~BYU broke into the Top 25 this week! They are currently ranked #21/22! This is the 1st time BYU men's basketball has been ranked in the Top 25 for almost 14 years, since March 1993! Air Force is ranked #13/14. UNLV was ranked #25 earlier this season (Week 13, after they beat current #10/11 Nevada on the road in Reno by 9 points!). This marks the 1st time the MWC has ever had 3 Top 25 teams over the course of a single season! http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/rankingsindex

~BYU is also #12 in SI's current Power Rankings! Plus they are ranked #16 in Parrish's Top 25 (and one), with Air Force one spot above them at #15. The Cougars are scoring more points per game than they have in over a dozen years (80.5 ppg)! BYU also leads the MWC in rebound margin and assists. They have managed to shoot less than 40% from 3-point range only 3 times in conference play to date and are 9th in the nation in 3-point shooting percentage. BYU has 2 tough road games looming though, @SDSU & @Air Force.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/wr...ngs/2.html
http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/polls/top25

~When Gonzaga lost at home recently, they relinquished the longest home winning streak in the nation to 2 Mountain West teams. Air Force extended its nation-leading home-court winning streak to 30 games in last Saturday's victory over Colorado State. BYU also has 30 straight home-court wins. The Cougars are 30-1 at home under head coach Dave Rose and are undefeated this season, with the closest win a 6-point victory in their home opener over Idaho State. BYU visits the Falcons' Clune Arena Feb. 27.

~The MWC is currently the #8 conference in the nation, but is closer to being #1 overall than they are to the #9 conference, the WAC. This shows the huge gap between the power conferences and the "mid-majors". As a whole this season, the league is 8-7 against The Big XII; 2-1 against The ACC; 1-2 against The Big Ten; and 3-4 against The PAC-10. http://www.realtimerpi.com/rpi_conf_Men.html

~The MWC has sent 16 teams to March Madness over 7 seasons. Only 3 of those 16 teams recieved a single-digit seed. Only 2 of those 16 teams were favored. The MWC has a 5-16 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament. The best seed ever for a MWC team was a "6" (Utah, 2005). BYU's best seed ever (and only seed) has been a 12 (in 2001, 2003, and 2004). Air Force's best seed ever was an 11 (2004). UNLV's best seed ever was a 10 (2000). http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/1%2C1249%...%2C00.html

~Current RPIs: UNLV is #11 at 22-6, 10-4 (equivalent of a 3-seed), Air Force is #16 at 22-5, 10-4 (equivalent of a 4-seed), BYU is #20 at 10-6, 11-2 (equivalent of a 5-seed), and SDSU is #54 at 17-8, 8-5 (equivalent of a 14-seed). Games against non Div. I teams are not factored into the RPI. SDSU won the Mountain West Tournament last year, recieving an auto-bid to the NCAA Tourny. Their RPI was #47. Air Force recieved an At-Large Bid last year with an RPI of #50. http://www.realtimerpi.com/rpi_mwest_Men.html

~Current Bracketology Projections: Air Force averages a 4-Seed, BYU a 7-Seed, and UNLV a 7-Seed in various national guesstimates. Schmolik's 64 has BYU as a 4-Seed, Air Force as a 5-Seed, and UNLV as a 6-Seed. CBS Sportsline has Air Force as a 4-Seed, BYU as a 4-Seed, and UNLV as an 8-Seed. ESPN Bracketology and Beat the Experts has Air Force as a 4-Seed, BYU as a 6-Seed, and UNLV as a 6-Seed. The MWC has never had 2 single-digit seeds in 1 season, let alone 3! http://bracketproject.atspace.com/comparison.htm

~The MWC has never sent more than 3 teams to the NCAA Tourny in one season. As of right now, Air Force, UNLV, and BYU are all LOCKS. IF another conference team (such as SDSU or Wyoming) wins the MWC Tournament (March 6), we will send 4 teams to the Big Dance for the 1st time EVER! Keep in mind, Air Force has never won a single game in the Mountain West Tournament.

~For the 7th time in MWC history this season, 3 teams have won at least 20 games overall, counting all games played (Air Force, UNLV, and BYU). In the previous 7 years of the MWC, all 21 teams that have earned 20 or more victories prior to Selection Sunday have received invitations to the postseason (NCAA or NIT). Last season marked the 5th consecutive year the MWC received multiple bids to the Big Dance (SDSU and Air Force). BYU played in the NIT. In all, the MWC has had 27 postseason berths since 2000.

