Category: The Mountain West

Let’s talk MW Tournament Seeds

by Zach

We are entering the last 5 games of the Mountain West Schedule, we have four games with potential seeding implications and one game that doesn’t matter for seeding in next week’s Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas. Many different things can happen depending on the outcome of the different games. Let’s look at all the different scenarios that can happen on Friday and Saturday.  (Editors note: We won’t touch on the Fresno State vs. Wyoming game in any scenarios since they are both locked into their seeds.)

Standing:

  • Utah State 13-4
  • Nevada 12-5
  • UNLV 12-5
  • Boise State 12-5
  • SDSU 11-6
  • New Mexico 10-7
  • CSU 9-8
  • Wyoming 7-10
  • Fresno State 4-13
  • AFA 2-15
  • SJSU 2-16

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Estimating the UNM (and Other MW Teams) Bowl Probabilities

by Jono

We’re now a few weeks into the 2021 college football season and, despite the rough loss to Texas A&M this past weekend, I can’t help but feel a tinge of something that I haven’t felt in the past few years of Lobo football: hope. Make no mistake, this Lobo team isn’t anywhere near where Coach Gonzales plans to take the program, but based on what we’ve seen already and the schedule ahead, I started to wonder if the Lobos had a reasonable chance to be bowl eligible this year. After the past four years where that didn’t seem like a realistic thing to even be pondering, it felt weird, and good, to have that cross my mind again. So, I decided to go back to some of the previous posts I did to simulate the results of the season based on current win probabilities and see what the Lobo chances are looking like.

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The New, New College Sports Landscape

by Jono

In what would feel like an unprecedented event if it didn’t seem to happen every couple of years, there’s been another seismic shift in the college sports landscape. However, this one feels like the beginning to something bigger and will likely have serious ramifications for the future prospects of many universities, including UNM. In fact, it seems like such a big deal that I actually decided to come out of whatever rock I’ve been hiding under and start writing again.

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Mountain West Tournament Quarterfinals: Zach’s Running Blog

by Zach

Finally arrived after just after the start of the first Quarterfinal game between the 1-seed SDSU Aztecs and the 9-seed Air Force Falcons.

