and PAC-12 players can now play because of it, as well as a whole lot of my thoughts on how this ruling will go on to shape the 2026 season, with some positives and a bunch of negatives. I’ve got a lot to say this week, so let’s dive in! Note: If you haven’t heard already, the Mountain West and PAC-12 have officially settled their litigation and the divorce is now finally over. We’ll dive into all of the information about that next week, I just wanted to take a little more time to understand the specifics of what we know and don’t know officially. Show Notes: Breakdown of "5 for 5", what is changing and who it affects Mountain West/PAC-12 teams that have brought back/are exploring possible returns for 5th year players Benefits of this ruling for 2026 Issues/fallout from this ruling for 2026 That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! I had a lot to get off of my chest there, so I hope my ranting gave you a better understanding of what we’re in for for the future of college sports. Find all 21 of our full length interviews from Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegas here, as well as our Media Days episodes spotlighting the attending players, every head coach, and MW Commissioner Gloria Nevarez and college sports business expert KC Smurthwaite! Make sure to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news at MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, tune in next week for our Mountain West/PAC-12 litigation breakdown! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

E165

11 ago 2026

17:50

Mountain West Media Days Finale! Exclusive interview w/ MW Commissioner Gloria Nevarez! Insider conversation w/ college sports business expert KC Smurthwaite!

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! For our final episode of our Mountain West Media Days trio, we’re going over two of my favorite interviews I’ve ever gotten the chance to do. First, you’ll hear my exclusive discussion with Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez to discuss the new additions of North Dakota State, Northern Illinois, and UTEP, goals for the conference in 2026, and what the Mountain West’s identity will be heading into the future. After that, you’ll hear my conversation with college sports business guru KC Smurtwaite, as we discuss the three incoming schools and how they match up to the rest of the members, along with plenty of other insider info that KC lets us in on. A ton of access in this one that you won’t get anywhere else, let’s dive in! Show Notes: Housekeeping Interview w/ Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez on the future of the conference Conversation w/ college sports business expert KC Smurthwaite on how North Dakota State, Northern Illinois, & UTEP compare financially to the rest of the conference, plus much more! That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! This is the finale of our three part series from Mountain West Media Days. Find all of our full length interviews from the event here, as well as our Media Days episodes spotlighting the attending players and every head coach! Make sure to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app, which provides starting lineup projections for every team in the Mountain West and PAC-12! If you like the show & enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news at MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you so much for listening, we’ll be back to regularly scheduled programming next week, and if you’ve been looking at my Twitter the last few days, you can probably figure out what topic I have a lot of things to say about! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain.

E164

4 ago 2026

34:06

Mountain West Media Days Head Coaches Interview Special! Best quote from all 10 team's shot callers! Insider intel on every roster for 2026!

Welcome back everyone to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! After spotlighting the players from Mountain West Media Days that we were able to interview, we’ll switch gears this week and go over the best quote I got from all 10 head coaches at the event! Super exciting episode this week, let’s dive in! Housekeeping: Last week's MW Media Days Player Special is here. Every interview that we got from Mountain West Media Days is live right now on my YouTube channel, JackTalksCFB! Check out the latest episode of Mountain West Connection’s new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, where Derek and I break down a lot of fun PAC 12 storylines! Next week: MW Commisioner Gloria Nevarez, KC Smurthwaite Show Notes: All 10 head coach's best quote (Topic of quote) Air Force || Troy Calhoun, 20th year: What are the odds of a service academy winning a national championship in today's landscape? Hawaii || Timmy Chang, 5th year: The impact and coaching style of Defensive Coordinator Dennis Thurman. Nevada || Jeff Choate, 3rd year: How the offseason retentions defied the odds, and why seemingly P4-bound players stayed in Reno. New Mexico || Jason Eck, 2nd year: Differences between portal recruiting from year one to year two, plus top transfers to watch. North Dakota State || Tim Polasek, 3rd year: How the Bison have had better retention than most G6 programs, and the downside of the money flooding college sports. Northern Illinois || Rob Harley, interim: How the Huskies landed Taron Dickens, and state of the QB battle. San Jose State || Ken Niumatalolo, 3rd year: How SJSU became Wide Receiver U, and Spartan wideouts to watch out for. UNLV || Dan Mullen, 2nd year: The legacy of Jai'Den "Jet" Thomas. Is he on the Rebels football "Mount Rushmore"? UTEP || Scotty Walden, 3rd year: How the Miners fended off P4 suitors to hold onto starters, and how their move to the Mountain West will continue to elevate their program. Wyoming || Jay Sawvel, 3rd year: The story of Tyler Hughes' portal recruitment, and how he's led the offense since arriving in Laramie. Playlist for all MW Media Days interviews FREE depth chart tracker app! MWCConnection Twitter The Pac-Mountain Pulse

