How many Mountain West Basketball teams made the 2023 NCAA Tournament?
The Mountain West began the year with a strong non-conference slate, and that foundation earned the conference four bids to the Big Dance. The San Diego State Aztecs won both the Mountain West Basketball regular season and tournament titles and they lead a pack of four teams from the conference that saw their names announced on the selection show. As a whole, the conference has had a very good season that illustrated the depth it has built among its basketball programs. Now the quartet of them will look to finish the year as strongly as it started for the Mountain West.
San Diego State Aztecs – No. 5 seed South Region
In the South region, the San Diego State Aztecs are the No. 5 seed and face a potential Cinderella favorite in No. 12 Charleston. This game is one of those fascinating dichotomies that we sometimes get in sports. San Diego State is a defensive juggernaut that early in the season looked as though they had an offensive resurgence, but outside of a few outliers they have reverted back to the team that can struggle to reach the 70-point plateau. Senior Matt Bradley is the offensive focal point for a team that puts up just 72 points per contest. Their opponents like to push the pace and score 81 points per game and are one of the best offensive-rebounding teams in the country. The Aztecs will need that defense because if this game gets into the 75-point range, an upset may be in the offing.
Utah State Aggies – No. 10 South Region
Joining the Aztecs in the South region as the No. 10 seed is the team that they beat in the Mountain West final, the Utah State Aggies. Ryan Odom’s team finished the year 7-1 with wins over Nevada, New Mexico, and Boise State twice. They will begin their NCAA Tournament journey against No. 7 Missouri in a game between two teams that like to score with both teams being in the top 15 in offensive efficiency. The Aggies are 11th in the country in three-point shooting and have all five starters scoring in double figures, which makes them hard to prepare for. The two to watch for Utah State will be Steven Ashworth and Taylor Funk who have put up more than half of the team’s three-point attempts, knocking down 41% of them.
Boise State Broncos – No. 10 seed West Region
The Boise State Broncos are the No. 10 seed in the West region and have a first-round matchup with the No. 7 seed Northwestern Wildcats. The Broncos finished 3rd in the Mountain West and 24-9 overall but had some missed steps down the stretch finishing just 2-3. Like Utah State, they have five guys who average double figures. Their point distribution is even with the five guys led by Tyson Degenhart averaging between 10-14 points. They also gang rebound as a group of five pulling down over 26 per game. The problem for Boise State is that they could be tiring down the stretch as they rank 350th in bench minutes with just two reserves averaging double-digit minutes.
Nevada Wolf Pack – No. 11 seed West Region
The final team from the Mountain West is a No. 11 seed in the West region but will first have to play in Dayton against Arizona State for the right to battle No. 6 TCU. The Nevada Wolf Pack finished the season losing their final three games, otherwise, they may have been more solidly in the field. Jarod Lucas is their main man offensively, scoring over 17 points per game and shooting 37% from deep.
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The problem for Nevada in this game against the Sun Devils is going to be that outside shooting. Arizona State is one of the best teams in the country at defending inside the arc and the Wolf Pack shoots it at just 34% from beyond it. Couple that with the fact that Nevada is one of the worst offensive rebounding teams in the country at just seven per game, and if shots aren’t falling it could be a long night for them.