You know when you really like some unknown band from the very beginning? You saw them live before their first album. The first album wasn’t big, but you got it when it was first released. You told all your friends about them, and they liked them, but they were still “your band.” Then, when the second album came out, they got a little bigger and other people started hearing about them – and not through you – but you felt like they were still “your band.” But, in the back of your head you knew you needed to enjoy that feeling now because it was fleeting. And, then on the release of that huge third album, they were too big not to be noticed by everyone. While they were still awesome and you still loved them, it wasn’t cool (nor true) to even try and claim them as “yours” anymore. Well, that’s kind of how my twisted mind feels about the Mountain West. Though, I think this year is still in that “second album” phase, but this postseason might be the release of the third album, if these teams get done what they are capable of getting done.
First of all, there is New Mexico. Before the loss to Air Force on Saturday to wrap up the regular season, UNM had a legit case for a #1-seed. As it is, they should get a 3-seed. Oh, and, they don’t have a single senior, and I don’t see anyone leaving early, with the possible exception of Kendall Williams if he has a dominant postseason. This Lobo team might be preseason top-5 next year. UNLV is another team that is primarily freshmen and sophomores and uber-talented. It is not a stretch to say that this Vegas team might be among the 5 most “talented” rosters in the nation. They have the likely #1 overall NBA pick in Anthony Bennett and a front-line so loaded that another potential lottery pick – Mike Moser – can’t even get on the floor. Add in the fantastic Colorado St. and San Diego St. teams, plus the really tough Boise St.’s and Air Forces, and you’ve got yourself a great league…oh, did I mention that they are #2 in conference RPI – and have been for most of the season and had a long stretch at #1? This tournament is going to be something.
CHAMPIONSHIP (March 16th – 60 points)
#1 New Mexico vs #3 UNLV
After a great – though somewhat Madness-free – semifinal double-header, we are set up for a fantastic title game between two teams that could really make some noise in next week’s tournament. These two teams are developing quite the rivalry. They split a pair in the regular season after a thrilling semifinal in last year’s MWC tournament won by the Lobos. This is a must-see game on a day chock full of them.
Eight people (Alex, Alexi, Bry, PapaCim, Primm, Rikey, RDoc, and Scoot) have UNLV here, while six (Gersh, GrossSr, LohseJr, Lynch, Mac, and Teddy) have UNM. A New Mex win would make GrossSr and LohseJr 2013 co-champs in the MWC. A UNLV win would complete a perfect MWC bracket for Alexi.
SEMIFINALS (March 15th – 40 points each)
#1 New Mexico vs #4 San Diego St.
I think the Mountain West scheduled a day off between the quarterfinals and semifinals, so that people like me can take a breath and relax before the best semifinal double-header in the country. All four of the Mountain West’s great teams made it to the semis for what should be the best show in Vegas on Friday night. It kicks off with an opening act of New Mexico, who struggled a bit with Wyoming in the quarters against San Diego St., who won a hard-fought 4/5 game with Boise. Awesome!
Six people (Alex, Cheryl, Rikey, RDoc, Scoot, and Stumpf) have a nice upset pick here with San Diego St. 11 more (Alexi, Bry, Doogan, Gersh, GrossSr, LohseJr, Lynch, Mac, PapaCim, Primm, and Teddy) have New Mexico. The remaining seven people have already lost this game with Boise and will lose ground here. Six people (Gersh, GrossSr, LohseJr, Lynch, Mac, and Teddy) have the Lobos winning this tournament, while only Cheryl and Stumpf have SDSU taking the title.
#2 Colorado St. vs #3 UNLV
And, if the showstopping opener wasn’t enough for you, you’ve got a showstopping nightcap. The host team, UNLV, pounded a good Air Force team in Wednesday’s quarters, while #2 Colorado St. got all they could handle from Fresno St. The big question in this one is will CSU point guard Dorrian Green be able to go. If not, UNLV might have the decided advantage. If so, this one is anybody’s guess.
