Now that the brackets are set, I thought it'd be interesting to check out the current lines on all the Mountain West-related games. I know some folks are disappointed with the seedings, but the opening round matchups might not be so bad. The second round might not be so pretty, but we'll hold off on that for now.
The interesting news (not sure if it's good or bad), is that all four teams are playing on Thursday. Of all the teams SDSU probably likes that the least given how far they have to travel for their game.
New Mexico - Montana: UNM -9.5
BYU - Florida: BYU -4.5
UNLV - Northern Iowa: UNLV -1.0
San Diego State - Tennessee: Tennessee -3.0
None of the lines is particular crazy, so really you're just betting on the teams to win. It's my understanding that Tennessee is a fairly athletic team. Jeremy will have more on that in his regional preview, but if that's the case, SDSU might have trouble. The Aztecs are obviously a very athletic team, but they've been facing a Mountain West conference filled with teams that are not as athletic as them. That's not to say they can't beat the Vols, but it's going to be difficult.
I'll actually be down in Las Vegas for the first two rounds and will, of course, be placing a wager on my Rebels each round they stay alive. Maybe they get crushed by Kansas, but crazy things happen in March. Of all the games, betting on SDSU to win will likely win me more money than any of the other three. Do I roll the dice with that? Or do I play it safe with a New Mexico wager to cover?
I also just came across the opening lines to win it all through the Las Vegas Sun. New Mexico comes in at 60-to-1, BYU is 100-to-1, UNLV and San Diego State are each 300-to-1. Kansas is the favorite at 5-to-2, Kentucky is 7-to-2, and Syracuse and Duke are 8-to-1.