~Through 52 games, attendance in MWC play totaled 455,727, an average of 8,764 fans per game (up from last year). Last season, the conference averaged 8,535 fans in 72 MWC games (614,498 total).

~BYU could grab 3 top MWC men's basketball honors this year: Coach of the Year (Rose), Player of the Year (Young), and Defender of the Year (Cummard). Rose has his Cougars 2 games ahead of the pack at the top of the Mountain West, with this being BYU's 2nd 20+ win season in his 2 years as head coach. Young has scored 20+ points in 8 games this season and averages 17.1 ppg. "Keena Young has my vote for player of the year," CSU coach Dale Layer said. K.Y. scored 24 points against Colorado State in Provo on Wednesday, including the first basket of the game, the final four points of the first half, and seven straight points to open the second half. In the 3 games prior, he scored 29, 25, and 23. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/1%2C1249%...%2C00.html Young is 4th in the MWC in scoring. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/1%2C1249%...%2C00.html

~BYU could be the lone champ in the Big 3 sports this year: Football, Men's Basketball, and Women's Basketball. The Cougars went undefeated in conference in football, finishing at the top by 2 games. The men's basketball team is currently 2 games ahead of Air Force and UNLV, and the women's basketball team is currently tied with TCU.

~The men's basketball conference picture could be much different next year. The head coaches at TCU (Neil Dougherty), Utah (Ray Giacoletti), Colorado State (Dale Layer), and Wyoming (Steve "The Rat" McClain) are all facing the possibility of being fired after the end of this season. Ritchie McKay was just fired at New Mexico, notwithstanding the 3 years remaining on his contract. New Mexico lost 4 conference games at home this year for the 1st time since 1981. After winning their 1st 2 MWC games this season, TCU has lost 11 conference games straight. Colorado State has lost 6 of their last 7, despite future NBA star Jason Smith. Utah has lost 6 home games in one season for the first time since 1988. http://kutv.com/davidjames/local_story_047005244.html

http://themwc.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/s...07aal.html
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/1%2C1249%...%2C00.html
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/1%2C1249%...%2C00.html
http://story.scout.com/a.z?s=338&p=2&c=619205

If all three teams win this Saturday IMO, their a very good chance all 3 could be ranked in the top 25.
UNLV has a 23-6 record (with a big win against Air Force) and a #11 RPI ranking and with a win this Saturday they would go to 24-6.
These team ahead of UNLV have already lost this week (AP, records/RPI/SOS as of today);

#1 26-3 Wisconsin (RPI #6, SOS #51)
#9 22-5 Washington St (RPI #25, SOS #98)
#14 23-5 Air Force (was beat by UNLV) (RPI #16, SOS #70)
#15 25-5 Butler (RPI #31, SOS #115)
#17 18-9 Vanderbilt (RPI #34, SOS #21)
#22 20-7 West Virginia (RPI #55, SOS #101)
#24 18-8 Virginia (RPI #47, SOS #47)
#25 19-8 Alabama (RPI #27, SOS #41)
#28 19-8 Oklahoma St (RPI #41, SOS #37)
#30 17-9 Stanford (RPI #42, SOS #24)
#32 18-9 Boston College (RPI #29, SOS #9)

Other team ahead of them before the top 25 (AP, records/RPI/SOS as of today);

#26 20-8 USC (RPI #51, SOS #65)
#27 19-8 Virginia Tech (RPI #22, SOS #16)
#29 19-8 Kentucky (RPI #8, SOS #2)
#31 24-4 Winthrop (RPI #68, SOS #233)
#33 17-9 Arizona (RPI #13, SOS #1)
#34 21-7 Maryland (RPI #17, SOS #15)
#35 21-6 Notre Dame (RPI #45, SOS #116)
#36 23-6 UNLV (RPI #11, SOS #34)

IMO, Maryland and UNLV are not ranked were they need to be and I'm sure Maryland ranking wil be corrected. So the question ia will the win over Air Force correct their's too?

[old MWC thread from 2007]

Reading this, I realize that I miss Air Force being good at basketball.

I wonder what they can do to turn it around.

(01-27-2013 03:06 AM)eldermars Wrote:  
[old MWC thread from 2007]

Reading this, I realize that I miss Air Force being good at basketball.

I wonder what they can do to turn it around.

Elder. I watched the BYU/Gonzaga game at The Kennel. I was surprised by the showing BYU made.

I had predicted a 3 point game or less.

On the positive side. BYU never gave up.