Mountain West remains multi-bid league in new men’s basketball NCAA Tournament projection

The Mountain West has received at least two men’s basketball NCAA Tournament bids each year since 2017.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi released his latest NCAA Tournament projection on Tuesday morning, and the bracket expert still had two MWC teams firmly on the bubble.

Lunardi placed MWC co-leaders San Diego State (18-6, 12-2) and Utah State (22-3, 12-2) inside his field of 68. New Mexico (19-6, 10-4) was among the first four teams left out.

In last week’s projection, Lunardi had New Mexico and San Diego State among his last four in with Utah State well above the bubble.

The Aggies received a No. 8 seed in Lunardi’s latest projection with a first-round matchup against No. 9 Nevada opposite No. 1 seed Arizona, which dipped in the polls following back-to-back losses to Kansas and Texas Tech. Utah State, ranked No. 23 in the NCAA NET Rankings, has made three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

Riding a seven-game winning streak, the Aggies will take on Boise State (15-10, 7-7) at 8:30 p.m. Mountain time on Wednesday at Smith Spectrum.

San Diego State was the last team to crack Lunardi’s NCAA Tournament field of 68 alongside UCLA, Santa Clara and TCU. Missouri, Ohio State, California and New Mexico were the first four out, followed by VCU, Virginia Tech, Seton Hall and West Virginia.

The Aztecs, who haven’t missed an NCAA Tournament since the 2018-19 season, host Grand Canyon (16-9, 9-5) at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. San Diego State is favored by 8.5 points over the Lopes.

New Mexico, the reigning MWC regular-season champion, snapped a two-game skid last week with a road victory over Grand Canyon. The Lobos are going for their third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

Despite sitting in seventh place in the MWC standings, Lunardi isn’t quite ready to give up on Boise State. The Broncos remain within bubble striking distance in KenPom (No. 58) and NET (No. 60) heading into Wednesday’s road matchup with Utah State.

On Monday, Lunardi listed Boise State as his 11th team out. The Broncos went to three straight NCAA Tournaments between 2022-24 and were among the first four out last season.

The Big Ten and SEC both received 10 bids in Lunardi’s latest projection, followed by the ACC (eight), Big 12 (eight), Big East (three), West Coast Conference (three) and MWC (two).

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