Updated MWC Tourney

The first round had some surprises, but not many when you consider the match-ups....

Air Force did in fact knock off Colorado State for the opportunity to get hammered by BYU.

First Round

BYU vs Air Force: Air Force hung in there and rallied a few times. They even had a few leads. Even though I am a huge Utah fan, I never thought BYU was in jeapordy of losing this one. Maybe it's because I had to listen to Wrubell scream into the mic. Air Force shot the ball well but in the end, couldn't match the BYU offense.

UNLV vs SDSU: I picked SDSU in a close one so this was a bit of a surprise. But, the Aztecs are healthy. They play outstanding defense. SDSU won 71-57 and it should have been worse. UNLV threw in some prayers during a minor 2nd half rally. UNLV was also benefiting from a little home cooking.

Utah vs TCU: This was also a real surprise. Utah didn't deserve this one. They were outplayed and Nevill was horrid! I despise Drca because he is a walking turnover when the game gets tight. Somehow he found Bohra for an open three to win the game. Utah is lucky...

Wyoming vs New Mexico: I thought this one would be close. It had the appearance of a blowout early on with UNM jumping all over Wyoming. Wyoming put on a great rally just before halftime led by Sean Oguirri. This guy can shoot the lights out of any gym. He's been on fire the last couple weeks. Brandon Ewing stepped up with some extremely difficult shots. There was one or two in the first half he should have been shooting a free throw for a four point play. Not really surprised Wyoming won, these two teams played a one point game in Laramie a few days ago with New Mexico getting the win. Again it's hard to beat a team three times in one year. A big help for the Pokes was with about 6 minutes left when Farris fouled out of the game.

Second Round

SDSU vs BYU: Again, SDSU is not the team I would want to be playing right now. They are healthy, and confident. They want revenge on this Cougar team that embarassed them on their home floor just a couple weeks ago. SDSU is more talented and is shooting the ball extremely well right now. Two weeks ago, BYU rallied behing a zone. If the Aztecs shoot like they did last night, the zone will only create a really long night for the cougs. BYU can't handle the athletes in man to man. That said, this should be a good game. BYU finds ways to rally behind the garbage that JT chucks from 25 feet and the crafty offensive rebounds and defense that Emery plays. SDSU wins this one late.

SDSU 70 BYU 64

Wyoming vs Utah: The Pokes scare me!!! If Utah doesn't gaurd the three, they will lose this game no doubt! After watching the New Mexico game, I don't know if it really matters because a lot of the shots they are hitting are being gaurded. Utah seems to play well agains the Cowboys. Nevill needs to rebound after his poor performance against TCU. Drca needs to take better care of the ball! Utah should dominate the paint and the rebounds. Again, it is hard to beat a team three times, but it will happen here.

Utah 73 Wyoming 68...

Mountain West Conference Basketball Tournament.....

This years conference basketball was a great battle between Utah, BYU, and New Mexico. Personally, I didn't think Utah would be in the mix with the way they'd played the last three season. Last year Jim Boylin turned them around and instilled some toughness into his players that they lacked from the previous years with Ray Giocoletti before he was fired. I did however think Utah would finish better than 4th which they were picked by the media and coaches.

This years tourney appears to be a moot point for Utah as they are projected a lock for the NCAA tourney which starts next week. BYU is pretty much a lock for the MWC as well. Teams such as San Diego State, UNLV, and New Mexico need to have a decent run in the conference to get in although the ESPN bracketologist has all 5 teams in his field of 65 right now.

Predictions....

#9 Air Force vs. #8 Colorado State: Air Force has played better of late, but were still winless in MWC play. They probably should have beaten BYU in Provo last Saturday. But I think that was probably more of the lack of preperation on BYU's part than the skill and ability of Air Force. Colorado State has improved a lot over the second half of the season knocking off UNLV, and taking Utah and New Mexico into overtime.

Winner... Colorado State 64-58

#8 Colorado State vs #1 BYU: While CSU has improved, they will play better than they have against byu all year. They were blown out in both meetings. It is hard to beat a team three times in one year, but it will happen here. BYU is to good for the Rams.

Winner... BYU 75-59

#5 UNLV vs. #4 San Diego State: The fact that UNLV is playing on their home floor is a sore spot to BYU fans as they can't beat UNLV down there or anywhere for that matter. SDSU on the other hand seems to match up with the Rebels and are healthy for the first time in a while. SDSU plays hard defense and has a lot of talent. UNLV seems to step up on their home floor year after year in this tournament. However, I think SDSU is peaking at the right time, and will end any hope of an at-large NCAA bid for the Rebels.

Winner... SDSU 65-61

#6 Wyoming vs #3 New Mexico: This is a tough first round match-up for the Lobos because Wyoming has the ability to make a team work really hard for a win. The Cowboys have a god back court with first team all conference Brandon Ewing. They have some talented forwards, but are a little weak at the center. New Mexico has played great as of late beating Utah and Wyoming to grab a share of the league. This game will be close, but New Mexico needs this to possibly get the attention of the tournament commitee. Wyoming will play in the NIT.

Winner: New Mexico 78-75

#7 TCU vs #2 Utah: Utah has played well even in their two losses they suffered the last week of the season. They led BYU at the half in Provo before going ice cold, and were homered a little against New Mexico. TCU has no answer for Utah's Luke Nevill. They are far to undersized. Kevin Langford can pull Nevill away from the basket a little, but not enough to make a difference. Nevill really effects a lot of shots under the basker. TCU other than Air Force is one of the coldest teams in the conference right now. They started the conference year with a 4-1 record, and closed out 1-10.

Winner: Utah 70-53

Second Round...

#4 San Diego State vs #1 BYU: BYU swepted the season series with the Aztecs which is the reason they got the number 1 seed over Utah and New Mexico. BYU beat SDSU in San Diego just a couple weeks ago behind an incredible come from behind win. They trailed by as many as 14 in the second half. SDSU was playing without starting center which made a difference. This is the game that is tough. It is hard to beat any team three times in one year, especially when they are as talented as SDSU. BYU has played 6 or 7 straight games they could have lost because of their poor first half performance. They will need a 100% great game to beat SDSU. But they won't get it.

Winner: SDSU 66-55

#3 New Mexico vs #2 Utah: Had Utah rebounded and protected the ball a little better in the Pit last week, Utah would have closed out the MWC outrught title. Because they didn't, the had to settle for a share. Nevill disappeared in the second half against the Lobos last game. He will make up for it and Utah will rebound from their previous loss. New Mexico is playing well, but these two teams always play close no matter the location. This will be another close one with Utah improving their NCAA seed stock with a win.

Winner: Utah 68-66

MWC Championship

#4 San Diego State vs #2 Utah

These two seem to play each other well. Both teams won their home game this year by 10 points. A neuteal floor should bring a highly competative game with an outcome going to the wire. Utah will need to play mistake free ball to knock off a hot SDSU team that is trying to lock an NCAA birth. SDSU is strong defensively and has a fast little point gaurd in Richie Williams that Utah struggles to keep in front of them. Again, SDSU is peaking at the right time in the MWC.

Winner: SDSU 62-59

NCAA's

Utah will get a 7 seed
BYU will get an 8 seed
New Mexico will be an 11
SDSU will be a 12

GO UTES

Carlon Brown's dunk of the year
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeO83WvClWI