With the exception of Teddy (Air Force), everyone has something to win here. Ten people took the 2nd-seeded CSU Rams here (Caleb, Cheryl, Dave, Doogan, Gersh, GrossJr, J, Lazarow, Lohse, and Waters), while the other 13 all have UNLV – eight of whom (Alex, Alexi, Bry, PapaCim, Primm, Rikey, RDoc, and Scoot) have Vegas winning this tournament. Seven people have CSU winning this tournament (Caleb, Dave, Doogan, GrossJr, J, Lohse, and Waters), so no matter what a ton of people will lose their M-West champion in this one. This game is GIGANTIC!
QUARTERFINALS (March 13th – 20 points each)
#3 UNLV vs #6 Air Force
The Runnin’ Rebels probably have one of the 3 or 4 most talented rosters in the country. But, they are so LOADED in the frontcourt and a little shallow in the backcourt, which means that they are inconsistent by nature. Anthony Marshall is not a true point guard, but has to play there because he’s the only one on the roster who can do it. But, as I said, this frontcourt is LOADED. Air Force has had one of their best years in a long time (kind of a trend for the military academies this year, actually). If they hadn’t played such a ridiculously soft non-conf schedule, the Falcons might be in the at-large conversation.
Caleb, J, Lazarow, and Teddy have AF in this big upset, with Teddy having them go to the finals. Eight people (Alex, Alexi, Bry, PapaCim, Primm, Rikey, RDoc, and Scoot) went all-in on UNLV and have the Rebels winning this tournament.
UNLV 72 – Air Force 56
Notwithstanding the strange loss at home to Fresno St. to close out the regular season, the Runnin’ Rebels have been playing really well lately. And, they continued that Wednesday with a pretty dominant performance to open the M-West quarterfinals here in Vegas. That being said, it may have to be taken with a grain of salt, as Michael Lyons (the MWC’s leading scorer) left the game with a knee injury before the first TV timeout. But, the best freshman in the country, Anthony Bennett, and company looked really good.
Caleb, J, Lazarow, and Teddy missed on a nice upset pick here, while eight others kept alive the champions.
#2 Colorado St. vs #7 Fresno St.
What a great year for Larry Eustachy in his first year in Fort Collins. After leading Southern Miss to the Dance last year, Eustachy is about to do the same for this CSU team that is very, very dangerous. I’m still not sold on Dorian Green at the point, but everywhere else they are rock solid. Wes Eickmeier is one of the most underrated players you’ll find anywhere, and we all know what Minnesota transfer, Colton Iverson, is capable of down low. Iverson will probably earn an NBA salary for the next 7 or 8 years. CSU is the leading offensive rebounding team in the country, so Fresno will have to keep them off the boards for any real shot at the upset here. Fresno is kind of the forgotten team in the M-West, but they are solid. They are top-100 in the tempo-free rankings and even swept UNLV this year, so watch out. They played the Rams tough in Fort Collins earlier this year, as well.
PapaCim is all alone here on Fresno St., so a Bulldog upset here would give him a free and clear 70-point gain on the rest of the field. That upset would be most upsetting (sorry…) for Caleb, Dave, Doogan, GrossJr, J, Lohse, and Waters, who all have the Rams winning this tournament.
Colorado St. 67 – Fresno St. 61
While I’m “still not sold” on CSU point guard Dorian Green, I definitely think he’s obviously incredibly important to this Rams team’s chances this March. But, they showed something Wednesday without Green, holding off a hot Fresno team in a hard-fought game that could have gone either way. Wes Eikmeier came up huge for the short-handed backcourt of the Rams in more ways than his 18 points. The Rams backcourt held high-scoring Tyler Johnson in check, setting up an AWESOME semifinal on Thursday night against UNLV.
PapaCim was awfully close to a CTC-making upset pick here, but fell just short. The seven people with CSU winning this tournament are glad to get this win, but hope Green is ready to play in the semis.
#1 New Mexico vs #8 Wyoming
Can Wyoming put it together and make a run? It will have to be at the expense of one of the nation’s best teams. As I mentioned above, New Mexico has NO seniors on this roster and with the possible exception of Kendall Williams, they don’t really have an early entry candidates either, so don’t be surprised to see the Lobos in the preseason Top 5 next year…or, at least they should be. But, they aren’t thinking about next year because they have a contending team this year. If Williams is a star, this team has national championship upside. Tony Snell is solid, and forget “stretch-four,” Alex Kirk is a “stretch-FIVE.” The dude is 7-feet, 300+ pounds and has a deft outside stroke. He’s fun to watch…at times.
