MWC

Poll: Who Will Win the MWC Tournament?

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:31:46 -0500

Bracketology: Now Tuesday & Friday

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:08:28 -0500

The Bracketology field is based on how the tourney looks "as of this moment." The field below is not based on who I think deserves to be in, but a prediction of what the committee would do as things stand. Beginning this week, I'll be posting Bracketology updates every Tuesday & Friday. In late February, I release Bracketology updates daily as the season approaches crunch time.

Why should you care what I have to say? In 2007 & 2008, I was considered to have one of the Top 2 or 3 brackets amongst 53 national experts including Joe Lunardi, Gary Parrish and the like. (Admittedly my 2009 final bracket was rather weak.. not sure what happened. Can't win 'em all.)

Notes:

Arrows indicate movement by seed. Green indicates new to the field this week. Conference champions are not my end of season predictions, but current leaders. (Ties atop conference standings go to the higher RPI team).

ONE

Kansas**

Syracuse**

Kentucky**

Villanova

TWO

Duke**

THREE

FOUR

Vanderbilt

Gonzaga

FIVE

Ohio St

Temple

Texas

Butler**

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

Cornell**

TEN

ELEVEN

Siena**

Florida

Clemson

UTEP**

TWELVE

Oklahoma St

Old Dominion

Illinois

Wichita St

THIRTEEN

Utah St**

Northeastern**

Murray State**

Kent St**

FOURTEEN

Charleston**

Oakland**

Weber St**

Pacific**

FIFTEEN

Sam Houston St**

Coastal Carolina**

Morgan St**

Arkansas St**

SIXTEEN + ONE

Stony Brook**

Belmont**

Robert Morris**

Lehigh** / Jackson St**

** = Automatic Bid

League Leaders/Winners (31)

- Leaders throughout the season are merely the first place team in the standings as of the update, and not projected winners. Ties go to the higher RPI team. New teams this week in green.

America East - Stony Brook

A-10 - Charlotte

ACC - Duke

Atlantic Sun - Belmont

Big 12 - Kansas

Big East - Syracuse

Big Sky - Weber St

Big South - Coastal Carolina

Big Ten - Michigan St

Big West - Pacific

CAA - Northeastern

Conference USA - UTEP

Horizon - Butler

Ivy - Cornell

MAAC - Siena

MAC - Kent St

MEAC - Morgan St

MVC - Northern Iowa

MWC - New Mexico

Northeast - Robert Morris

Ohio Valley - Murray St

Pac-10 - California

Patriot - Lehigh

SEC - Kentucky

Southern - Charleston

Southland - Sam Houston St

SWAC - Jackson St

Summit - Oakland

Sun Belt - Arkansas St

WAC - Utah St

WCC - St Mary's

*** = Locked Up Automatic Bid

Last In: Oklahoma St, Old Dominion, Illinois, Wichita St

Last Out: Dayton, Marquette, Virginia Tech, Washington, Cincinnati

Further Four: South Florida, Notre Dame, Virginia, Northwestern

Dropped Out Of Field (at-large): Arizona, Cincinnati, Mississippi St

Post your thoughts on this week's field below:

Poll: Biggest Surprise Top 25 Team?

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 10:55:02 -0500

College Hoops Wednesday Recap: Mountain West 2-0 in Rivalry Games

Raphielle Johnson — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:55:01 -0500

Wednesday offered Utah and UNLV the opportunity to knock off in-state rivals (Utah State and Nevada) who will enter their respective conference seasons expected to compete for league titles, and neither disappointed. The Utes were able to capitalize on seventeen Utah State turnovers and a hot-shooting Carlon Brown (sorry for referring to you as Carlton yesterday) to pull out the 68-67 win over the Aggies.

UNLV recovered from a slow first half to knock off Nevada 88-75 as Oscar Bellfield scored a career-high 22 points and the Runnin' Rebels outscored the Wolf Pack 55-37 in the second half. These are a pair of wins that while the may not look like much right now could end up being valuable resume-builders for both the teams and their conference.

