Mountain West Tournament 2017: Bracket, Schedule and Championship Odds

They don't call it the Wild, Wild West without a good reason.

That description was not put into use for the Mountain West Conference, but it is an apt description of the 2016-17 season because the conference is populated by teams that are capable of coming up with sensational efforts one night and then falling back to mind-numbing inconsistency the next time out.

Nevada (25-6, 14-4) won the conference's regular season and is probably the best team in the conference, but the margin between the Wolf Pack and second-place Colorado State (21-10, 13-5) and third-place Boise State (19-10, 12-6) is fairly slim.

Nevada closed the season by winning its last six regular-season games, and it clinched the league's title when it beat Colorado State 85-72 in the season finale. Powerful Cameron Oliver provided the impetus for the Wolf Pack victory with 29 points and 17 rebounds, and he is the key to Nevada's chances for success in the postseason.

The 6'8" sophomore power forward is second on the team in scoring at 15.7 points per game, and Oliver is also pulling down a team-high 8.7 rebounds. Marcus Marshall is Nevada's leading scorer at 19.0 points per night, and he is connecting on 39.4 percent of his three-point shots.

D.J. Fenner and Jordan Caroline are both averaging in double figures as well, and Nevada's scoring depth gives head coach Eric Musselman quite a bit of versatility.

Date	Team	Opponent	Time (ET)	TV
First Round
March 8	Utah State (8)	San Jose State (9)	2 p.m.	MW Network
March 8	Wyoming (7)	Air Force (10)	4:30 p.m.	MW Network
March 8	San Diego State (6)	UNLV (11)	7 p.m.	MW Network
Quarterfinals
March 9	Nevada (1)	Utah State-San Jose State winner	3 p.m.	CBSN
March 9	Fresno State (4)	New Mexico (5)	5:30 p.m.	CBSN
March 9	Colorado State (2)	Wyoming-Air Force winner	9 p.m.	CBSN
March 9	Boise State (3)	San Diego State-UNLV winner	11:30 p.m.	CBSN
Semifinals
March 10	TBD	TBD	7 p.m.	CBSN
March 10	TBD	TBD	9:30 p.m.	CBSN
Final
March 11	TBD	TBD	3 p.m.	CBS

The oddsmakers believe the Wolf Pack have the best chance of winning the MWC tournament, which gets underway Wednesday in Las Vegas. Nevada is a plus-155 favorite to win the tournament (wager $100 to earn a profit of $155), according to OddsShark. Boise State is the second choice at plus-475, while San Diego State (17-13, 9-9) is the third choice at plus-500.

Colorado State is nearly as hot as Nevada, as the Rams had won seven games in a row prior to losing the season finale at Nevada.

John Locher/Associated Press

Senior guard Gian Clavell is averaging a team-high 19.5 points per game and is also pulling down 6.4 rebounds each game. He is joined by senior forward Emmanuel Omogbo, who is second on the team in scoring with an average of 14.1 points per game and is leading the Rams with 10.7 rebounds each night.

The Rams would like nothing better than to get another shot at Nevada in the MWC championship game.

Boise State is not as hot as Nevada or Colorado State, as the Broncos dropped three of their last six games and their play has been marked by quite a bit of inconsistency.

They did close the season with a 98-70 road victory over Air Force, and they showed their ability to get hot from the outside. James Reid connected on eight three-pointers and scored 26 points in that victory.

Junior guard Chandler Hutchison is averaging a team-high 17.2 points per game and is connecting on 50.0 percent of his shots from the field, while Paris Austin is second on the team with 12.9 points per night. Reid is scoring 10.3 points per game, but he demonstrated that he can carry the team when he gets hot in the victory over Air Force.

Fourth-place Fresno State (19-11, 11-7) is capable of going on a good run and causing problems for the top three teams in the conference.

The Bulldogs closed the regular season with five straight regular-season victories, and they are led by junior guard Jaron Hopkins, who leads a balanced attack with 13.3 points per game. 

He is getting help from Deson Taylor, Paul Watson and Jahmel Taylor, who are all averaging in double figures.

Prediction

It seems likely that Nevada and Colorado State could get to the championship game and test each other as they did in the regular-season finale.

However, the conference has some depth to it and it wouldn't be a complete shocker if any teams besides Air Force (11-20, 4-14) and UNLV (11-20, 4-14) found their way to the championship game.

San Jose State (14-15, 7-11) finished in seventh place in the conference, but the Spartans have a go-to guy in forward Brandon Clarke, who is averaging 17.9 points per game and connecting on an eye-catching 59.2 percent of his shots from the field.

The Spartans have the talent to turn things around and have an impact in the tournament.

Having said that, Nevada is not going to let this opportunity slip through its grasp. Look for the Wolf Pack to stay hot and earn the MWC tournament title.