Mountain West Conference Tournament Picks, Odds, Schedule & How to Watch
- The Mountain West Tournament will be held from Wednesday, March 8 to Saturday, March 11
- All games will be played at the Thomas and Mack Center in Paradise, Nevada
- See the 2023 Mountain West Tournament odds, seeds, bracket, and full tournament preview below
The Mountain West might be the flag-bearers for the mid-majors at March Madness.
It should make for an ultra-competitive conference championship when they teams gather at the Thomas and Mack Center in Paradise, Nevada, home of the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels.
While there is one automatic bid up for grabs, the MWC dots our projected March Madness bracket, with four teams in the field.
A fifth, the New Mexico Lobos — are predicted to be playing in the First Four with a chance at a12-seed.
2023 Mountain West Tournament Odds
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| San Diego State Aztecs | +165 |
| Boise State Broncos | +370 |
| Utah State Aggies | +380 |
| Nevada Wolf Pack | +700 |
| New Mexico Lobos | +1000 |
| UNLV Rebels | +1400 |
| San Jose State Spartans | +3000 |
| Fresno State Bulldogs | +3500 |
| Colorado State Rams | +4000 |
| Air Force Falcons | +18000 |
| Wyoming Cowboys | +21000 |
The San Diego Aztecs, looking for their third tournament title in four years, are the betting favorite +165 odds. The Boise State Broncos — looking to defend last year’s title, are in second with +370 odds, an implied probability of 21.28% they repeat.
The Utah State Aggies (+380) are next closest, followed by the Nevada Wolfpack (+700), who seek a fourth MWC crown since 2017, while the Lobos check in at +1000.
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Odds as of March 3 at DraftKings.
Mountain West Tournament Schedule
The tournament begins with three opening-round games on Wednesday, March 8 — which can all be seen on the Mountain West Network.
The No. 9 Fresno State Bulldogs square off with the 8th-seeded Colorado State Rams at 2pm ET. That’s followed by No. 10 Air Force vs No. 7 UNLV (4:30pm ET), with 6th-seeded New Mexico State vs No .11 Wyoming closing it down at 7pm ET.
The top five teams in Mountain West received first-round byes and into quarterfinals, which will be played Thursday, March 9. SDSU, ranked 18th in the nation, is the tourney’s top seed. They get the winner of the Bulldogs-Rams at 3pm ET.
Time for some #MWMadness‼️
Who you got taking home the title 🏆 pic.twitter.com/pLxPhrVt8T
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) March 5, 2023
The one QF game already scheduled features no. 5 San Jose State vs no. 4 Nevada, and they’re slated for 5:30pm ET.
Second-seeded Bosie State gets the winner of Air Force-UNLV at 9pm ET, while Utah State takes on the survivor of Lobos-Cowboys.
The four that emerge from those games make up the semifinal field, with games on March 10. All quarter and semifinal action can be seen on CBS Sports Network.
The MVC Tournament Final is slated for March 11 at 6pm ET, and will be live on CBS.
Teams to Look Out For in Mountain West Tournament
This could be the most competitive MVC Tournament ever, with five teams that finished with 21 or more wins, and two others, San Jose State (19) and UNLV (18) not far behind. Five teams finished with at least 10 conference wins, led by the Aztecs, who were 15-3.
SDSU ranks 11th in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric, while holding teams to 64.4 points per game, the 34th-best mark in the nation. They enter the tournament winners of 17 of their last 20 — but the losses were notable: to New Mexico, Nevada and Boise State.
The Broncos are right there with the Aztecs defensively, allowing 63.7 points per game (30th), and 13th in adjusted defensive efficiency at KenPom. While SDSU has just one double-digit scorer (guard Matt Bradley), the Broncos have four starters averaging at least 11.5 points, and a fifth, Naje Smith, at 9.7 points per game.
Mid-range Mash opens the scoring. Jamal Mashburn, Jr. becomes 13th player in program history to have consecutive 500-point seasons. #GoLobos
📺@CBSSportsNet pic.twitter.com/iEHJPckR63— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) February 15, 2023
If you’re looking for offense, the New Mexico Lobos are one of the premier scoring teams in college hoops, averaging 81.2 points per game (14th), and rank 19th in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency metric. They’re led by Jamal Mashburn Jr, the leading scorer in the conference averaging 19.5 points per game.
And don’t sleep on the Utah State Aggies, who are among the best-shooting teams in the NCAA, and just outside KenPom’s top-10 for offensive efficiency. They’re eighth in effective field-goal percentage and rank fourth in three-point shooting at 40.1% — one of four schools to crack that plateau, though they easily have the most attempts of that group, at 739.
2023 Mountain West Tournament Prediction
San Diego State and Boise State listed in the NCAA Tournament odds, and both are good bets to win the MWC.
If you’re looking for a slight upset, the team to watch is Utah State. They’ve won five in a row, including a season-ender over the Broncos, with wins over Nevada and UNLV on that streak.
Their path to the semifinals will likely involve a matchup with New Mexico State (+1000), and that could be dynamite. The Lobos are another team worth a sprinkle.
In the end, we’re staying chalk with the best team, in what should be a great tourney.
Pick: San Diego State (+165)
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Having worked in and around sports since 1997, Eric is truly a knowledgeable expert. The two-time journalism grad specializes in all things NBA and NFL. From TSN.ca to CTV's Olympic Broadcast Consortium, Eric's work has appeared in local and national publications alike.
