BYU leads both UNLV, New Mexico by one in loss column
UNLV is still the only team to have beaten
No. 15 New Mexico at The Pit this season (a 74-62 win on Jan. 9). And after the Lobos topped
No. 12 BYU in Albuquerque last week, the win looks even bigger for the Runnin' Rebels as it has allowed UNLV to stay near the top of the league's standings.
Entering the final games of the first half of Mountain West Conference play, BYU leads the league with a 6-1 mark followed closely by New Mexico (6-2) and UNLV (5-2).
San Diego State (4-3) is still within striking distance as well.
Tonight, BYU faces TCU in Provo (6 p.m. PST on The Mtn.) while SDSU welcomes Air Force (7 p.m. PST on CBS College Sports) to San Diego. The Runnin' Rebels play at Wyoming on Wednesday night (7 p.m. PST on The Mtn.) while the Lobos are off until playing host to SDSU on Saturday.
Following the trip to Wyoming, UNLV will then have an eight-day stretch where it faces the top three teams in the conference. BYU (Saturday at 1 p.m. PST) and New Mexico (Wed., Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. PST) both travel to Las Vegas before the Runnin' Rebels head to San Diego State on Saturday, Feb. 13.
In addition to playing for the
Mountain West Conference regular season title, the teams are vying for at-large berths in the
NCAA Tournament. (Only the winner of the MWC Tournament in March receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.)
Most current projected NCAA Tournament brackets include BYU, New Mexico and UNLV while many have SDSU looking to play its way in. (As of Feb. 1, ESPN.com's
Bracketology has BYU as a No. 3 seed, New Mexico a No. 4 and UNLV at No. 7...
CBSSports.com's has New Mexico as a No. 5, BYU as a No. 6 and UNLV as a No. 7...
SI.com has both BYU and New Mexico as No. 4 seeds and UNLV a No. 7.)
Although the projections are fun for fans to talk about the first week in February, the reality is a lot of basketball remains and each game in conference seemingly becomes more significant.