Western Athletic Conference

Championship games (1996–1998)
The Western Athletic Conference staged a conference title football game during the three years (1996-98) the league consisted of sixteen members. During this time, the league was split into two divisions, Pacific and Mountain, with eight teams in each division. The top finisher in each division played for the championship, which was held at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. When conference membership was cut in half in 1999 with the formation of the Mountain West Conference, the title game was discontinued and the league did away with the two-division format. The rankings next to a given team's name represent the last AP poll prior to the game being played. ABC Sports televised all three games.

Division alignments (1996–1998)
Pacific Division Mountain Division
 * BYU
 * Fresno State
 * Hawaii
 * New Mexico
 * San Diego State
 * San Jose State
 * Utah
 * UTEP
 * Air Force
 * Colorado State
 * Rice
 * SMU
 * TCU
 * Tulsa
 * UNLV
 * Wyoming