March 12-13, 15-16 at UNLV.
All-kenpom: Jamaal Franklin, San Diego State (kPOY); Colton Iverson, Colorado State; Anthony Bennett, UNLV; Derrick Marks, Boise State; Alex Kirk, New Mexico.
With four fairly equal teams at the top of the Mountain West, this is the kind of tournament where the magical hand of home-court advantage can make a big difference. If the UNLV faithful wants to go all-in for its team, the opportunity is there. Anthony Bennett and company haven’t met the preseason expectations of some, and they are just coming off a home loss to Fresno State so it’s not like anyone is necessarily scared of the Rebels. I’m giving UNLV full home-court advantage here, because they’re, you know, playing on their home court. But tournament play may reduce that a bit. Either way, if you have to pick a favorite for this event, UNLV should be it even if it means they’ll fail to win it seven out of ten times.
Numbers listed are the probabilities of a team advancing to each round. Unfamiliar with log5? Here’s more than you want to know.
Qtrs Semis Final Champ 3 UNLV 100 80.6 50.4 31.3 2 Colorado St. 100 75.6 37.4 20.6 1 New Mexico 100 77.9 37.6 17.0 4 San Diego St. 100 53.2 32.4 16.2 5 Boise St. 100 46.8 23.9 9.6 6 Air Force 100 19.4 6.5 2.2 7 Fresno St. 100 24.4 5.6 1.7 8 Wyoming 61.5 16.5 5.2 1.3 9 Nevada 38.5 5.7 1.0 0.1