Mountain West Basketball: 2022 conference tournament preview

Semifinals – Friday, March 11th

#1 Boise State vs. #5 UNLV – 6:30 p.m. PST

Boise State and UNLV after their small upset over Wyoming will meet in the first of two semifinal games. The Broncos and the Rebels met twice in the regular season with Boise State coming away on top in both matchups. They were not blowout wins though as the Rebels were able to keep both games rather close and battle the top-seeded Broncos.

Bryce Hamilton in those two games scored 32 points in the first contest, and then 25 in the second. Expect Hamilton to finish with at least 20 points on the night, but this Broncos team smells the championship game and advances over UNLV.

Prediction: Boise State 73, UNLV 68

#2 Colorado State vs. #3 San Diego State – 9 p.m. PST

Colorado State and San Diego State are two very similar teams which is a key reason why they finished back to back in the standings. These two teams each won a game during the season. The Aztecs won in blowout fashion by thirty, yes thirty at home in the first contest, while Colorado State won a nail-biter only by one at home in the second matchup.

Two great programs are led by two well-respected coaches in Niko Medved for the Rams, and Brian Dutcher for San Diego State. This third meeting will be a lot more like the second game between these two teams. Colorado State will come out on top and meet Boise State in the championship game on Saturday in Las Vegas. With the loss for San Diego State, it means there will be a new tournament champion in the Mountain West as the Aztecs won it last year.

Finals – Saturday, March 12th

#1 Boise State vs. #2 Colorado State – 3 p.m. PST

You do not always get the top two seeds making it to the championship game of the conference tournament, but we get it here in the Mountain West Tournament in 2022. If my predictions end up being correct (fingers crossed) this would be one heck of a matchup between two really good teams in Boise State and Colorado State to crown a tournament champion.

In their two regular-season meetings Colorado State came away with victories in both games. Both wins were by a combined six total points. The first game had to be decided in overtime as well. The player matchups in this game are outstanding on both sides. You have Abu Kigab going up against David Roddy, plus Marcus Shaver Jr. and Isaiah Stevens just to name a few.

This game will feature a lot of lead changes back and forth as it has two very evenly matched teams. Forty minutes will not be enough to decide a winner of the Mountain West Tournament like in the first contest between Boise State and Colorado State.

Beating a team three times in one season is a very hard thing to do, but the Colorado State Rams will accomplish this led by their star player David Roddy. The junior guard in Roddy will be adding a Mountain West Tournament Championship to his basketball resume very soon.

Prediction: Colorado State 83, Boise State 81 in OT