Columnist Ron Kantowski: Denver a good fit for MWC

Thursday, June 22, 2000 | 10:28 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's column appears Thursday. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or 259-4088.

Regardless of how many powerhouse programs the Utah men's basketball team knocks off, no matter how many times the Brigham Young football team appears on network television, the Mountain West Conference continues to have a credibility problem that won't go away.

UNLV still gets to play the MWC men's basketball postseason tournament on its home floor.

Bill Bayno can thank his lucky stars for that. Had the Rebels not won the MWC tourney in 1998 and again last year to pull NCAA Tournament bids from their underachieving hats, it's likely UNLV president Carol Harter and the dapper Mister Bayno wouldn't still be exchanging high fives after the Rebels break the huddle.

Yeah, I know. The Rebels still had to "run the table" both those years. But that was like Minnesota Fats winning the 9-ball championship at Twin Cities Pool Hall.

Name another legitimate Division I contender that gets to play its conference tournament on its home court. Michigan State? Nope, they hold the Big 10 tourney in Chicago. North Carolina? Uh-uh. The Tar Heels and their Atlantic Coast Conference brethren hoop it up at the Charlotte Coliseum. Syracuse? Negatory, good buddy. Madison Square Garden hosts the Big East shindig.

But during a recent conference call, commissioner Craig Thompson said the MWC plans to honor the final two years of its contract with the Thomas & Mack Center.

Which surely will give Rick Majerus one more thing to gripe about.

"I'm sure they're grumbling," Thompson said of the MWC hoop coaches. "But I also look at every game that's played. We've got seven games played in the tournament. Maximally, three will be played against UNLV ... quarters, semis and finals. That means four of the seven games are on a neutral court."

Nice try. Thompson must think the media is about as sharp as that hayseed in the "Stripes" barracks who lost in poker to John Candy if he thinks he can sell anybody on that logic.

Thompson went on to add that, "I don't know that the league has a place right now that we could call a neutral court that would sustain it at the level (read: buy tickets) with the exposure we're gaining by being on a campus."

That's where he's wrong. The new Pepsi Center in downtown Denver is the perfect arena in the ideal town (at least geographically speaking) in which to hold the tournament. It's within a 90-minute drive of three of the MWC schools (Colorado State, Air Force and Wyoming) and there are all kinds of five-star restaurants in the Mile High City, but no craps tables. So that should appease Majerus.

In addition, there's major league media and a huge population base to draw from -- provided the MWC marketing gurus can convince both that the Mountain West is a big-time conference with big-time talent deserving of the attention.

Utah proved that to everybody but Kentucky a couple of years ago. It's time for the Mountain West to issue all a reminder and move the tourney to a neutral site.

Or continue to be lumped in with the Big Sky Conference.