Crunch time on court

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Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008 | midnight

By Rob Miech, Las Vegas Sun

It sounded so prestigious. The Mountain West Conference recently was one of five leagues whose teams all sported winning records.

Not so fast.

Mountain West squads were 0-4 against the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten and Southeastern conferences, and 1-5 vs. the Pac-10.

Playing Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Dartmouth and Kennesaw State pads the stats, and victory columns, but it doesn't exactly prep a team, or a league, for March.

Then an undersized UNLV squad upended Minnesota, a Big Ten squad coached by a national championship-winning coach (Tubby Smith) that had won 10 of its first 11 games.

And Brigham Young loses to Boise State.

And San Diego State creeps into the league's elite.

After a tumultuous offseason in which five programs changed coaches, the Mountain West is laced with uncertainty. That was proven when media members gave first-place votes to five teams in a preseason poll.

Veteran college basketball observers know how rare it is when more than half of a conference's squads receive first-place nods.

About the only sure thing, as the Mountain West prepares to tip off its league schedule Saturday, is that The Pit in Albuquerque is once again a caldron of menace for foes.

Better than we thought

@S-Sub:NEW MEXICO

Incredibly, the 12-2 Lobos have had only two undefeated seasons, most recently 1996-97, in the loudest arena in college hoops. Since then, they've lost at least four home games in a season six times. But The Pit is back. New Mexico is 10-0 in its boisterous confines and leads the league in average attendance, at 13,290. New coach Steve Alford has a sweet shooter (Chad Toppert), a tough rebounder (J.R. Giddens) and the best home court in the conference.

@S-Sub:SAN DIEGO STATE

Las Vegas native Billy White showed up at the perfect time, after the departure of Brandon Heath and the dismissal of big man Jerome Habel. White helps Lorrenzo Wade and Kyle Spain with points, gives Ryan Amoroso support on the boards and is the team's stickiest defender. A more consistent effort from junior point guard Richie Williams will help the 10-3 Aztecs battle for the league crown.

@S-Sub:UNLV

During a long layoff, coach Lon Kruger showed his players so much film they could have been mistaken for judges at Cannes. Chase Budinger and Jerryd Bayless of Arizona were Kruger's antagonists, then the Rebels shut down and confused those two Wildcats, who shot a combined 4-for-20. The 11-3 Rebels lost a tight one. Still, vertically challenged UNLV will be a contender as long as it executes Kruger's blueprints.

About where we thought

@S-Sub:AIR FORCE

They're still stingy on defense, allowing a league-low 54 points a game. But the loss of six seniors has hurt the Falcons. Little was expected of the most challenging program in the nation to coach, then Joe Scott arrived. He left in 2004, and mediocrity has returned. Senior guard Tim Anderson is the gritty leader. No wonder, he's also the Operations Flight Commander of Cadet Squadron 9. And 8-5 Air Force still has the coolest fight song in the league.

@S-Sub:BRIGHAM YOUNG

Jonathan Tavernari went global -- averaging 21.4 points, and drilling 11 of 16 3-pointers in consecutive games -- during the Cougars' 5-0 tour of France and Monaco in August. That served as a fine springboard to the season, and veterans Trent Plaisted and Lee Cummard have been solid. Senior guard Ben Murdock is an underrated floor general. Tavernari, as he showed when he rang up 29 points against Louisville, makes 10-3 BYU dangerous.

@S-Sub:TCU

Don't get too excited. The Horned Frogs have had winning preconference records in Neil Dougherty's tenure before sleepwalking. Then again, don't get too down on them, either. Jason Ebie is the top thief among a group that is nationally ranked in steals, and Henry Salter owns one of the surest shots in the league. TCU, 8-4, tunes up for the league slate tonight with a game in Austin against Texas.

Worse than we thought

@S-Sub:COLORADO STATE

Losses to Montana and North Dakota State hurt, but the loss to Northern Colorado stung new coach Tim Miles, the Bisons' former boss. I'm a big boy, he said, I can take the medicine. Does it taste like Lifebuoy or Cod liver oil? Without power forward Jason Smith, the most prominent of a group that bolted early, that stench will likely linger around the 6-7 Rams.

@S-Sub:UTAH

The Utes, who started the week 8-3, find themselves here because of a loss to a middle-of-the-road Santa Clara squad at home. They needed a Shaun Green buzzer-beater to beat California in Berkeley. Luke Nevill, a 7-foot-1 center, is the foundation of the team, but Utah will flounder if Green isn't getting his shots. He has burned UNLV in the past, and Utah ends the regular season at the Thomas & Mack Center.

@S-Sub:WYOMING

It's Brandon Ewing and Brad Jones, and pray for rain. They are the ironmen of the league, first and second, respectively, in minutes. Both are among the top five in assists and top 11 in scoring. But this isn't the national 2-on-2 tournament. Wyoming, 5-6 to start the week, needs to take care of the ball better and shore up a porous defense to escape the basement of the Mountain West.

Rob Miech can be reached at 259-4087 or at miech@lasvegassun.com.