Heading into the MWC tourney, Utah and BYU were the only conference teams considered locks for the NCAA tournament. Regular-season co-champion New Mexico, tournament-host UNLV and San Dieogo State appeared to have a little more work to do. While the Aztecs (23-9) went all the way to the title game, the Lobos and Rebels failed miserably.
San Diego State and UNLV met in the quarterfinals, with the Aztecs beating the Rebels for the third time this season. UNLV (21-10) has four victories vs. the RPI top 25 and eight vs. the top 100, but six of their 10 losses came in their last 10 games. As for New Mexico (21-11), even though the Lobos finished in a three-way tie for the conference title, their power numbers are lacking and they have four losses to teams outside the RPI top 100, including Wyoming in the MWC quarterfinals.
