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Most bracket projections have the Mountain West with four teams in the field, but Jerry Palm of CBSSports.com has a fifth team in his field of 68, and that team is the Boise St. Broncos.
While Palm does have Boise State in this week, he has the Broncos on the fence in his Bubble Watch. He also has Wyoming and Air Force in consideration, but ultimately on the outside looking in. Air Force is hot, and will likely inch closer if they can get some road wins against the top teams in the league.
Here is where Palm has the Mountain West teams in his latest projections:
No. 3 New Mexico vs. No. 14 North Dakota State
No. 5 UNLV vs. No. 12 Stephen F. Austin
No. 7 San Diego State vs. No. 10 Saint Louis
No. 9 Colorado State vs. No. 8 UCLA
No. 12 Boise State vs. No. 12 Maryland (opening round game)
Out of all the Mountain West team, only San Diego State dropped from Palm's prior rankings. Last week, Palm had San Diego State as a five seed. It is still possible for San Diego State to get higher, but they need to avoid losing to the likes of Air Force, Boise State and others in the Mountain West below their level.