Three Key Happenings

1. Cornell is a team to keep an eye on for the remainder of 2009. The Big Red picked up their second road win of the season, this time knocking off UMass 74-61 in Amherst. This follows their win at Alabama, but with the Crimson Tide rebuilding under a new head coach in Anthony Grant Wednesday's win may be the more impressive of the two. Cornell's Louis Dale (24 points) and UMass' Ricky Harris (26 points) had quite the individual duel but it was the overall shooting that did in the Minutemen. UMass shot just 36.7% from the field and turned the ball over nineteen times in the Legends Classic game. With SetonHall (home) and Syracuse (away) next on the schedule the two-time defending Ivy champs could have quite the resume heading into December.

2. This has the makings of a long season on The Farm. Stanford, who had already lost at home to San Diego, fell to Oral Roberts 83-81 at Maples Pavilion on Wednesday night. Not much was expected from Johnny Dawkins' team heading into the season but this just adds to the unimpressive start for the Pac-10. In their two losses this season the Cardinal have given up an average of eighty points per game and tonight the Golden Eagles shot 49.2% from the field. Landry Fields (28 points) and Jeremy Green (20 points) were effective scoring but this is not a team that will be consistently successful in outscoring opponents this season, so the defense must improve.

3. If Cincinnati can play this well offensively on a nightly basis look out. There was a lot of talk about the Bearcats possibly being the most improved team in the Big East due in large part to the arrival of Lance Stephenson and the return of Cashmere Wright in addition to standouts Deonta Vaughn and Yancy Gates. Mick Cronin's team definitely isn't short on individual talent but if they can execute offensively as they did in their 92-68 win over Toledo they'll be a handful. Cincinnati finished the night with twenty-seven assists (10 turnovers) on thirty-seven baskets and they shot 52.1% from the field. Maui next week will provide stiffer tests but their final tune-up is definitely a good start.

Top Three Games

1. North Texas 101, UT-Arlington 99 (2OT) The Mean Green moved to 2-0 on the season with the close win over the Mavericks. North Texas' Josh White led all scorers with thirty-five while Boston College transfer Marquez Haynes led the Mavs with twenty-nine.

2. Utah 68, Utah State 67 Carlon Brown led the Utes with twenty-two points in their win over the Aggies, the eighth straight time in the series that the home team has won. Jared Quayle led Utah State with 27 points and 11 rebounds.

3. Loyola (MD) 69, UMBC 66 Jamal Barney scored fourteen second-half points in helping to lead the Greyhounds over their neighbors in Baltimore. Chauncey Gilliam led all scorers with 22 points but it wasn't enough to lead the Retrievers to the home victory in the canine showdown.

Three Notable Offensive Performances

1. G Corey Hassan (Sacred Heart) The senior scored thirty-three points to go along with eleven rebounds in the Pioneers' 76-66 loss at Fordham.

2. F Dominique Morrison (Oral Roberts) Morrison scored thirty-one points and added nine rebounds and three assists in the Golden Eagles' 83-81 win at Stanford.

3. G James Anderson (Oklahoma State) Anderson led the Cowboys in their 93-61 win over Southern with thirty points and ten rebounds. Just imagine what he could have done had he shot better from behind the arc (3-10 3PT).

MWC Basketball Preview: 2009-10

CHN — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:19:48 -0500

BYU is the MWC favorite, but the rest of the league is wide-open, as 6 other teams have legitimate hopes of making a deep run in the league tournament.

