2013 NCAA Tournament: How the Mountain West Fared

The Selection Committee's seedings will be predictably argued right up until the very first tip in this year's NCAA Tournament, but the Mountain West's presence in this year's proceedings cannot be ignored. Five teams from the Mountain West Conference ended up carving a spot for themselves in the bracket, including the bubbled Boise State Broncos who were on the verge of being left out completely.

The New Mexico Lobos were handed a seemingly low 3 seed after surviving a grueling Mountain West Tournament to secure a double championship in the nation's top conference by RPI. The Colorado State Rams were the recipients of a questionable 8 seed after finishing second during the Mountain West's regular season, while the San Diego State Aztecs—perhaps even more surprisingly—leapfrogged the Rams completely and were awarded a 7 seed. The UNLV Runnin' Rebels were given an understandably fair 5 seed after reaching the Mountain West Tournament final, while the Boise State Broncos just snuck in with a play-in 13 seed. The matchups are as follows:

WEST (Los Angeles)

Mar. 20, 7:10 p.m. MST, TRUTV (Dayton, Ohio)

(13) Boise St.

(13) La Salle

WINNER PLAYS:

(4) Kansas State

Mar. 21, 7:50 p.m. MST, TNT (Salt Lake City, Utah)

(3) New Mexico

(14) Harvard

WINNER PLAYS VICTOR OF:

(6) Arizona

(11) Belmont

EAST (Washington, D.C.)

Mar. 21, 5:27 p.m. MST, TRUTV (San Jose, Calif.)

(5) UNLV

(12) California

WINNER PLAYS VICTOR OF:

(4) Syracuse

(13) Montana

SOUTH (North Texas)

Mar. 22, 7:20 p.m. MST, TBS (Philadelphia, Penn.)

(7) San Diego St.

(10) Oklahoma

WINNER PLAYS VICTOR OF:

(2) Georgetown

(15) Florida Gulf Coast

MIDWEST (Indianapolis)

Mar. 21, 7:20 p.m. MST, TBS (Lexington, Ken.)

(8) Colorado St.

(9) Missouri

WINNER PLAYS VICTOR OF:

(1) Louisville

(16) Rnd. 1 Winner

For a full printable bracket courtesy of SB Nation, click here!

UPDATE: 3/18/13, 11:15 a.m. - Added all tip-off times (in Mountain Time) and applicable channels to view each game.

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