The Mountain West Conference has officially wrapped up regular season play. After a record-breaking season last year, sending six teams to the NCAA tournament, the league played out a little differently than last season.
This season, the Mountain West is projected to send four teams to the NCAA Tournament after high hopes for a few teams that didn’t seem to pan out.
The first round of the conference tournament starts Wednesday. Six teams will play as the top five seeds in the tournament get a first-round bye.
No. 8 San Jose State vs No. 9 Wyoming 2 p.m. EST
The eight-nine matchup sees Wyoming and San Jose State opening up the tournament in Las Vegas. Wyoming won both matchups against the Spartans. Scottie Ebube led the Spartans, scoring 22 points on the day in their first matchup, and the Spartans had three players who scored double-digit in their latest matchup.
Wyoming started the season with some solid wins against Tulane and Nevada and even a road win against UNLV but could not match up with the top contenders in the conference.
Obi Agbim leads the team in scoring. Agbim averages 17.8 points per game and can take over a game at any moment for the Cowboys. In the first matchup, the guard scored seven points and 20 points in the second meeting. The guard was also awarded the Newcomer of the Year award for the 2024-25 season.
Can the Spartans stop Wyoming for the final time this season?
The winner of this matchup advances to the second round, where the regular-season champions, New Mexico, will be waiting.
No. 7 Nevada vs No. 10 Fresno State 3:30 p.m. EST
Following the finish of Wyoming and San Jose State, Nevada and Fresno State take the court. These teams have only met once in the regular season, when Nevada won overtime. It was a back-and-forth game, but Nevada pulled away in overtime.
Things could be different as Nevada faces some injuries in their lineup but is poised to make a run in the tournament. No wins are ever guaranteed in the Mountain West, though. The winner will advance to the second round to play the No. 2-seeded Colorado State.
No. 6 UNLV vs No. 11 Air Force
UNLV may have caught the biggest break of anyone in the tournament. When sophomore guard Dedan “DJ” Thomas Jr. went down after the win against Fresno State, UNLV rallied and went 3-2 in the final stretch of their games, including wins over San Diego State and Nevada.
Landing the No. 6 seed puts the team against Air Force, which only won one game in conference play.
The Runnin’ Rebels are not exactly marching into the tournament. UNLV is going into the tournament with a six-man rotation. Julian Rishwain, UNLV’s deep threat, is ruled out with a knee injury sustained against New Mexico, and Thomas is “not ruled out” according to head coach Kevin Kruger.
Some may argue that the lower half of the bracket gives the lightest path to the championship. UNLV went 8-4 against the teams in the bottom half of the bracket compared to going 2-5 against teams in the top side of the bracket.
Should the Runnin’ Rebels advance, it sets up a third-round matchup with the Aggies. UNLV matches up well with Utah State. The Rebels defeated then-ranked No. 22 Utah State in the Thomas and Mack Center 65-62 and lost the second matchup 76-71.
