The 11 Mountain West Conference basketball programs well head to Las Vegas, Nevada, and the campus of UNLV, looking to earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. San Diego State has been one of the best teams in the country this season, but don’t count out Utah State or UNLV to pull off the upset and lift the trophy on March 7. This tournament kicks off on March 4 with the bottom six teams playing and the four winners will take on the top four teams in the quarters the next day. The final four will play the semifinals on March 6 and the two finalists will battle for the championship on Saturday, March 7.
Mountain West Conference Tournament Odds
Team | Odds |
---|---|
San Diego State | -500 |
Utah State | +600 |
New Mexico | +1500 |
Nevada | +2500 |
Boise State | +4000 |
Colorado State | +5000 |
UNLV | +5000 |
Air Force | +8000 |
Fresno State | +10000 |
San José State | +10000 |
Wyoming | +10000 |
San Diego State will look to add to their trophy case this season as they currently have the most Mountain West Conference titles at five. Right behind SDSU is New Mexico (4) and UNLY (3). Fresno State, Nevada, Utah State, Colorado State and Wyoming are the other current Mountain West schools to win the tournament. Utah and BYU, now members of the Pac-12 and WAC, respectively, are the other two schools to lift this trophy.
Last season, Utah State came into the tournament as the #2 seed in the conference, but were tied with the Nevada Wolfpack for the best record in the MWC. The Aggies opened up their tournament with a routine eight point win over the #7 seed New Mexico Lobos and then advanced to the conference title game with a dominant 85-60 win over the #3 seed Fresno State Bulldogs. Utah State then held off a tough San Diego State team, who were the #4 seed, in a 64-57 win. The Aggies fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament after losing 78-61 to the Washington Huskies, who were the #9 seed in the Midwest.
I think this tournament could be a really exciting one as I believe three or four teams can lift the title at the end of the week. The obvious favorite is San Diego State, but Utah State is a very good team and UNLV will have the advantage of playing at home. I expect the top four seeds to get through to the semifinals and for the final to be #1 San Diego State vs #2 Utah State. SDSU easily won the two regular season meetings, but I like Utah State to pull off the upset and win the 2020 Mountain West Conference championship.