Time to Start Paying Attention to the Mountain West Conference

The college basketball landscape has long been dominated by the power five conferences of the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC. While teams outside of these groups have found success in the past, it isn’t often that an entire conference shows up and joins the party. But, that is exactly what is going down this year in the Mountain West Conference.

The MWC is as deep as it has ever been with six teams in the Top 100 of the KenPom rankings. Teams in the conference have a combined record of 116-65 or a .648 win rate. 

What is even more impressive, as Jon Rothstein points out, is there could be five MWC teams in the NCAA Tournament this year. As of today, the top four teams in the MWC are expected to make it to the dance: the Colorado State Rams, Boise State Broncos, San Diego State Aztecs, and No. 22 Wyoming Cowboys. Each of those teams is being included in many bracketology projections and will likely make it to the tournament if they don’t collapse over the next couple of weeks. A fifth team, the Utah State Aggies, also have a chance to earn a bid but are a bit of a longshot right now. If all five make it in, it will tie the MWC’s all-time record that was set in 2013 when five teams from the Mountain West made it to the tournament. The MWC earned four bids in 2010 and 2012. 

Of the five teams in contention, Wyoming and Boise State are the best bets to earn a bid as the top two teams in the conference. Wyoming is actually +3000 to make the Final Four over at WynnBET Sportsbook. Despite coming off a loss to New Mexico, the Cowboys are the only ranked team on this list with a 21-4 overall record. They were on a six-game losing streak before that loss and have a pretty easy schedule moving forward with San Diego State their biggest challenge. Boise State, on the other hand, is coming off a win over Air Force that brought their record to 20-6. They are 18-2 in their last 20 games with the losses during that run coming at the hands of Wyoming and Colorado State. 

While it would be wild for the MWC to earn five bids, I think four is more likely with Wyoming, Boise State, San Diego, and Colorado State getting the green light.