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Post by motorcitysam on Aug 24, 2020 6:55:53 GMT -5
The Mountain West conference has a fair share of basketball tradition and history, due to the individual histories of the various programs. The conference itself has only been around since 1999. Two current members have won the national championship in basketball; Wyoming in 1943 and UNLV in 1990. I was somewhat surprised to read that San Diego State leads current conference members in NCAA appearances, with 21 to UNLV's 20. UNLV does lead all conference teams with 33 NCAA tournament wins.
Recent years have shown San Diego State to be the class of the conference, with Steve Fisher and Brian Dutcher leading the program to multiple NCAA tourney appearances. Nevada has grabbed the spotlight recently, winning NCAA bids in 2017, 2018, and 2019. UNLV hasn't made the tourney since 2013, but still boasts the deepest tradition, with their national championship and 41 former Rebels who have played in the NBA.
Last year's standings:
San Diego State Utah State Nevada UNLV Colorado State Boise State New Mexico Fresno State Air Force San Jose State Wyoming
Utah State was the preseason favorite, but San Diego State went a blistering 30-2. Look for the Aztecs to be good again next season.
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Post by Commissioner on Aug 24, 2020 16:29:37 GMT -5
The MWC deserves a thread!
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Post by motorcitysam on Aug 29, 2020 13:51:54 GMT -5
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Post by motorcitysam on Oct 20, 2020 14:22:29 GMT -5
Noteworthy pick up for Wyoming today, as the Cowboys added a 7 footer from Kansas. The young man has all mid major offers, but he's rated as a three star recruit by Rivals, and you can't teach height. Not a bad pick up for a Wyoming team that finished in last place in 2019-20. n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2021/nate-barnhart-269656
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Post by motorcitysam on Nov 11, 2020 12:16:14 GMT -5
Preseason poll for the MWC.
1. San Diego State 2. Boise State 3. Utah State 4. UNLV 5. Colorado State 6. Nevada 7. New Mexico 8. Fresno State 9. Wyoming 10. Air Force 11. San Jose State
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Post by motorcitysam on Dec 11, 2020 11:14:07 GMT -5
San Diego State beat #23 Arizona State in Tempe last night by a score of 80-68. SDSU has won 13 straight road games and 34 out of their last 35 games in which they led at the half. Both those stats are impressive. They also beat UCLA earlier this season by 15, giving them two double digit wins over PAC 12 teams that were supposed to be good.
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Post by motorcitysam on Jan 21, 2021 7:47:40 GMT -5
Interesting scheduling for UNLV. On January 12, they played a non-D1 team, St. Katherine, winning 95-34. Tonight they play some non-D1 team called Benedict. I know it's an unusual season, but a team like UNLV playing two non-D1 teams this late in the season seems strange.
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Post by motorcitysam on Mar 16, 2021 13:00:05 GMT -5
New Mexico hired Richard Pitino to be their new head coach, about 28 hours after he was fired by Minnesota. In eight seasons at Minnesota, Pitino had to NCAA tournament appearances, in 2017 and 2019, and went 1-2 in the Big Dance. He won the NIT championship in his first season, after taking over a team that made it to the NCAA tourney round of 32 the year before. Over his tenure, RP finished over .500 overall, but won only 36% of his Big Ten games.
RP takes over for Paul Weir, who was fired after going 58-61 in four seasons with New Mexico.
I always judge mid major coaching hires by asking myself, "Would I be happy if the Titans hired this guy?" In this instance, I'd say no.
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Post by motorcitysam on Mar 22, 2021 15:53:40 GMT -5
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Post by motorcitysam on Jun 6, 2021 12:32:03 GMT -5
Preseason poll for the MWC. 1. San Diego State 2. Boise State 3. Utah State 4. UNLV 5. Colorado State 6. Nevada 7. New Mexico 8. Fresno State 9. Wyoming 10. Air Force 11. San Jose State Final Mountain West Standings for 2020-21 Smokey Gaines State University 14-3, 23-5 Utah State 15-4, 20-9 Colorado State 14-4, 20-8 Boise State 14-6, 19-9 Nevada 10-7, 16-10 Fresno State 9-11, 12-12 UNLV 8-10, 12-15 Wyoming 7-9, 14-11 San Jose State 3-13, 5-16 Air Force 3-17, 5-20 New Mexico 2-15, 6-16 Good year for the conference overall, with three teams winning 20 games in a shortened season and a fourth team winning 19. San Diego State, Smokey's old school, won the conference title in a super close race, with the top three teams being separated by one game in the loss column. The Aztecs had double digit wins over UCLA and Arizona State during the non-conference season. They lost to Syracuse in the NCAA tournament. New Mexico fired their coach and hired Richard (Not Rick) Pitino. UNLV lost their coach TJ O (I'm not attempting to spell that name by memory) when he took the Iowa State job, and the Rebels then hired Ken Kruger, son of Lon Kruger.
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Post by ptctitan on Sept 13, 2021 11:39:17 GMT -5
This writer's preview of the 2021-22 Mountain West Conference. Our opening opponent Wyoming is picked 7th.
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Post by motorcitysam on Sept 13, 2021 11:51:18 GMT -5
This writer's preview of the 2021-22 Mountain West Conference. Our opening opponent Wyoming is picked 7th. Go Aztecs! (Image is from a t-shirt with the design from the Gaines era.)
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Post by motorcitysam on Sept 25, 2021 9:23:36 GMT -5
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Post by motorcitysam on Sept 25, 2021 16:36:23 GMT -5
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Post by motorcitysam on Oct 4, 2021 6:32:46 GMT -5
San Diego State lands another four star recruit as Miles Byrd commits. Byrd, a Northern California native, is ranked #89 in the nation by 24/7. The 6-6 shooting guard had a top eight of SDSU, Colorado State, Pacific, Villanova, Washingto, Minnesota, Santa Clara, and St. Mary's. The Aztecs do not intend to give up their "big dog" status in the Mountain West.
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