Everyone has UNM winning this game. It is most important, however, for Gersh, LohseJr, Lynch, Mac, and Teddy, who all have the Lobos winning the M-West.
#4 San Diego St. vs #5 Boise St.
This is a big-time matchup here to cap off the M-West quarters. Boise probably cemented their at-large case by beating the Aztecs on Saturday, but a follow-up performance on a neutral court would be nice, as well. Derrick Marks and Anthony Drmic are flat-out scorers that can play with anyone. But, the Broncos will have to do it on the defensive end – particularly against SDSU’s Jamal Franklin if they want to go to the semis. Franklin – a possible lottery pick in June – is the only player in the country to lead his team in points, assists, rebounds, and steals. He is really, really good. And if Xavier Thames is healthy, this Aztec team is absolutely loaded in the backcourt with Franklin, Thames, the do-everything completely underrated Chase Tapley and the sharpshooter James Rahon. They also have maybe the nation’s best pure “glue” guy in J.J. O’Brien. This game is worth the lack of sleep to stay up and watch…trust me.
This is a huge CTC game, as expected. This game is completely split down the middle, with half the field (Caleb, Dave, Gersh, GrossJr, J, Lazarow, Lohse, Lynch, Mac, PapaCim, Primm, and Waters) taking Boise and the other half taking SDSU. The biggest Aztec fans are Cheryl and Stumpf, who have them winning this tournament. Alex, Rikey, and Scoot have them in the finals. Lazarow is the biggest Boise supporter, as he has them winning the whole thing. Caleb, Dave, GrossJr, J, and Waters all have them in the finals.
OPENING ROUND (March 12th – 10 points)
#8 Wyoming vs #9 Nevada
Does anyone even remember that Wyoming was the last unbeaten teams in America? They didn’t lose until January 9th. Of course that was all before the crazy Luke Martinez bar fight, which pretty much derailed what could have been a great season in Laramie. Instead, they are stuck playing in the pigtail game for the right to probably get waxed by New Mexico in the quarters. The Wolfpack of Nevada had a rough welcome to life in the Mountain West, winning just 3 conference games and finishing in the basement of the league. But, this wasn’t supposed to be the best Nevada team, anyway, so they can have a pass on this season, especially if they can snap their 7-game losing streak in the pigtail game on Tuesday night.
Nine people (Bry, Doogan, Gersh, Lazarow, LohseJr, PapaCim, Scoot, and Stumpf) went for the mild upset with Nevada in the opening round. No one has either of these teams beating New Mexico in the quarters.
Wyoming 85 – Nevada 81
The son of some guy named Larry Nance scored 19 points for a Cowboys team that staves off the bitter end to a once-promising season for at least one night, as they survive a decent (and young) Nevada team. Nevada actually led at halftime and for much of the second half, but they just couldn’t get any stops down the stretch, allowing Wyoming to shoot 57% from the floor. The Cowboys probably won’t face the same lack of defense on Wednesday, when they take on #1 New Mexico.
15 people got this one right.
CTC UPDATE
Championship Picks
- #1 New Mexico (6)
- #2 Colorado St. (7)
- #3 UNLV (8)
- #4 San Diego St. (2)
- #5 Boise St. (1)
Biggest Upsets
- QF – #7 Fresno St. (PapaCim)
- SF – #6 Air Force (Teddy)
- Champ – #5 Boise St. (Lazarow)
Previous CTC Champions
- 2008 – J
- 2009 – Lynch
- 2010 – Stri
- 2011 – Bry & J (perfect)
- 2012 – RDoc (perfect)
2013 Scores
1). 50 (perfect) – Alex, Alexi, Cheryl, Dave, GrossJr, Lohse, Lynch, Mac, Primm, RDoc, Rikey, Waters
13). 40 – Bry, Doogan, Gersh, GrossSr, LohseJr, Scoot, Stumpf
20). 30 – Caleb, J, Teddy
23). 20 – Lazarow, PapaCim
