Heading into the Mountain West Basketball Tournament in Las Vegas, there is a widespread belief that the league will get at least four teams into the NCAA Tournament. Those in consideration for an at-large bid represent each of the top four seed lines in the MWC Tournament bracket. Boise State and defending tournament champion San Diego State utilized stifling defense this season while Colorado State and Wyoming were the two best scoring offenses in the Mountain West. With other talented squads like UNLV and Utah State also in the mix, the Mountain West could very well steal a March Madness bid via a surprising tournament winner as well.
The following contains the Mountain West Tournament bracket and schedule, as well as a preview of what we can expect to see.
Check out the FlurrySports Conference Tournaments Hub for wall-to-wall college basketball coverage throughout the leadup to March Madness!
Mountain West Basketball Standings
| Team | Conf. Record | Overall Record | Seed |
| Boise State | 15-3 | 24-7 | 1 seed |
| Colorado State | 14-4 | 24-4 | 2 seed |
| San Diego State | 13-4 | 21-7 | 3 seed |
| Wyoming | 13-5 | 24-7 | 4 seed |
| UNLV | 10-8 | 18-13 | 5 seed |
| Fresno State | 8-9 | 18-12 | 6 seed |
| Utah State | 8-10 | 18-14 | 7 seed |
| Nevada | 6-12 | 13-17 | 8 seed |
| New Mexico | 5-12 | 13-19 | 9 seed |
| Air Force | 4-13 | 11-18 | 10 seed |
| San Jose State | 1-17 | 8-22 | 11 seed |
Mountain West Tournament Schedule
Dates: March 9-12
TV Schedule: Mountain West Network (First Round); CBSSN (Quarterfinals, Semifinals); CBS (Championship Game)
Venue: Thomas & Mack Center — Las Vegas, NV
Byes: Top 5 receive single bye
Defending Champion: San Diego State
Mountain West Tournament Bracket
First Round
- (6) Fresno State 69, (11) San Jose State 67 (OT)
- (7) Utah State 83, (10) Air Force 59
- (8) Nevada 79, (9) New Mexico 72
Quarterfinals
- (1) Boise State 71, (8) Nevada 69
- (2) Colorado State 53, (7) Utah State 51
- (3) San Diego State 53, (6) Fresno State 46
- (4) Wyoming 59, (5) UNLV 56
Semifinals
- (1) Boise State 68, (4) Wyoming 61
- (3) San Diego State 63, (2) Colorado State 58
Championship
- (1) Boise State 53, (3) San Diego State 52
Boise State advances to NCAA Tournament
Mountain West Conference Breakdown
In terms of competitiveness, few conferences in college basketball had more of it than the Mountain West this season. Regular-season champion Boise State actually started the season 3-4 before obliterating their MWC cohorts. All three of Colorado State, San Diego State and Wyoming finished within two games of the Broncos atop the Mountain West basketball standings. The real crazy thing is that, other than Boise State, each of these teams lost games by wide margins to teams outside of the top four in the conference. Colorado State got beaten by 5-seed UNLV not once but twice. San Diego State got destroyed by 7-seed Utah State, and Wyoming lost to 9-seed New Mexico.
Statistics further support the claim that the Mountain West Tournament bracket is wide open this season. Seven of the conference’s 11 teams finished with a top-100 ranking in the College Basketball NET. 2-seed Colorado State finished as the highest-ranked team at No. 28 with San Diego State and Boise State landing at Nos. 29 and 30, respectively. If that doesn’t put into perspective just how tight the top of the conference is, nothing will! Wyoming joined those three teams with a top-50 NET ranking while Utah State, Fresno State and UNLV round out those schools in the top-100.
Colorado State was picked first in the Mountain West basketball preseason poll. The Rams got 11 first-place votes while San Diego State also received seven as the second choice. Meanwhile, Boise State, who finished atop the Mountain West basketball standings, was only picked to finish fourth. Even so, Wyoming was the conference’s greatest overachiever this season by earning a top-4 seed after only being picked ninth. On the flip side, Nevada will be the 8-seed in the Mountain West Tournament bracket after being picked to finish third.
Team Stats | 2022 Mountain West Basketball Tournament
(1) Boise State Broncos
Net Ranking: 30 (No. 3 in MWC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 26 (No. 2 in MWC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 109.1 (No. 80)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 92.7 (No. 17)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +5.62 (No. 78)
(2) Colorado State Rams
Net Ranking: 28 (No. 1 in MWC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 34 (No. 3 in MWC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 115.0 (No. 17)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 99.2 (No. 90)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +4.77 (No. 86)
(3) San Diego State Aztecs
Net Ranking: 2 (No. 2 in MWC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 23 (No. 1 in MWC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 104.5 (No. 156)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 86.8 (No. 2)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +5.83 (No. 72)
(4) Wyoming Cowboys
Net Ranking: 48 (No. 4 in MWC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 56 (No. 5 in MWC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 111.6 (No. 38)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 98.6 (No. 78)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +4.01 (No. 95)
(5) UNLV Rebels
Net Ranking: 92 (No. 7 in MWC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 85 (No. 7 in MWC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 109.2 (No. 77)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 99.6 (No. 100)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +5.14 (No. 83)
(6) Fresno State Bulldogs
Net Ranking: 69 (No. 6 in MWC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 62 (No. 6 in MWC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 106.2 (No. 127)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 93.7 (No. 22)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +3.45 (No. 101)
(7) Utah State Aggies
Net Ranking: 63 (No. 5 in MWC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 53 (No. 4 in MWC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 111.3 (No. 48)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 97.8 (No. 67)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +5.61 (No. 79)
(8) Nevada Wolf Pack
Net Ranking: 124 (No. 8 in MWC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 116 (No. 8 in MWC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 107.2 (No. 106)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 102.6 (No. 153)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +8.09 (No. 40)
(9) New Mexico Lobos
Net Ranking: 154 (No. 9 in MWC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 151 (No. 9 in MWC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 107.7 (No. 96)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 106.2 (No. 234)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +5.67 (No. 76)
(10) Air Force Falcons
Net Ranking: 253 (No. 11 in MWC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 253 (No. 11 in MWC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 96.4 (No. 306)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 103.8 (No. 180)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +2.12 (No. 114)
(11) San Jose State Spartans
Net Ranking: 298 (No. 12 in MWC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 292 (No. 12 in MWC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 99.4 (No. 255)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 110.1 (No. 297)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +5.05 (No. 84)
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