Columnist Dean Juipe: Reasonable goal: Rebels finish third

Dean Juipe

Friday, Feb. 14, 2003 | 9:53 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

Once upon a time -- well, about two weeks ago, to be exact -- the Mountain West Conference basketball race looked to be a mad scramble. In gambling terms, it was lacking form.

But as each of the league's eight teams begins the second half of its MWC schedule, the battle has taken shape. Those at the top are no longer being confused with those at the bottom.

And UNLV is dead smack in the middle, which is appropriate for a team that alternates between promising and dreadful.

The Rebels host Brigham Young tonight at the Thomas & Mack Center and if the MWC is, as might be surmised, coming into focus, it bodes poorly for UNLV as BYU -- along with Utah -- right this minute is the class of the league.

Each is 6-1 and two games ahead of slumping Wyoming (at 4-3). UNLV is 3-4, as are Colorado State and San Diego State, with New Mexico another game back at 2-5 and Air Force where it belongs at 1-6.

BYU can solidify its lofty stature with a win tonight, and given the troubles the Rebels have with teams with height it won't be surprising if the visitors prevail. It won't be pleasant, but it won't be surprising.

Similarly, Utah has the type of excellent size that allows it to separate itself from teams like the Rebels.

Wyoming has some size, too, yet it appears as if the loss of all-conference swingman Marcus Bailey to injury early in the season is going to be too great of a burden to overcome. The Cowboys creamed UNLV Feb. 1, but they're beatable and look as if they're unlikely to advance to the NCAA Tournament.

Same with UNLV.

Great things were expected when the season opened and nothing that occurred during the early portion of the schedule detracted from that view of the Rebels, but since conference play began they've been somewhat abysmal. Can they reverse that view? Of course. Will they? Don't count on it.

But this much is clear as it pertains to UNLV: It is better than CSU, San Diego State, New Mexico and Air Force. Each of those four teams has had its encouraging moments, yet, in general, all lack the athleticism, the backboard cleaning abilities and the character it takes to contend for the league title.

What's critical for the Rebels at this juncture is to win as often as possible not only for the outside chance they may yet meet NCAA Tournament standards, but to position themselves for the MWC Tournament that will be held here March 13-15.

When the teams are seeded, No. 1 plays No. 8 and No. 2 plays No. 7 and so on. If UNLV can finish third it would get the No. 6 team, which would allow the Rebels to likely gain a first-round victory and some momentum.

But if UNLV is seeded fourth or fifth, which would be a bad sign in and of itself, it gets tossed into a mix where even a first-round win is far from assured.

Last season the third (UNLV) and fifth (SDSU) seeds reached the MWC championship game, so that's encouraging at face value to the teams not slotted at the top. But this season is looking progressively less like the previous one.

If the Rebels are going to do the unlikely and qualify for the NCAA Tournament, finishing third in the conference is a good, albeit revised, opening goal.