E163

29 jul 2026

45:23

Mountain West Media Days Players Interview Special! All 10 team's best quote! Insider intel on teams, players, & storylines for 2026!

Welcome back everyone, to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! We are back from Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegas, where we were able to interview over 30 players & every head coach. We’re going to dive into what I learned from the players during my conversations with them, highlighted by each team’s best quote. From position battles, to team attitudes & expectations, I certainly left the event with a better handle on all 10 teams entering the 2026 season, & now I’ll pass that insider info onto you! Some quick housekeeping before we get into things. First up, as of this upload, all of the interviews with 30+ players are now available in their entirety on my YouTube channel. You can find the link to those in the show notes below, & my interviews with all 10 head coaches will be released next week, along with a similar style episode to this one. The following week, our final Mountain West Media Days episode will drop, featuring conversations with MW commissioner Gloria Nevarez & college sports business expert KC Smurthwaite. Second, if you haven’t already heard, Mountain West Connection has launched a second podcast! It’s called The PAC-Mountain Pulse, hosted by Derek Raridon & Dominic Gutierrez! It’s a much more conversational show, diving into a few key topics each week, & is a perfect addition to your weekly sports diet! The Pulse drops every Thursday, & I’ll actually be on the next episode, so definitely make sure to check the site’s newest show out, you won’t want to miss it! Alright, that’s all I got for now, let’s dive into some stories from Vegas! Show Notes: Rundown of MW Media Days Content Plan All 10 team's best quote (players w/ interview clips in this episode) Air Force: SR MLB Blake Fletcher Hawaii: SR CB Elijah Palmer Nevada: SR OT Jack Foster New Mexico: SR QB Jack Layne North Dakota State: SR SAF Darius Givance Northern Illinois: JR DE Jay'shon Thomas San Jose State: SR C Joseph Harbert UNLV: SR CB Mumu Bin-Wahad UTEP: SR SAF Kode Lowe Wyoming: SR OT Rex Johnsen That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you for listening! This is week one of our three part series from Mountain West Media Days. Find all of our full length interviews from the event here. Make sure to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app! Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection & find all of your Mountain West news at MWCConnection.com. Also make sure to check out our site’s brand new podcast, “The Pac-Mountain Pulse”, with Derek & Dom’s conversations airing on Thursdays! Thank you again for coming back to the mountain!

E162

22 jul 2026

37:01

Every PAC-12 Teams' Projected Win Totals & Most Important Player! Scouting reports, analysis, and key players to watch in 2026! Plus MW Media Days Announcement!

