Mountain West Tournament Preview 2020
3MW’s All Conference Team:
Player of the Year: Malachi Flynn, R Jr., San Diego State
Coach of the Year: Brian Dutcher, San Diego State
Newcomer of the Year: Malachi Flynn, San Diego State
Freshman of the Year: Orlando Robinson, Fresno State
Season Storylines:
Aztec Empire: The Aztecs’ pursuit of perfection was spoiled by UNLV two Saturdays ago, but 28-1 ain’t too shabby. Discounting San Diego State’s resume because of a watered down Mountain West field is foolish. A road win at BYU, along with two neutral site victories over Iowa and Creighton, is sufficient evidence that shows San Diego State can exchange punches with the nation’s heaviest hitters. Despite being tested in three straight games to close out the regular season, the Aztecs are still top-5 in both the NET and KenPom’s efficiency rankings, and rank in the top-10 in both Haslametrics and BartTorvik’s rankings. Kansas’s dominance and Obi Toppin’s dunk fest are the two main forces impeding Malachi Flynn from claiming national Player of the Year honors - he’s been that good, folks.
Rebs on the Run: If a Coach of the Year silver medal was awarded, T.J. Otzelberger should be the recipient. ‘Coach Otz’ and the Runnin’ Rebels are piping hot heading into the Mountain West tournament, winners of six of their last seven. San Diego State lapped the rest of the Mountain West field but split the two races against UNLV, who lost to the Aztecs at home by four points before handing SDSU its first loss in Viejas a month later. The Runnin’ Rebs are primed to make some serious noise in the MWC tournament – wouldn’t it be nice to have the tournament hosted in your backyard every year…
Tournament Preview
San Diego State has no desire to see UNLV. Another showdown between the Aztecs and Rebels feels too fitting for the basketball Gods to ignore, so get your popcorn ready for a potential rubber match on Friday night in the Semis.
Per usual, all games will be played at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, which doubles as UNLV’s home floor.
Tournament Predictions
Doubting San Diego State at this point is just plain stubborn. It’s akin to ‘the Baylor effect’ in that preseason perception is still clouding our current judgment. I shall fight back against that temptation…
*erases “Utah State”, writes in “Aztecs” on the Champion line*
…and pencil in San Diego State as the MWC Tournament Champion.
(8) Fresno State over (9) Air Force
(7) New Mexico over (10) San Jose State
(6) Colorado State over (11) Wyoming
(1) San Diego State over (8) Fresno State
(5) Boise State over (4) UNLV
(2) Utah State over (7) New Mexico
(6) Colorado State over (3) Nevada
(1) San Diego State over (5) Boise State
(2) Utah State over (6) Colorado State
(1) San Diego State over (2) Utah State