Columnist Ron Kantowski: MWC takes step forward with bids

Thursday, March 14, 2002 | 10:02 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's insider notes column appears Tuesday and his Page One column appears Thursday. He can be reached at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

Having straddled the fence between mid-major and power conference since inception (as well as during its previous incarnation as the crux of the Western Athletic Conference), the Mountain West Conference took a huge step toward legitimacy when three of its members received NCAA Tournament bids.

In fact, you could make a case for last weekend being the high-water mark in the MWC's three-year history, all those football bowl game victories notwithstanding.

Six of its eight men's basketball teams were still playing this week, as Wyoming, Utah and upstart San Diego State have crashed the Big Dance and UNLV, BYU and New Mexico were invited to the Sock Hop (NIT). On the women's side, there were only four teams worthy of postseason consideration, but Colorado State, BYU, New Mexico and UNLV all made it into the NCAA Tournament.

There may be a reason the hair of MWC commissioner Craig Thompson, which is always perfect, may be a little unmanagable this week. Ever try to keep a 'do in place while turning cartwheels?

Of course, it's easy to fall flat on your face if you aren't used to doing cartwheels, and being handed an opportunity and making the most of it are two different things. Just ask a Kennedy offspring.

UNLV's suck-it-up victory over Pac-10 member Arizona State on Tuesday was nice and all, and the NCAA women's tournament is growing in stature. But it's the NCAA Tournament by which all conferences are measured, and that's why it's important that Wy-o, Utah and San Diego State play their Aztecs off.

As a longtime defender of the old WAC/new Mountain West, I'd settle for 1-for-3 and a couple of competitive losses.

Unless you're talking about Liz Taylor's marriage success rate, 1-for-3 seems like a modest expectation. But given the degree of difficulty of the first-round matchups -- Wyoming drew Gonzaga, Utah gets Indiana and San Diego State goes against Final Four dark horse Illinois -- don't expect the MWC trio to emerge as bracket breakers.

The Utes (if Phil Cullen can find the range on his jump shot) might be the best bet, in that the Hoosiers are only moderately more athletic than they are. But somebody from the MWC has to come through, as Utah's 1998 championship game run is slowly starting to fade from memory.

It shouldn't matter, of course, how any of the conferences perform at the tourney. In pro football and basketball, for instance, each division receives equal representation when it comes to the playoffs, regardless of their comparative strength, power rating, tradition, etc.

It doesn't work that way in the NCAA's at-large world. All I know is that it's a good thing the Founding Fathers didn't use the NCAA bracket as its guide, because were that the case, Montana probably wouldn't be voting in the general election. And, for that matter, it might not be situated in the West, either, given the NCAA's warped geographical perspective.

That's why it's crucial the Mountain West teams play well this weekend. With the big boys refusing to venture this way for regular-season games, the MWC has few opportunities to prove itself before midnight on the East Coast, 11 p.m. Central.

But this isn't Big Monday anymore. The NCAA Tournament is a prime-time opportunity that should not be wasted.