Welcome back everyone, to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! As promised, we’re going to spend this week analyzing each PAC-12 team’s projected win totals, along with their most important player for 2026. I’ll let you know what I’m thinking about all eight team’s prospects in the win column, good or bad, which will help explain why a specific player is going to be your favorite team’s X-factor this season. Complete with scouting, depth chart projections, scenarios, and my personal expectations for each pick, this episode should introduce you to the main characters of the upcoming PAC-12 campaign. Lots of scouting reports to get through, let’s dive in! Real quick before we get going, first off, I’m very happy to announce that I will be attending Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegas on July 15th and 16th at the Palms Casino, providing you with interviews with all 10 head coaches and every attending player! Can’t wait to bring you guys some fantastic, exclusive content for you all, but in order to prepare, we will be taking next Tuesday off. As long as everything goes according to plan, the following Tuesday, you’ll receive the interviews with all of the players, and we’ll talk to every head coach the week after. Second thing, check out the always-free Mountain West PAC-12 Depth Chart Tracker which should have complete stats for every player in the Mountain West in time for Media Days! The PAC-12 stats are on the way, I promise, but since they didn’t want to have an official media day for their conference, I feel okay making them wait an extra week. Alright, enough shop talk, let’s get on with it! Show Notes: MW Media Days Announcement & MW/PAC Depth Chart Tracker App update Each PAC-12 teams' O/U win total & Most Important Player w/ analysis Most Important Player breakdown (by position): Quarterback, Running Back, Safety: 2 Wide Receiver, Cornerback: 1 That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! This completes our preview of each Mountain West and PAC-12 team’s projected win totals and most important player, if you missed the Mountain West version just click here to catch up on that. Make sure to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app! If you like the show and enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection and find all of your Mountain West news at MWCConnection.com. Thank you again for listening, I will see you all when I get back from Las Vegas on July 21st with suitcases full of football intel! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

E161

7 jul 2026

21:20

Projected O/U Win Totals & Most Important Player for each Mountain West Team! Scouting reports, analysis, & key players to watch in 2026!

Welcome back everyone, to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! With the offseason starting to reach its twilight, let’s look forward to the 2026 season and what to expect from your Mountain West teams. This week, we’re going to dive into each school’s projected over/under for total wins provided by DraftKings, complete with my thoughts on how their season’s may go. We’ll also go over each squad’s most important player entering the year, with a full analysis of their strengths, weaknesses, and the situation around them that’s left all this responsibility on their shoulders. A great episode to get you ready for football season, let’s dive right in! Two things before we get going. First, this week’s episode will be going over the 10 Mountain West teams, and next week we’ll go over the projected win totals and most important player for all 8 PAC-12 teams. Second thing, the Mountain West PAC-12 Depth Chart Tracker app is still going strong and getting better everyday! We fixed a few bugs, added some images to spruce things up, and are about 90% done with adding heights, weights, hometowns, and high school rankings for every player in the PAC-12. That should be done in the next few days, and then we’ll start adding all of the stats into the database. Also I do want to make it clear that this tool is completely free to use, there’s no paid option or anything, there’s only the free version and that’s the best available resource out there for west coast football fans. So, if you haven’t checked it out yet or haven’t looked in a few weeks, take a look at the link in the show notes below, I really think you’ll learn something new about your favorite team. Show Notes: MW/PAC Depth Chart Tracker App update Each Mountain West teams' O/U win total & Most Important Player w/ analysis Most Important Player breakdown (by position): Running Back, Linebacker: 3 Quarterback: 2 Edge Rusher, Wide Receiver: 1 That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! I sincerely hope you take some time to explore the FREE depth chart tracker app! This project has been a massive undertaking, but I truly believe this is the best fan resource out there if you care about Mountain West or PAC-12 football, so check out the link in the show notes below! If you like the show and enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection and find all of your Mountain West news at MWCConnection.com. Of course, the CBK transfer portal tracker is still live on the website now. It’s complete with bios, stats, and previous stops for every player on the list! Thank you again for listening, until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

E160

30 jun 2026

20:36

Top 3 Incoming MW/PAC Transfers At EVERY Position! Learn the top names to watch for the 2026 CFB season! 21 players highlighted!

