Attendance could suffer without Rebels

Steve Addy

Wednesday, March 7, 2001 | 10:51 a.m.

At least for a weekend, Mountain West coaches have lost their most valid complaint and most convenient excuse.

Anytime they have an audience, they complain that the conference tournament is played on UNLV's home court, giving the Rebels an exploitable advantage. They talk about rotating the event to other cities, just to prevent UNLV from running the table, like it did last year.

The soapbox would've been especially crowded this week at the Thomas & Mack Center, with the Mountain West playing for an automatic NCAA Tournament bid for the first time.

But you will hear no whining, because the Rebels will be watching from the sidelines, victims of an NCAA postseason ban that was upheld on appeal and extended to the MWC tournament. It's a seven-team event now, with No. 1 seed Utah receiving a bye in Thursday's first round.

"It should be a great tournament. I just wish UNLV was a part of it," Rebels coach Max Good said.

Other coaches acknowledge that UNLV's absence will impact the tournament.

"It will be different without Vegas able to compete," said Steve Fisher of San Diego State. "We won't have the crowd we would usually have if Vegas was a participant. You want that crowd there. You want that excitement."

BYU's Steve Cleveland said, "No question, the tournament is hurt when you don't have all eight teams. It's a fact. We need all eight teams every year.

"But I'd just like to see it at a neutral site or somewhere where there isn't a significant advantage for one team."

The tournament was bound to be wide open, especially because Utah, BYU and Wyoming split the regular-season title with 10-4 records. But without the Rebels to worry about, the automatic bid is really up for grabs.

"I would say a lot of teams feel that if they get just a little lucky, they're good enough to win it," Fisher said.

"I don't think there's a significant homecourt advantage. I think everybody has a pretty equal chance at it," Cleveland said.

Utah and UNLV represented the Mountain West in last year's NCAA Tournament, but the MWC might struggle to muster more than one qualifier this season.

Among Utah (19-10), BYU (21-8) and Wyoming (19-8), one is certain to make it and one is almost certain to be left out. The other team will be on the bubble when NCAA bids are handed out Sunday afternoon.

In the latest RPI rankings, Utah is 44th, BYU 45th and Wyoming 58th. The Cowboys, hurt by two losses to UNLV, will probably have to win the MWC to earn a bid, but coach Steve McClain doesn't agree.

"I think whoever is in the championship game, both teams will get in," he said. "If we're in the championship game, that would make us 21-8. I think that's good enough. BYU is good enough. I think we'll get two teams in. I'll be shocked if we don't."

Utah interim coach Dick Hunsaker and Cleveland say they'll deal with those matters later.

"I have no sense for that, no feel, nor have I been inquiring," Hunsaker said. "Our focus and mind set is to be ready to play Friday, no matter who it might be."

Cleveland said, "If you start trying to figure out how you can get in, you're probably not going to. There's a front door to the NCAA Tournament (the automatic bid) and that's the only one I know of. Could we get in if we don't win it? I suppose there are some scenarios, but I'm not even considering those right now."