Conference Rank: 9th

10 year average: 7th

MWC Conference Page

All-MWC Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	Jimmer Fredette	BYU	Jr
G	Afam Muojeke	Wyoming	So
G/f	Roman Martinez	New Mexico	Sr
F	Jonathan Tavernari	BYU	Sr
F	Billy White	San Diego St	Jr

Player of the Year - Greivis Vasquez Freshman of the Year - Kawhi Leonard (SDSU)
CHN Award Winners		Returning Leaders
CHN All-Americans Jimmer Fredette High-Major All-Americans Jimmer Fredette (1st Team) Jonathan Tavernari (2nd) Roman Martinez Afam Muojeke Billy White All-Freshman Team Kawhi Leonard		Points: Jimmer Fredette 16.2 Rebounds: Zvonko Buljan 7.8 Assists: Dairese Gray 4.1

MWC Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

42	BYU	MWC	1	NCAA
62	Utah	MWC	2	NIT
85	UNLV	MWC	3	CBI/CIT
90	New Mexico	MWC	4	CBI/CIT
103	TCU	MWC	5	CBI/CIT
129	Wyoming	MWC	6
145	San Diego State	MWC	7
198	Colorado State	MWC	8
269	Air Force	MWC	9

*Click on links for full Top 144 team preview

** returning conference champion

Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the MWC?

College Basketball Preview - 348 Team Ranking - Alphabetical Ranks/Previews

Poll: Best Non-BCS Conference in 2009-10?

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:05:41 -0500

Poll: Who Will Win the MWC?

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:30:32 -0400

College Basketball: Preseason Conference Ranking

CHN — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:43:04 -0400

After finishing 1st in the RPI the last two years, the ACC should fall back slightly thanks to the big-name departures at UNC & Wake Forest. This should allow one of the Big 12, Big Ten, or even SEC a shot at being #1. The Pac-10 is weak enough that a high-major like the A-10, MVC, or MWC could surpass it.

Chime in with your thoughts below if you agree or disagree with CHN's preseason conference ranking.

2009-10 Conference Ranking

*08-09 is last year's conference RPI. Commentary by Shawn Siegel, ranking by CHN.

	Conference	08-09*
1	Big Ten 9 of 11 teams go into season with ncaa hopes, and as many as 7 may reach that goal	2
2	Big 12 ku is the clear title contender. the bottom few teams are weak though and the middle-tier is hit or miss	3
3	ACC no dominant team like last year, but solid as always.	1
4	SEC rise of uk brings league back to prominence after down year..	6
5	Big East lose tons of big name players, and still held down by likes of depual, rutgers, etc	4
6	Pac-10 conceivable the pac-10 only receives 3 tourney bids.	5
7	Atlantic 10 should get at least 2 invites to the ncaa tournament	8
8	MVC with improvement expected from usual leaders creighton & siu, mvc should be solid all-around	9
9	MWC just about every top team loses a top player, but mwc should be one of the more entertaining leagues	7
10	Conference USA though memphis takes step back, rest of league is better than usual.	10
11	WAC after some down years, wac will once again be compeititve league	11
12	Horizon butler has top 10 hopes, but squads like csu and green bay lose key seniors.	12
13	Colonial while still 1 bid league, likes of odu, n'eastern, gmu, and vcu are all quality	14
14	Sun Belt more then just wku, the entire east division is solid	17
15	MAAC siena, niagara, and rider all have postseason hopes	13
16	WCC gonzaga and smc both worse then season ago	15
17	MAC #'s should be better than last year, but west division still a struggle	21
18	Big West led by up-and-coming long beach state. always finish around this #.	18
19	Summit darling ndsu loses a lot, so usual contenders like oru and oakland should be at forefront again	26
20	Big Sky with exception of sacramento st, this is a solid league top to bottom.	24
21	Southland underrated league always good for some non-conference upsets	19
22	Ivy cornell will be the best the ivy has offered in quite some years	29
23	Southern steph curry's departure opens up door for charleston	20
24	America East decimation of binghamton will hurt league #'s	16
25	Atlantic Sun the league's upper half is as solid as it's been for a few years	27
26	Patriot could use a rebound from former top gun bucknell.	22
27	OVC morehead st continues its improbable rise..	23
28	Big South outside of radford, not much to get excited about here..	25
29	NEC nec hasn't had much going for it in recent years	28
30	MEAC as usual, will battle swac for title of country's worst	30
31	SWAC solid jackson st gives swac hope of surpassing meac	31

