Columnist Ron Kantowski: MWC standings turned upside down

Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2004 | 9:27 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

They ought to rename the Mountain West Conference "Bizarro World," and not just because it thinks that adding Texas Christian to its membership is a good idea.

Have you checked the men's basketball standings lately? Just like in the Superman comics and "Seinfeld" reruns, up is down and down is up.

Air Force, which was picked to finish last in the league, begins today in first place, its 63-50 loss to the Rebels at the Thomas & Mack Center Monday night withstanding.

Brigham Young, which was picked to finish first, is tied for last with Wyoming with the conference season on the cusp of the halfway point.

While Bizarro Jerry could certainly appreciate the irony, it remains to be seen if the flip-flop, should it continue during February, will impress the NCAA tournament committee.

Although Air Force's road wins at Colorado State, New Mexico and San Diego State would appear to give it the inside track on the regular-season title, the truth is about all that separates the big fish from the bottom feeders is a few baskets or rebounds.

For the first time in recent memory, there aren't any bad teams in the Mountain West. But as the polls and RPI ratings will confirm, there aren't any real good ones, either.

This is the kind of parity that the NFL would die for. But if nobody in the conference can put its head and shoulders above the rest of the pack during the second half, it might hurt the Mountain West when they divvy up the at-large berths in March.

In fact, it's possible to envision a scenario where the only team that would get in is the conference tournament champion.

And that the other seven might be welcome in the NIT.

How bizarre would that be?