Jockeying for Mountain West Tournament Position Starts Tonight

Two weeks remain until the start of the Mountain West Conference Tournament in Las Vegas and the race for favorable position is on.

BYU currently sits in the driver's seat with a 10-2 conference record, but UNLV, New Mexico, San Diego State, Utah, Air Force and TCU are all lined up like third graders in a drinking fountain line.  And, much like those lines, everyone's looking to elbow and push their way to the front.

Need a visual?

BYU                 10-2

UNLV                9-3

New Mexico       9-4

SDSU               8-5

Utah                 6-6

Air Force           6-7

TCU                  5-7

Wyoming          3-10

Colorado State  0-12

Tonight starts the rumble for seeding in the conference tournament as BYU takes on New Mexico in the Pit and San Diego State faces off against UNLV. Tomorrow, Utah takes on TCU.  On Saturday everyone except for New Mexico throws down.

If I were a betting man, I'd say that the current standings won't remain the same for long.

New Mexico has the most favorable schedule of the bunch. With three games to play, they host BYU tonight and have a week to rest before they host UNLV. They then conclude the season away from home against a bumbling Colorado State squad.

Utah's rough conference season will come to an end with three of four games on the road. If there is any squad that deserves some wins down the stretch, it's the Utes.  After a difficult season last year and a coaching change, the Runnin Utes have played surprisingly well. Even though they only stand at 15-10 right now, they've lost two games in OT and five games by five points or fewer.

The one team that should feel comfortable no matter what is UNLV. They haven't lost a conference game in Las Vegas since February 16, 2006. That's two years, including last year's MWC tournament. Of course, an at-large bid is nice to fall back on if you can't get it done in the conference tournament, but the Rebels will have a talented team and a homecourt advantage when March 11 rolls around. That definitely worked in their favor last year.

The one team that would LOVE to host the conference tournament is BYU. But I guess that wouldn't be fair to have a host with a 45 game home-winning streak. The Cougars' toughest test left is tonight's tilt at the Pit.  Wins at home against Air Force and Wyoming will most likely happen and a visit to TCU is a very manageable quest.

It's a good time to be a Mountain West fan, my friends.  Let the carnage begin!