Welcome back everyone, to the Hike’s Peak Podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! For this week, I’m giving you the rundown on the best and brightest transfers entering the Mountain West and PAC-12 for the 2026 season. We’ll go through each position and highlight the top three newcomers at each spot, complete with their stories leading up to this point and how I think they’ll fare at their new homes. This list has it all, from former five stars, to journeymen joining their fourth school or embarking on their seventh year, there’s a good mix of high-profile names and under-the-radar additions. This should be fun, let’s dive right in! Real quick, here is your Mountain West PAC-12 Depth Chart Tracker App update, of course the link will be in the show notes below. As of now, every single player in the Mountain West has their height, weight, hometown, and high school ranking listed, along with a few depth chart adjustments. Every PAC-12 player should have theirs added over the next few days, and then it’s on to the stats phase! Transfers Highlighted by Team: Boise State - JR RB Juelz Goff (Pitt) - JR CB JeRico Washington Jr (Kennesaw State) Colorado State - SO QB Hauss Hejny (Oklahoma State) - JR RB Durell Robinson (Auburn) - SR OT Quinton Harris (TCU) - JR LB Oumar Diomande (UConn) Fresno State - JR DE Dylan Hampsten (Sacramento State) (FCS) Nevada - JR RG Ethan Newman (Memphis) New Mexico - GR WR Troy Omeire (UNLV) Oregon State - SR LB Dylan Layne (Idaho) (FCS) San Diego State - SR S Jalen Thomeson (Ohio) San Jose State - SR QB Luke Weaver (Hawaii) - JR DT Jayland McGlothen (Sacramento State) (FCS) UNLV - SR QB Jackson Arnold (Oklahoma) - JR OG BJ Tolo (New Mexico State) - SR LB Cam Santee (Holy Cross) (FCS) Utah State - SR WR Javon Robinson (Georgia State) UTEP - JR WR Carver Cheeks (Northern Colorado) (FCS) Wyoming - SR RB Markell Holman (Western Illinois) (FCS) - GR DE Thaddeus Gianaris (Dartmouth) (FCS) Washington State - JR S Jeremiah Bernard (Cal Poly) (FCS) That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! I sincerely hope you take some time to explore the depth chart tracker app! This project has been a massive undertaking, but I truly believe this is the best fan resource out there if you care about Mountain West or PAC-12 football, so check out the link in the show notes below! If you like the show and enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection and find all of your Mountain West news at MWCConnection.com. Of course, the CBK transfer portal tracker is still live on the website now. It’s complete with bios, stats, and previous stops for every player on the list! Thank you again for listening, until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

E159

23 jun 2026

21:30

Summer Report Cards for all 12 Mountain West Teams! Grades, storylines, & stars for football/basketball! MW/PAC-12 Depth Chart Tracker UPDATE!

Welcome back everyone, to the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you for coming back to the mountain! With summer just around the corner, it’s time to hand out report cards to all 12 of the 2025 Mountain West teams. We’ll be taking an overhead look at how each school’s football and basketball programs fared this past season, complete with highs and lows, star players, and the biggest storylines that went down or came up during the offseason. No time to waste, let’s dive right in! Mountain West/PAC 12 Depth Chart Tracker App Link! Show Notes: MW/PAC Depth Chart Tracker roadmap update Report Cards (Football, Basketball, Cumulative) for all 12 2025 Mountain West teams! One grade from each teamAir Force: Football - C- Boise State: Basketball - C+ Colorado State: Cumulative - C- Fresno State: Football - B Hawaii: Basketball - A- Nevada: Cumulative - C+ New Mexico: Football - A+ San Diego State: Basketball - B- San Jose State: Cumulative - D UNLV: Football - B+ Utah State: Basketball: A+ Wyoming: Cumulative - C+ That is it for this week’s episode of the Hike’s Peak podcast, thank you so much for listening! I sincerely hope you take some time to explore the depth chart tracker app! This project has been a massive undertaking, but I truly believe this is the best fan resource out there if you care about Mountain West or PAC-12 football, so check out the link in the show notes below! If you like the show and enjoy our coverage, leave a rating on whatever platform you’re listening on, every single one of those helps us out immensely. Follow us on twitter at MWCConnection and find all of your Mountain West news at MWCConnection.com. Of course, the CBK transfer portal tracker is still live on the website now. It’s complete with bios, stats, and previous stops for every player on the list, and is updated whenever news drops, so bookmark that to never miss out on transfer movement! Thank you again for listening, one last time, click the link in the show notes to check out the Mountain West PAC 12 Depth Chart Tracker App! Until next time, I’m Jack Thompson, and thank you for coming back to the mountain!

E158

17 jun 2026

24:45

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