College Basketball Preview - 144 Teams in 144 Days - Alphabetical Ranks/Previews

BYU Basketball Preview: #43

Joel Welser — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:28:41 -0400

Overall Rank: #43

Conference Rank: #1 Mountain West Conference

2008-09: 25-8, 12-4

2008-09 postseason: NCAA

Coach: Dave Rose (97-34 at BYU, 97-34 overall)

Coach Dave Rose has done a great job during his four seasons at the helm of BYU. However, during those four years he had Lee Cummard to rely on. Cummard was one of the best all-around players in the nation last year and at times during his career he carried this team. Can the Cougars live on without Cummard?

Key Losses: F Lee Cummard, C Gavin MacGregor

Key Newcomers:

With everybody else returning who averaged at least ten minutes per game, the Cougars will stay towards the top of the conference and that means the newcomers will not need to produce too much. However, Logan Magnusson is ready to give the team some quality minutes. The junior college transfer is a versatile small forward who can do a little bit of everything. Shooting guard Tyler Haws and power forward Brandon Davies are highly regarded freshmen and wing Brock Zylstra is back on the team after redshirting during the 2006-2007 campaign and then taking his LDS mission.

Backcourt:

But it is hard to see where the newcomers will find minutes, although they will certainly push the returnees for playing time. In the backcourt Jimmer Fredette is the new superstar. As a sophomore last year the 6-2 guard averaged 16.2 points, 4.1 assists and 3.0 rebounds. He is an efficient shooter from long range and is certainly capable of taking the clutch shots that went to Cummard last season. Jackson Emery will start by his side. Emery is not as explosive of a scorer, but he can hit the outside shot. Emery is mostly known for his defense, but it would be helpful if he could add a little more scoring to his repertoire to help replace Cummard. Lamont Morgan is the likely candidate to go from a roleplayer to a starter. Morgan only averaged 3.6 points per game last year, but he is a decent ballhandler. That would allow Fredette and Emery to play off the ball. With Charles Abouo and Michael Loyd, who sat out last season, on the bench, BYU has plenty of options.

Frontcourt:

The frontcourt might have to carry a little more of the load this season and that should not be a problem with Chris Miles, James Anderson and Noah Hartsock returning. Miles is the starter under the basket and the 6-11 senior is capable of playing a bigger role. Last year he tallied 7.1 points per game and 4.0 rebounds. Miles weakness is his free-throw shooting and when he gets the ball under the basket, it is a good idea to foul him and make him earn his two points. If he can increase his free-throw shooting, Miles will develop into a much more dangerous scorer. Anderson and Hartsock both had promising freshmen campaigns and they should take a little pressure off of Miles. Anderson is a little better scorer at this point in his career, but Hartsock will hit the glass hard.

Who to Watch:

The player who will hold this team together is Jonathan Tavernari. After opting not to enter the NBA, Tavernari should provide the inside and outside presence for this team. Tavernari is really a 6-6 wing, but he is perfectly suited to play the four spot for the Cougars. He is a superb outside shooter, but he will also use his size to finish around the basket. After averaging 15.7 points and 7.2 rebounds last year, big things are expected from Tavernari.

Final Projection:

And big things are expected from BYU as well. Despite the loss of Cummard, BYU should be the team to beat in the Mountain West Conference. Fredette is ready to take over the backcourt and few teams have the ability to defend Tavernari. As long as Fredette can be the next Cummard, BYU might even win a game in the NCAA Tournament instead of losing, yet again, in the first round.

