Winners and Losers from Day 1 of 2023 NCAA Tournament results
By Brian Emory
Loser #2: The Mountain West
I want to preface this one by saying no one is a greater advocate for mid-major conferences than I am. I’ve tried for years to avoid feeding into this narrative, and we know the NCAA Tournament is famous for its unpredictability and randomness. But when something happens yearly it becomes the norm and not just an aberration.
Despite not winning a game at the Big Dance since 2018, and much to the dismay of the conference’s growing number of critics, four Mountain West teams were invited to the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
And so far, it’s been more of the same. The tournament got off to a disastrous start for the Mountain West before it even started.
On Wednesday night, the Nevada Wolf Pack got absolutely throttled 98-73 by Arizona State in the First Four. This certainly didn’t do much to quieten all the Mountain West skeptics on Selection Sunday who claimed someone like Oklahoma State, Rutgers, or Clemson was more worthy of that final spot.
Thursday is winding down, and the Mountain West is primarily making headlines for all the wrong reasons again. As someone who watched both, it felt like Boise State and Utah State played the same game today. Both were 10 seeds in games that were expected to be toss-ups, and while neither game was a blowout, I also never once found myself believing the Broncos or Aggies were going to win.
Even as someone who has defended the conference over the years, maybe even I’m just accepting that this conference is now defined by its inability to win games in the NCAA Tournament.
Now obviously, I am leaving out a significant caveat here. The Mountain West DID win a game today, breaking what was an 11-game losing streak at the NCAA Tournament. Fifth-seeded San Diego State snuck by the College of Charleston 63-57 in a game that was close throughout. So the streak is over!
While I’d love nothing more than to see San Diego State go on a deep run, at this juncture of the tournament it’s hard to shake the feeling that this conference has done irreparable damage to its reputation.