  • 11:48 First Half: SDSU leads 16-15
  • AFA needed to stay with SDSU through the first 10 minutes of the game and have done way more than that as they lead 20-19.
  • AFA has done a great job so far against the SDSU defense, they are 11-15 FG and 5-7 from 3. AFA is a very talented offensive team, and if they are able to hit from deep they could have a chance in this one.
  • 7:33 First Half: AFA 27 SDSU 21. Walker and Tomes already have 17 points combined for the Falcons. Wetzell with 8 points to lead the Aztecs.
  • Schakel with a huge three for the Aztecs, there are a bunch of Aztec fans here, so any momentum swing is going to get them going.
  • Scottie answers with a 3 of his own to keep the Aztec fans quite.
  • 3:55 First Half: AFA 32 SDSU 26. Scottie just picked up his second foul for the Falcons.
  • The Falcons have six players that have scored at least 3 points and have hit 6-10 3-pointers in the first 16 minutes of the game.
  • Flynn picks up his second foul for the Aztecs.
  • SDSU fans hated a foul being called, water is also wet.
  • 1:46 First Half: AFA 34 SDSU 30
  • Swan picks up his second foul of the game.
  • Mitchell with a huge 3 and the bird calls are starting for the Aztec faithful.
  • Huge answer for the Falcons as they hit a 3 to keep a 4-point lead.
  • 39.2 left in the first half: AFA 37 SDSU 33
  • Halftime: AFA 37 SDSU 33.
  • Great first 20 minutes for the Falcons, as they were able to find open shots 15-25 (60% FG), 7-13 from 3.
  • Wetzell and Flynn have 2 fouls for SDSU, Scottie and Swan have 2 fouls for AFA.
  • Zero Free Throw Attempts in the first half for both teams.
  • We are set for the second half.
  • Get play out of halftime for the Falcons to build their lead to six.
  • Eight point lead for the Falcons.
  • Swan picks up foul number 3 at 16:44 left.
  • First Free Throw Attempts at 16:32.
  • Massive 3 for the Falcons.
  • 15:01 Second Half: AFA 44 SDSU 41.
  • Schakel with a 3 to tie it at 44, a huge couple of minutes for AFA.
  • AFA will get their first Free Throw Attempts with 12:14 left in the second half.
  • 12:00 Second Half: AFA 45 SDSU 44.
  • AFA has made this a game. If they can avoid the big SDSU run they will have a shot to knock off the top seed.
  • Swan picked up foul number 4 at 12:00.
  • Schakel with his third 3 of the game to give SDSU a 2-point lead.
  • All of a sudden a 4-point SDSU lead.
  • 10:04 Second Half: SDSU 52 AFA 45. 8-0 run for SDSU.
  • MVP Chants for Malachi Flynn after he knocks down a 3 to give the Aztecs a 7 point lead.
  • Schakel with his 4th 3 of the game and SDSU now leads by 10 and counting.
  • Swan fouls out with 8:07 left. It probably ends a great career.
  • Mitchell with a 3 and this one is over.
  • 7:02 Second Half: SDSU 60 AFA 47. SDSU is on a 16-2 run.
  • 3:00 Second Half: SDSU 64 AFA 56.
  • Schakel with another 3 to give the Aztecs an 11-point lead with just over a minute left.
  • SDSU with a great second half. Won the second 20 minutes 40-23.
  • Final: SDSU 73 AFA 60. SDSU will move on to the Semifinals against the winner of UNLV and Boise State.
  • Final: Boise State 67 UNLV 61.
  • We are about 20 minutes away from New Mexico vs. Utah State. The two teams played on Saturday in Albuquerque with the Lobos winning 66-64.
  • The Lobos will be without Vante Hendrix (played yesterday) but isn’t with the team.
  • Mentioned this on Twitter. com: UNLV hasn’t won the Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas since 2008, and has played in two finals since then (2010 & 2013). Since then: New Mexico has won 3 Titles (2012, 2013, & 2014) and a finals appearance (2018), SDSU has won 3 Titles (2010, 2011, &2018), and 6 finals appearances (2009, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, & 2019). Other programs to win Titles: Utah (2009), Wyoming (2015), Fresno State (2016), Nevada (2017), Utah State (2019).
  • The best hair in Utah State Basketball history is in the building. Sean Harris got rid of the high top fade.
  • The Lobos will be wearing their Cherry uniforms tonight, and USU will be wearing their home white uniforms.
  • Starters for tonight’s game: Zane Martin, JaQuan Lyle, Makuach Maluach, Vance Jackson, Corey Manigault. USU starters: Sam Merrill, Abel Porter, Neemias Queta, Diogo Brito, Justin Bean.
  • 15:35 1H: USU 13 Lobos 5. Sam Merrill with 7 early points for the Aggies. Lobos have been able to get Queta in foul trouble which should help them stay in this game.
  • The Lobos will have 2 Free Throws after the Media Time Out.
  • 11:54 1H: USU 20 Lobos 7. USU is 9-11 shooting, the Lobos are 3-13.
  • The Lobos are lucky that it is only a 13 point difference right now. They need to start hitting some shots and hope that USU doesn’t shoot over 80%.
  • Ball movement needs to get better for the Lobos, the ball is sticking and not changing sides of the floor. Zero assists for the first nine-plus minutes.
  • 3:22 1H: USU 31 Lobos 27. Vance Jackson will have a 1-1 after the TO.
  • JaQuan Lyle is carrying the offense for the Lobos so far tonight. Already has 16 points.
  • A big moment during the last run, Queta should have been called for his 3rd foul of the game (wasn’t), Martin tried to take a charge and was called for his 3rd foul.
  • 23.2 1H: USU 33 Lobos 31. 
  • Halftime: Lobos 33 USU 33. Lyle with 16 points to lead all scorers in the first half. Merrill had 11 quick points but was held in check during the Lobos run.
  • Lobos were down 20-7 at the under 12 TO and finished the last 12 minutes on a 26-13 run.
  • Lobos did a very good job of taking care of the ball in the first half, only 2 turnovers. Lobos will need to do a better job of moving the ball (only 3 assists in the first half). The ball was sticking for the first 8-10 minutes but started to move side to side during the last 10 plus minutes.
  • Foul trouble in the first half: Zane Martin with 3 for the Lobos, and Neemias Queta with 3 for the Aggies. Kurt Wegscheider has 2 for the Lobos, while Justin Bean, Abel Porter, and Sean Bairstow have 2 each for the Aggies. If the Lobos are able to get number 4 on Queta early in the 2nd half, they could put the Aggies in a difficult spot.
  • 15:34 2H: USU 42 Lobos 39 
  • 13:06 2H: Lobos 49 USU 43. Lobos are on a 10-1 run and have taken over after Merrill picked up foul number 4.
  • USU doesn’t have a good ball-handler outside of Merrill. Smith has to roll the dice or they will not win this game.
  • 11:41 2H: Lobos 49 USU 45. Lobos will have a 1-1 after the TO.
  • 9:41 2H: Lobos 57 USU 46
  • 7:36 2H: Lobos 60 USU 53. USU will have a Free Throw after the TO. Lobos had a chance to get the lead over 10 again, but a turnover and fast break and 1 have USU still in this one.
  • Lobos 5 turnovers, USU 16 turnovers.
  • 3:50 2H: Lobos 63 USU 61. Merrill with 2 Free Throws after the TO. Wegscheider fouls out for the Lobos.
  • 2:31 2H: USU 68 Lobos 65. Merrill with 29 points for the Aggies.
  • Final: USU 75 Lobos 70. Lobos season ends at 19-14.