Projected Post-season Tournament: NCAA

Projected Starting Five:

Lamont Morgan, Senior, Guard, 3.6 points per game

Jimmer Fredette, Junior, Guard, 16.2 points per game

Jackson Emery, Junior, Guard, 7.8 points per game

Jonathan Tavernari, Senior, Guard, 15.7 points per game

Chris Miles, Senior, Center, 7.1 points per game

Next Top 144 Teams
44		45		46		47

College Basketball Preview - 144 Teams in 144 Days - Alphabetical Ranks/Previews

Utah Basketball Preview: #62

Joel Welser — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:03:34 -0400

Overall Rank: #62

Conference Rank: #2 Mountain West Conference

2008-09: 24-10, 12-4

2008-09 postseason: NCAA

Coach: Jim Boylen (42-25 at Utah, 42-25 overall)

Utah had a great year in 2008-2009, ending up tying for the Mountain West Conference championship and making it to the NCAA Tournament. But now the Utes top four scorers, including superstar Luke Nevill, are gone and Coach Jim Boylen has a much tougher task during his third year with the program than he did last season.

Key Losses: G Lawrence Borha, F Shaun Green, G Tyler Kepkay, C Luke Nevill

Key Newcomers:

But Coach Boylen has brought in a great recruiting class and that should keep Utah towards the top of the of the conference. Junior college transfers Matt Read, Jay Watkins and Ricky Shoff should all have the experience to make an immediate impact. Center Jason Washburn was a highly touted recruit and is ready to contribute after a year of gaining strength on the bench. Fellow big men Shawn Glover and Jeremy Olsen will provide even more depth up front. The Utes need some depth on the perimeter as well and Marshall Henderson and Chris Hines should be able to provide that.

Backcourt:

Despite the absence of the top four scorers, Utah does return three starters and two of them are on the perimeter. Carlon Brown has turned into a steady point guard who can do a lot more than just pass. He is not much of a shooter, but Brown will finish around the basket and is the team’s top returning scorer after averaging 9.3 points per game last year. He is also a great rebounder for a guard and that might make a big difference without a great rebounder like Nevill on the team. Luka Drca will turn into the teams outside shooter, but he can also handle the ball and will occasionally get to the basket. Jace Tavita and Jordan Cyphers did not play too often last year, but the 6-4 wings will battle it out with the newcomers for playing time.

Frontcourt:

It was the 6-11, 230 pound forward Kim Tillie who often created space for Nevill to dominate the paint. Tillie is not much of a scorer, but he is a solid rebounder and will do all the dirty work around the basket. Tillie should step back into his starting role at the four spot, but the big question is just who is going to replace Nevill? Washburn is an option, but so is 7-3 center David Foster. Foster played as a freshman for Utah a couple of years ago before going on his LDS mission. He showed promise during that season, but was really only in the game when Nevill was in foul trouble. Now Foster needs to show that he can be a consistent force under the basket.

Who to Watch:

The Utes need to get production out of their newcomers or it could be a long season in Salt Lake City. Obviously the junior college transfers are the best bets to play early and it could end up being combo forward Jay Watkins that makes the biggest impact. The 6-7 Memphis, Tennessee native spent one year at San Francisco before heading to the College of Southern Idaho and finally ending up at Utah. His ability to hit the glass will give the team another strong rebounder, but Watkins can also use his size to get to the basket and could turn into a consistent scorer.

Final Projection:

This Utah team has potential, but potential is always a little dangerous. If Foster or Washburn can turn into something that even slightly resembles Nevill then the team will be in good shape. But that might not even be enough to reach the NCAA Tournament. The backcourt does not have a ton of firepower and they need to find another scorer to compliment Brown.

Projected Post-season Tournament: NIT

Projected Starting Five:

Carlon Brown, Junior, Guard, 9.3 points per game

Luka Drca, Senior, Guard, 7.7 points per game

Jay Watkins, Junior, Forward, DNP last season

Kim Tillie, Senior, Forward, 3.3 points per game

David Foster, Sophomore, Center, DNP last season

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63		64		65		66

College Basketball Preview - 144 Teams in 144 Days - Preview Interviews