Mountain West Basketball Tournament Odds Favor SDSU

• SDSU finished in first place over the regular season and is listed as the favorite to win the conference tournament.
• Utah State and UNLV are tied for second in the conference and also are among the teams favored.
• San Diego State may be able to enter the NCAA Tournament without an automatic qualifying bid.

LAS VEGAS - With the Mountain West conference season coming to an end, San Diego State is looking to continue its impressive one-loss season by winning the conference tournament.

UNLV, Utah State and Nevada are all right behind SDSU in the conference standings and on the odds board, as they all have a realistic chance of capturing the conference championship.

San Diego State University Aztecs

The Aztecs have been unstoppable all season, as they only have one loss. They finished the season 17-1 in the conference and 28-1 overall. Ready for the NCAA Tournament, the Aztecs won an impressive 20 games by double digits and have another 12 games with 80 points or more.

Malachi Flynn has done an exceptional job leading this team in points (17.6), assists (5.1) and steals (1.8). They also have a great supporting crew of Matt Mitchell (12.4 ppg), Jordan Schakel (10.1 ppg) and Yanni Wetzell (11.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg).

They had a solid year last year going 21-13 but they really outdid themselves this year. Online sportsbooks have San Diego State favored to win the Mountain West Tournament with odds of -175. They are projected to be either a first or second seed in the NCAA tournament regardless of how their conference tournament plays out.

Utah State Aggies

The Utah State Aggies have also posted a great season. They finished 12-6 in the conference and 23-8 overall. They are not ranked but early on in the season, they were ranked as high as 15 in the country. They were able to score a lot of points consistently as they scored 80 or more in 13 games.

The emergence of Justin Bean has really helped them as he went from 4.1 ppg and 3.8 rpg last season to 12.3 ppg and 10.3 rpg in 2020. Sam Merrill also continued to lead this team as usual with 18.8 points. They helped push this team to a 10-3 record in their last 13 games of the season.

The Aggies could make a strong argument to make the NCAA March Madness Tournament. They are second on the odds list to win the conference tournament at +224.

UNLV is a different story. They finished the season with a 12-6 record in the conference as well and a mediocre 17-14 overall record on the season. They had good performing players but their record does not speak for those players. Bryce Hamilton had a great sophomore season having gone from 4.3 ppg and 1.6 rpg to 15.8 ppg and 5.5 rpg. Amauri Hardy also has been consistently improving every year since his freshman year.

The Two Nevada Programs

Surprisingly, the UNLV Rebels are the only team in the country to have beaten SDSU. They saw San Diego State twice this season and lost the first matchup in Vegas but only by four points. The shocker is that they beat the Aztecs on the road. Their win over SDSU surely had a heavy role in their odds to win the conference title as they currently sit in third on the odds list at +750.

The Wolf Pack are a clear underdog for the tournament as they are sitting behind UNLV on the odds board. Last year, they were ranked in the top 10 all season long. Although they have not been ranked at all this year, they have managed to stay afloat in the conference rankings and finished with a 12-6 conference record and 19-11 overall record. They started the season hot going 7-3 in their first 10 games and finished strong as well going 9-4 in their last 13 games.

Jalen Harris really kept them afloat as he improved a lot this season as he went for 21.8 ppg, 3.9 apg and 6.4 rpg. Lindsey Drew as well, he really stepped up and led the team in rebounds (6.6), assists (4.1), and steals (1.4).

Nevada could make a case for March Madness depending on if they have a solid conference tournament or not. Their odds as winning the conference tournament are +1200 despite beating UNLV twice this season.