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We had a six-bid Mountain West just two years ago. This year, in the final iteration of this Mountain West, the conference is in jeopardy of only having one team get in and not receiving any at-large bids.
The latest Bracketology from Joe Lunardi has Utah State as the only team
in the field as an eight seed. He has New Mexico and San Diego State in the First Four Out.
So, we’re asking you… How many bids will the Mountain West get to the men’s NCAA Tournament? One, Two, Three, Four or more.
OK, the four or more might be a pipe dream. But this year’s bubble is bad. Like, really bad.
Stanford, Cal, Virigina Tech, SMU, Cincinnati, Texas, Oklahoma State, Indiana and Missouri all lost early on in their conference tournaments. So, with all those P4 teams on the bubble losing early, let’s remove them from the bubble discussion. (Probably isn’t happening, but that’s what we’re doing.)
So, let’s have New Mexico and San Deigo State win tonight to set up a date in the semifinals, which would guarantee one of them plays in the MWC title game. On the top half of the bracket, someone other than Utah State advances to the title game. Looking at you UNLV, Nevada and GCU. Then that team cuts down the nets Saturday. That’s a Mid-Major Madness dream scenario.
On to more realistic situations.
One bid is pretty simple. Utah State completes the regular season and tournament sweep. The Aggies have been the best and most consistent team in the conference all season. They finished one game clear of the rest of the pack in the league standings and went 25-6 overall, three games better than anyone else.
Two bids is also pretty simple. Someone other than USU wins the title. The most likely is either New Mexico or San Diego State.
Let’s play around to see how we can get three in. Utah State is in. I’m thinking either New Mexico or San Diego State wins their semifinal meeting in a blowout over the other and then loses on a buzzer beater to someone other than the Aggies in the title game. Plus, teams like Auburn get dropped.
So, you’re saying there’s a chance?
Simply put, let’s have one in Vegas and hope the Mountain West delivers.
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