Leaving Las Vegas? Not The Mountain West Conference Tournament!

Lets not kid ourselves, the Mountain West Conference Tournament has nothing to do with fairness.  Like all other conference tournaments, it is an attempt to get another team into the NCAA Tournament.  It has accomplished this purpose twice: in 2002 with San Diego State, and in 2003 with Colorado State.  As both of these tournaments were played in the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, and it does not appear that UNLV has been unfairly sent to the NCAA Tournament, there is no reason why the tournament should not be held in Las Vegas.  (In fact, UNLV may have been bumped from the NCAA Tournament during these two years). 

If it was all about money (although I am sure money is a factor), the MWC Tournament would not be be played in one place, but on the court of the team with the best record.  It's a sure bet that the games would be packed to the rafters with the home crowd, but that would not serve the purpose of getting an additional team into NCAA Tournament. 

That is not to say that UNLV doesn't have an unfair advantage by having the MWC Tournament on their own home court. Of the seven times the MWC Tournament has been played at the Mack, UNLV has won three times and come in second twice. Not an amazing percentage when you consider that a team playing on their own home court has a 23% to 40% advantage.  See http://www.ncsociology.org/advan1.htm.  Granted, the three times UNLV won the MWC Tournament, they had a share of the MWC title.  However, if those three tournaments had been played in Provo, BYU may very well have garnered three additional conference tournament titles to its name, as BYU finished second to UNLV in those same three tournaments.  No wonder BYU fans are understandably put out with the current system.

BYU fans, however, should view the tournament for what it is. The MWC Tournament says little about which team is the best in the Mountain West Conference, as long as it is played on UNLV's home court. The best team is the Mountain West Conference regular season champion, where all teams have the same chance for home court advantage. The tournament is only a tool to get additionally recognition for the Mountain West Conference. Las Vegas appears to be the best venue to get that recognition.

Moving the MWC Conference Tournament from the Mack would only be necessary if playing there unfairly assists UNLV in getting into the NCAA Tournament. As this is not yet the case, BYU and other non-UNLV teams should view the Mountain West Tournament as a trial by fire to better prepare them to win in the hostile environment of the NCAA Tournament -- which is the only tournament that really matters. Beating Kansas or Kentucky is going to be a lot tougher than beating UNLV at home.

Besides, as a BYU fan, I want to keep the MWC Tournament in Las Vegas for the entirely selfish reason that I live in Las Vegas and get to see the games every year in person.