Sizing up the 2020 MW Tournament

by Zach

March is here, and with it comes the Mountain West Men’s Basketball Tournament. With the tournament moving up a week this year, it will be one of the biggest attractions during the week in college basketball. This tournament has a chance to be a great tournament with a lot of talking points and conversation about where programs are at, who actually has a chance to win, and how many teams will end up in the NCAA Tournament. There is a heavy favorite, a couple of teams that can challenge, and a couple of upstart teams that want to make noise. What’s going to happen in Las Vegas this week? It could be crazy, so here are things we can look at going into it:

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Zach’s Reacts: Mountain West Media Rights Deal

by Zach

We have a deal! The Mountain West has reached a media rights deal that will earn the conference a pretty nice pay raise over the next few years. After many years of being an afterthought for the most part with ESPN – including putting MW games on ESPN3, late-night ESPNU, or, if you’re lucky, a late-night game on ESPN2 – the Mountain West will have games on Fox Sports and CBS Sports instead of ESPN. While there will be some negative comments that you will hear from people, such as “Why would you leave ESPN?”, I believe that this is a really good thing for the MW and could prove to be a very important day for the conference and its universities. Here are some of the things that stand out to me with this new media deal:

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Setting the table for the MW Schedule (MBB)

by Zach

With the Mountain West Tournament moving up a week this year, we had a weird glitch in the schedule, where teams played one or two games in December and will have a 16 or 17- game schedule from January 1- February 29. This year, there is a huge advantage for the teams that didn’t have a bye date in December and have their byes out in mid-January and mid-February. Keep in mind that the Mountain West plays an 18-game conference schedule, meaning that every team will have two teams that they only play once (one at home, and one on the road). This tends to come into play for seeding for the Mountain West Tournament, as it can give a team an advantage over similar quality teams. In this piece, we will list out the games each team has played, the games they have coming up, the teams they only play once, and when their byes are. But first, we will take a look at things to keep an eye out for as the conference season goes along.

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Zach’s Reacts: A 20 Game MW Slate? Part 1

by Zach

During the Mountain West Men’s Basketball Media Day, the question was brought up if the Mountian West will be going to a 20-game schedule shortly. The answer is probably yes, but the question is what effect does it have on the Mountain West programs, and the Mountain West at large. Is it a smart thing for the Mountain West to do, and does it make sense in the current landscape of Division 1 College Basketball? There are different ways to look at this question and how it affects the New Mexico Lobos Program.  Let’s go through some of those questions here:

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Zach’s Reacts: Mountain West Opening Round vs. Wyoming

by Zach

What looked like could be a quick exit for the Lobos (14-17) in the Mountain West Tournament instead featured a furious Lobo comeback in the second half to beat Wyoming (8-24), 78-68. It was a game that had its fair share of momentum swings and was an emotional rollercoaster, but left us ready for another day of Lobo basketball. Here are the things that caught my eye during the opening round of the Mountain West Tournament:

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