2013 was a long time ago. The Mountain West was dominant that year, sending five teams to the NCAA Tournament. This is a very strong number for a mid major conference, but that was four years ago now. The Mountain West has fallen on hard times, with only one team, Nevada, even close to at large consideration. More likely than not, the winner of this tournament will be the only team to represent the Mountain West in the NCAA Tournament.
Nevada won the conference this year by a game over Colorado State. They are projected to be a 12 seed at present, which is nowhere near safe territory. The Wolfpack will almost certainly need to win the Mountain West tournament to make the NCAA Tournament, especially in this year that is proving to be unfriendly to mid major teams.
All 11 teams will participate in this tournament with the top five teams getting a bye to the quarterfinals. The tournament will take place from March 8th to March 11th at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
First Round-Wednesday, March 8th
#9 San Jose State vs. #8 Utah State
#10 Air Force vs. #7 Wyoming
#11 UNLV vs. #6 San Diego State
Quarterfinals-Thursday, March 9th
#8 Utah State vs. #1 Nevada
#5 New Mexico vs. #4 Fresno State
#7 Wyoming vs. #2 Colorado State
#6 San Diego State vs. #3 Boise State
Semifinals-Friday, March 10th
#4 Fresno State vs. #1 Nevada
#7 Wyoming vs. #6 San Diego State
Championship-Saturday, March 11th
If the Mountain West had had a stronger year, this championship game would mean that one of these teams would be stealing a bid. That is not going to be the case here as a semifinal loss will destroy whatever chance Nevada had of getting an at large bid. Between these two teams, I expect Fresno to win, as they have momentum going into the tournament winning five in a row. This momentum will carry them to the NCAA Tournament.
San Diego State 54, Fresno State 59
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