Mountain West gets 3 teams in, CSU makes history as NCAA Tournament outcast

By Taylor Bern

Sunday, March 15, 2015 | 4:43 p.m.

The hosts of CBS’ NCAA Tournament Selection Show get versions of the 68-team bracket in the hour leading up to the broadcast, so they have a look at the entire bracket before revealing it region by region. That knowledge might have led to a slip-up that took some of the air out of the Mountain West’s hopes to get four teams into the tournament early in the show.

Two teams — Mountain West tournament winner Wyoming and at-large selection San Diego State — knew they were in while Boise State, which tied San Diego State for the regular season title, and third-place Colorado State were hoping they had done enough to get invited to the dance. During each team announcement on the broadcast, host Greg Gumbel mentioned how many teams were currently in from that conference.

However, Wyoming was the first Mountain West team off the board with a No. 12 seed in the East region against No. 5 seed Northern Iowa, so when Gumbel accidentally said “the third team out of the Mountain West,” stomachs in Boise and Fort Collins probably dropped. Boise State heard its name shortly thereafter and it became clear Colorado State would make history as the team with the best RPI ranking, No. 30, to be left out of the NCAA Tournament.

In what was considered a down year for the conference, three teams in the tournament isn’t bad, though it was tough for supporters to watch a team like UCLA make it in easily while a San Diego State win against Wyoming on Saturday might have meant only two teams in.

Boise State’s reward for its first regular season title in the Mountain West is a quick turnaround and a road game just to make it into the matchups that people actually pick on their brackets. The Broncos are a No. 11 seed and will play fellow No. 11 seed Dayton, the last team to make the field, in the Flyers’ home arena. The winner will play No. 6 seed Providence on Friday in Columbus, Ohio.

San Diego State is in the field for the sixth straight season and will head to Charlotte, N.C., as a No. 8 seed against No. 9 seed St. John’s, which earlier Sunday suspended junior forward Chris Obekpa two weeks for a violation of team rules. Obekpa averaged 5.8 points, seven rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game this season. The winner likely will play No. 1 seed Duke, which awaits the winner of a play-in game between No. 16 seeds North Florida and Robert Morris.

Wyoming is heading to Seattle for a game that could set a Las Vegas record for the lowest over/under in tournament history. The Cowboys and Panthers both rank in the bottom eight in the country in adjusted tempo, according to kenpom.com, so the first to 40 points could win.

The winner gets the winner of No. 4 seed Louisville and No. 13 seed UC-Irvine.

As much as Boise State could gripe about playing a road game on a quick turnaround against a team that probably deserved better than a No. 11 seed, Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy would trade places in a second. The Rams (27-6) are slated to be a top seed in the NIT after losing in the Mountain West quarterfinals while their best overall player, J.J. Avila, watched from the sidelines with an ankle injury.

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.