Why Boise State will win the MWC Tournament

When the Boise State Broncos lost their fourth straight game on January 10th against Wyoming, many Boise fans believed the season was over.  But after one overtime victory over UNLV, Derrick Marks and the Broncos have yet to look back. They are currently riding into Las Vegas with a six-game winning streak and are winners of 14 of their last 15.

After the long haul of February getting almost zero national attention, Boise State is now ranked 25 in the latest AP poll. They are the favorites to take the crown in Sin City with 11/5 odds.

Boise State will play the winner of Air Force and New Mexico on Thursday at noon. Against both teams the Broncos are 4-0 this year and barring an upset, should be able to make it into the semifinals.  This is where it may get tricky for Boise State. They will then play the winner of Wyoming-Utah State.  This year they are a combined 1-2 against those teams, but the two losses were during the January four-game skid.  Another key point in this game is both teams are on the outside looking in when it comes to the NCAA tournament.

A win over a ranked Boise State team will look very good to the selection committee bearing what would happen in the championship game.  In the end however, I believe Derrick Marks will lead his team in blue past Wyoming and into the Mountain West final. From the lower tier of the bracket sits the No. 3 seed, Colorado State.  The Rams will take care of both California teams in San Diego State and Fresno State. The Colorado State offense is one of the most underrated offenses in all of college basketball. They are in the top 100 in three offensive categories nationally. The Rams, led by star J.J. Avila are currently riding a five-game win streak, however did not end the season the way they wanted to.

By mid-season they were atop the Mountain West had had a good grasp on things. Losses to teams like Boise State, Wyoming, and San Diego State, three top tier teams, have hurt the Rams greatly. They are still pretty comfortable in the NCAA tournament but really want to make an impression to the committee with a conference tournament victory.Sorry, Colorado State, this is Boise State’s turn. For years of being in the shadow of their very impressive football team, this basketball team has given fans wearing blue something to watch in March.  I believe they beat Colorado State in the tournament final by a score of 81-79.

Boise will enter the tournament as a possible top 5 seed and maybe, just maybe make that run that everyone will talk about.  My team is under a self-imposed postseason ban (thanks Syracuse) and I will be rooting for Boise (almost) like they’re my own team.

Get ready Bronco fans, when Derrick Marks is holding that trophy in Vegas with another one right next to him saying MVP, you may just forget about Bronco team playing on the blue turf.