Boise State is riding high off of the most impressive conference win in the first week of league play. Can the Broncos keep the momentum going against the Lobos?
TV schedule: Wednesday, Jan. 3, 9:00 p.m. ET. ESPN3
Arena: Taco Bell Arena in Boise, Idaho.
The quest for the Mountain West to get back to being a multi-bid league continues. At this point in the season last year, it was all but assured that this conference would be a one-bid league, but that’s not the case this time around.
Here at Busting Brackets, the first edition of Bracketology has been released, predicting which teams will get bids, and at what seed. In the case of the Mountain West, two teams are in. Nevada, arguably the top team in the league, is squared at the 9 spot. That means that the Wolf Pack could suffer one bad loss and still be okay, but needs to continue working on the teams resume.
But the second team to receive a bid may be a surprise. Coming in on the 11 seed line and grabbing one of the last at-large spots wasn’t San Diego State or UNLV, but the pride of Idaho, Boise State 12-2 (2-0).
The Broncos crept in after their impressive road performance in Vegas against the Rebels, thanks to in part Chandler Hutchinson’s 32-point performance on 13/16 shooting. Add his 24 points in the season opener against Colorado State, and the star player for the Broncos has become the early front-runner for Player of the Year.
But all the accolades and momentum for Boise St. could come crashing down if New Mexico 6-9 (1-1) has any say in it. The Lobos have shown that they have the ability to play well on the road, coming within a few points of knocking off Nevada in Reno. Joe Furstinger had a double-double in the game and Anthony Mathis had five triples in the loss. Sam Logwood has been coming off the bench as of late, but still leads the team in scoring at 13.4 ppg.
Next: Mountain West rankings after first set of league games
New Mexico doesn’t have the talent as other teams in the league, but under first-year head coach Paul Weir, the Lobos have fought hard and showed grit. I expect them to do same for the first 20 minutes, but they have no answer for Hutchinson, who continues his great play.
Prediction: Boise State 86 – New Mexico 73