NCAA Tournament Mwc

Among the big story lines from Sunday's filling out of the NCAA basketball tournament field, discussions of conferences who are "overrated" and "underrated" dominated the discussion. Specifically, fans of so-called mid-major teams cried foul, and the masses proclaimed the selection committee was biased in favor of the Big Ten and Pac-10 conferences.

The Mountain West is as major conference that nobody wants to admit is a major conference. The Mountain West thoroughly embarrassed the Pac-10 in football during the regular season and Utah proved that it was the best team on the field after walloping Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. To make matters worse, the trouble-making conference wants to propose a college football playoff.

The NCAA wasn't about to take that lying down.

Well, the third banana in college basketball post-season action has been announced (PDF). I know, like many of you, it was with baited breath to find out the field of sixteen.

The CBI did secure teams from the Pac-10, Big East and Mountain West. So, well, they can claim major conference participation. Whether anyone watches the games is a different matter. Four of the eight opening games will be airing on something called HD Net. I'm reasonably certain I have it, but I can't say I've ever watched it.

The Louisville Cardinals weren't thought to be in line for a No. 1 seed a week ago, but the ball bounced their way -- so much so that they ended up as the top seed in the entire tournament. Their reward is what appears to be a relatively weak bracket. Michigan State is arguably the worst two-seed in the eyes of the public, for example. The bracket definitely has an up-tempo feel to it, so expect to see the points pile up, especially in the early rounds.

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The snubbed teams like St. Mary's, Creighton, San Diego State and Penn State will get their chance to make their argument that they were deserving of an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament over Arizona, Minnesota, and well... that's about it.

The top four seeds in the NIT are San Diego State, Auburn, Creighton and Florida. The SEC packed the second tier tournament with four teams.

San Diego State could have spent the night partying on the strip, rolling through the Tropicana, Flamingo and Imperial Palace (hey, they are college students they can't afford the Bellagio) as Mountain West champions. And more importantly, basking in the high-roller status of being automatic tournament qualifiers.

Instead they will lie awake in bed tonight, nursing a hangover like one of those fools who wake up with wedding bands, wondering who that person laying next to them is. The Aztecs had an opportunity to punch its own ticket to the dance, and didn't do it. Now the anxiety starts.

San Diego State looks like it should be in the tournament. The team has dealt with suspensions, illness and injuries to put up a pretty solid record. The only dings are early losses to St. Mary's and Arizona -- two fellow bubble teams. However, the Aztecs finished the season strong, and knocked off UNLV and BYU in the conference tournament.

Logic says State is in. But this being the NCAA tournament, you can never assume.

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San Diego State was on the bubble depending on which bracket projection you wanted to believe, but there is absolutely no denying it now -- the Aztecs are in the NCAA tournament following a huge win over BYU in the semifinals of the Mountain West tournament.

The Mountain West now looks like a solid three-bid conference and some cock-eyed optimists still believe that UNLV has a shot at a bid. But for right now, Utah, BYU and San Diego State appear to be locks.

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ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi has been in love with the Mountain West Conference for most of the season, at one point believing that five teams could get into the NCAA tournament. That's not going to happen now. UNLV looked pathetic on its home court, losing a third game this season to San Diego State and greatly diminishing any hopes that the Rebels had of making a third consecutive NCAA appearance.

But the Rebels weren't the only team that struggled in the early rounds of the conference tournaments. Is there any hope that UNLV might sneak into this thing?

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