Conference crown is up for grabs

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Jan. 7, 2005 | 10:08 a.m.

First team

C -- Matt Nelson, 7-0, Sr., Colorado State

F -- Andrew Bogut, 7-0, Soph., Utah

F -- Danny Granger, 6-8, Sr., New Mexico

F -- Odartey Blankson, 6-7, Sr., UNLV

G -- Marc Jackson, 6-1, Sr., Utah

Second team

C -- Alex Dunn, 7-0, Sr., Wyoming

F -- Nick Welch, 6-8, Jr., Air Force

F -- Marcus Slaughter, 6-8, Soph., San Diego State

G -- Romel Beck, 6-7, Sr., UNLV

G -- Jerel Blassingame, 5-10, Sr., UNLV

Player of the Year: Bogut

Newcomer of the Year: Justin Williams, 6-10, Jr., F, Wyoming

Coach of the Year: Ray Giacoletti, Utah

The Mountain West Conference basketball season opens this weekend. And to hear the conference coaches tell it, the race will be a tight one.

Make that a very tight one.

"I think the league is wide open," said Wyoming coach Steve McClain, whose Cowboys won or shared the title in 2001 and 2002. "I think this league is as balanced as it's ever been."

Added BYU coach Steve Cleveland: "I think the conference is pretty much open and up for grabs. Whoever is able to hold court at home and win some games on the road is going to win the league. It's hard to know. Last year, Air Force won the league in the first half of the season by winning three of their first four on the road."

UNLV (7-5) was picked to win the title in a conference preseason poll of coaches and selected media members. Utah (12-3), led by possible NBA lottery pick Andrew Bogut, was the pick of most preseason publications. New Mexico (13-2) has put together the best nonconference record. And defending champion Air Force (9-5) on paper may be even stronger than it was a year ago when the Falcons rolled to a 12-2 conference record.

Wyoming (7-5), which scored an impressive non-conference road win at Creighton, and Colorado State (8-5), which has three 7-footers on its roster, tied for the conference cellar a year ago but both appear to be much improved. The only two teams to enter conference play with losing records, San Diego State (6-7) and BYU (5-9), have played competitive nonconference schedules and have had to deal with early injury problems.

"I still think Utah, Vegas and New Mexico, just like they picked them, are the top teams going in," Cleveland said. "But I wouldn't want to sell Air Force short. ... I'm not looking forward to playing anybody."

UNLV coach Lon Kruger said he is looking forward to his first Mountain West Conference campaign.

"(But) we'll have to improve quickly and make progress if we're going to be competitive in this league," Kruger said.

And, if past history is any indication, defend your home floor.

No team with fewer than six home wins (out of seven games) has won the Mountain West regular season crown. Four of the six teams to go unbeaten at home in league history have earned at least a share of the regular-season title.

The league champ each of the past three seasons has also been able to win away from home, needing five road wins to capture the title.

The two years prior to that, both Utah (2000, 2001) and BYU (2001) were able to gain a share of the regular season title with just three road wins.

Utah, which hosts UNLV on Monday night in Salt Lake City in the MWC opener for both teams, has won at least a share of three of the first five Mountain West titles, followed by BYU and Wyoming with two each.

The Rebels tied Utah for the crown in 2000 for their only MWC title and haven't finished higher than third since.