Conference Winner: Boise State
I thought last year they would win the Mountain West and
they disappointed a bit. A lot had to do with the injury to Anthony Drmic
who would have presented an awesome 1-2 punch between him and Derrick
Marks. Well, Marks is gone but Drmic gets 1 more year to prove he can
lead a team. Outside of Marks most of this team returns and as mentioned
Drmic is poised to take his place. Without him Boise was still able to
get to the NCAA tournament but lost in the play in game to solid Dayton team.
This year I think their ceiling is a little higher and I expect a conference
title and possible 7 seed if it all shakes out. Boise State is a under
the radar top 25 team.
At-Large: San Diego State
San Diego State has been a force within the Mountain West
conference since Steve Fisher took over and although I don’t foresee the kind
of dominance that they’ve had in the past couple years I do think they are on
track to push Boise State and be a potential 8-10 seed with upset
potential. There isn’t as much star power as they’ve had but this is more
of a “team” than in year’s past. I look for Skylar Spencer to have a solid year
and they will be a defense first led team. It’s never wise to
underestimate a Steve Fisher team.
Possible At-Large: UNLV
Dave Rose lost a lot from last year’s squad but this team is
full of young potential. A bid is going to fall squarely on the shoulders
of top 20 recruit, Steven Zimmerman, who chose UNLV over many other power 5
conferences. If he can live up to the billing UNLV has the potential to
push San Diego State for that 2nd bid or potentially make this a 3
bid conference. Right now I don’t see enough help to put them in but they
are close and worth watching.
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