Taylor column: MW tournament proves the league's worth the hype

Lucky for me, the Thomas & Mack Center was the hottest place to be last week in Vegas.

Four Division I leagues held their conference tournaments in Las Vegas, including the Pac-12, the West Coast Conference, the Western Athletic Conference and the Mountain West. None were more exciting than the MW championships, which saw the dominoes fall exactly the way they needed to in dramatic fashion in order for the MW to be a six-bid league to the NCAA Tournament.

New Mexico claimed the conference’s automatic bid with a thrilling run through the bracket. The Lobos became the first team in MW history to win four games in four days to claim the conference crown, and they were rewarded with a No. 11 seed in the Big Dance.

San Diego State made it to the championship game for the seventh consecutive year and the 16th time in school history, which is a conference record. The Aztecs fell to the red-hot Lobos, but still earned the MW’s highest seed in the NCAA Tournament at No. 5.

Utah State — the league’s regular-season champion — and Colorado State both lost in the semifinals. Despite finishing first in the league standings, the Aggies were given a No. 8 seed in the Big Dance.

The Rams barely slid into NCAA Tournament, despite being ranked No. 36 in the NCAA Net rankings. CSU was the last team selected by the committee, and the Rams sent a statement by beating the brakes off Virginia 67-42 in the First Four round.

Boise State’s 10-point loss to New Mexico in the MW quarterfinals also dropped it to the First Four round. The Broncos took on Colorado late Wednesday night in search of their first NCAA Tournament win.

Nevada punched its ticket as a No. 10 seed after losing to CSU in the MW quarterfinals last week. Overall, the league’s top six teams are a combined 149-52 going into the NCAA Tournament.

“(The MW) was just, like, made for TV every single night,” New Mexico coach Richard Pitino said after the MW championship game. “Great players. Great coaches. Fan bases that truly care.

“I remember coming here (from Minnesota) thinking, all right, maybe it’s a little bit of a step down from the Big Ten. It didn’t feel like it on a nightly basis. It really didn’t. I mean, packed houses, national TV. There were just wars every night. I know I got better as a coach going against some of these amazing coaches and programs. It was a long, long season, but very rewarding.”

Plenty of fans made the trip to Vegas from their respective states, and that was especially true for New Mexico. The announced attendance for the Lobos’ semifinal matchup with Colorado State was 13,213, the highest of all 10 conference tournament games, including the title bout.

The MW tournament validated everything the conference has been doing to grow its brand on a national scale. Between fan engagement, competitive games and a plethora of talented players, the league is in good shape moving forward.

“This league was phenomenal this year,” SDSU guard Lamont Butler said after the championship game. “We had really good teams. Every game was rowdy. Every game was some close ones. ... We had fun playing in the league. I feel like it really prepared us for the tournament coming up.”

Added SDSU forward Jaedon LeDee: “It was a great league this year. It’s preparing us for the NCAA (Tournament). You can’t take any games for granted this year in the league, and that’s kind of how it is in the tournament, so it was good preparation.”