Around the Mountain: Tourney time is here, and here's some good news and bad news for all 11 teams

One week in March.

That’s all you need to get in the NCAA Tournament, right?

Get hot for three, or in some cases four days, this week in the Mountain West Tournament in the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas and you can punch your ticket to the Big Dance.

Here’s a look at the good news, and bad news, for all 11 teams competing in the men’s tournament this week.

No. 1 New Mexico Lobos: Good news — They’re the best team. They beat every team in the league at least once. They’ll have the most fans. They’re 13-1 in the tournament when seeded 1 or 2. They have Donovan Dent. Bad news — They may be 12-0 against the bottom half of the bracket, but they’re just 5-3 vs. the teams on their half of the bracket, splitting with San Diego State, Boise State and San Jose State. And No. 9 Wyoming led UNM by double figures at halftime in both games.

No. 2 Colorado State Rams: Good news — The Rams are the hottest team in the league and Nique Clifford made a late-season surge that caught everyone’s eye. Bad news — As good as CSU has been lately, it’s not getting in the NCAA Tournament unless they win the MW Tournament, something it hasn’t done since 2003, before some on the roster were born.

No. 3 Utah State Aggies: Good news — The Aggies have depth, have star guards Ian Martinez and Mason Falslev and have the No. 1-ranked offense in league play per KenPom.com. Bad news — The Aggies went 3-3 down the stretch and face a possible semifinal matchup with a CSU team that beat them by 27 points less than two weeks ago.

No. 4 San Diego State Aztecs: Good news — The Aztecs still defend, have two of the best in Miles Byrd and Nick Boyd and have made the title game 16 times. SIXTEEN! Bad news — They’re just 7-9 in those championship games (is that actually bad?) and the status of star freshman Magoon Gwath is up in the air. At a minimum, he may be rusty if he does play after missing two-plus weeks with a knee injury.

No. 5 Boise State Broncos: Good news — Tyson Degenhart has led the Broncos to three consecutive NCAA Tournaments and is one of the best four-year players this league has ever had. He doesn’t plan to stop now. Bad news — They probably need two wins (maybe three) to get in the NCAA Tournament, and in 13 seasons in the league, they’ve only made the title game once.

No. 6 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels: Good news — They’re at home, have been playing pretty well and who knows, maybe they even get injured Dedan Thomas back. Bad news — Playing in their home gym in this event has never been the perk you would think, and the Rebels are decimated by injuries.

No. 7 Nevada Wolf Pack: Good news — Kobe Sanders, Nick Davidson and the league’s all-time 3-point leader, Xavier DuSell, are all dangerous players. And Steve Alford and Craig Neal certainly have had experience in this tourney. Bad news — We knew all that going into the season when the Wolf Pack was picked third, and all they did was go 1-11 against teams with a winning MW record.

No. 8 San Jose State Spartans: Good news —Tim Miles’ crew is one of only three teams that beat No. 1 UNM. If they get past Wyoming, they’ll get another shot at the Lobos. Bad news — Other than that Lobo upset, SJSU didn’t beat anyone outside the bottom three in the conference.

No. 9 Wyoming Cowboys: Good news — Sundance Wicks’ energy can keep the lights on the Vegas Strip on for a week. And Obi Agbim is a walking bucket. Bad news — The Pokes have one win since January and the roster limitations are what they are.

No. 10 Fresno State Bulldogs: Good news — They open with a game against a banged-up Nevada team the Bulldogs took to overtime in January. They also have one of the best freshmen in the league in Elijah Price. Bad news — This probably isn’t the best place for a team with a gambling investigation hanging over its head to be wrapping up the season.

No. 11 Air Force Falcons: Good news — The Falcons beat UNLV in two of the past four seasons, including by 32 in the Thomas & Mack last year. And they took UNLV to overtime in the tourney in 2023. Bad news — The 1-19 league record tells the story.

Watch! Listen!

Episode 98 of the Talking Grammer podcast is a preview of the Mountain West Tournament with myself, Field of 68’s national college basketball analysts Rob Dauster and Jeff Goodman and B.J. Rains of Bronco Nation News.

Watch it on the Journal’s YouTube channel or listen wherever you download podcasts.

Players of the Week

Colorado State’s Clifford won the final MW Player of the Week award on Monday, remarkably his first of the season.

The Rams senior averaged 25.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.5 steals in wins over San Jose State and Boise State.

Fresno State’s Price won his third Freshman of the Week award, averaging a double- double with 14.5 points and 11.5 rebounds in a win over Wyoming and loss to San Jose State.

Awards watch

The Mountain West’s All-Conference team and player/coach awards will be announced on Tuesday morning by the league office.

Tech is waiting

The Texas Tech Red Raiders are surely waiting to see those All-Mountain West awards. They have landed via the transfer portal the past two winners of the Mountain West Freshman of the Year — UNM’s J.T. Toppin and Nevada’s Darrion Williams.

Both were named to the All-Big 12 First Team on Monday with Toppin winning Big 12 Player of the Year.

Poll position

No Mountain West team was included in Monday’s new Associated Press Top 25 poll.

UNM was the only league team to receive votes, getting 20 points, placing them seven spots from being ranked. The Lobos appeared on eight of 61 ballots.