Here’s how Boise State’s NCAA Tournament resume stacks up vs. Mountain West contenders

Ron Counts
·6 min read

College basketball’s regular season is winding down, which means it’s time to start comparing NCAA Tournament resumes.

National analysts Andy Katz and Joe Lunardi both have recent projections with six Mountain West teams making the field. That would be the conference’s most since it sent five teams to the NCAA tourney in 2013.

The league is still riding high from San Diego State’s run to the national championship game last year. Sending a record number of teams to the tournament this year would cement its place among the best mid-major conferences in the country.

Four teams made it to the tourney each of the past two seasons: San Diego State, Boise State, Nevada and Utah State last year, and Boise State, Wyoming, Colorado State and San Diego State in 2022.

Utah State, San Diego State, Colorado State, Boise State, New Mexico and Nevada have all been in the field of many mock brackets this year. Five of the six have already secured 20-win seasons, and Boise State (18-8, 9-4 Mountain West) is on pace to get there. All six teams have earned votes in the AP Top 25 this season.

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Boise State, San Diego State and Nevada lead the group with five Quad 1 wins. Utah State, which holds a slight advantage over the Broncos for first place in the conference, has the fewest Quad 1 wins among Mountain West contenders with three.

Colorado State and San Diego State own the conference’s most impressive nonconference wins. The Rams went on the road and earned a 69-48 win at Creighton, which checked in at No. 15 in the latest Top 25 and just beat No. 1 UConn. The Aztecs knocked off then-No. 13 Gonzaga, 84-74, in December on the Zags’ home floor.

Nevada also has a high-profile win, beating the Big 12’s TCU by 13 points at the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii in December.

Boise State and San Diego State both own wins over West Coast Conference-leading Saint Mary’s, a sure-fire NCAA Tournament team that is 13-0 in its league. New Mexico and Colorado State both lost to the Gaels.

Here’s a fuller look at the NCAA Tournament resumes for the Mountain West’s top six teams.

San Diego State

Record: 20-7, 9-5 Mountain West

Remaining schedule: at Fresno State, vs. San Jose State, at UNLV, vs. Boise State

Rankings: No. 19 AP; No. 18 NET; No. 18 KenPom

Record vs. Quad 1 teams: 5-7

Record vs. Quad 2: 3-0

Best wins: 84-74 at then-No. 13 Gonzaga (Dec. 29, 2023); 81-67 at then-No. 17 Utah State (Feb. 3); 79-54 vs. Saint Mary’s (Nov. 17, 2023); 63-62 vs. UC Irvine (Dec. 9, 2023); 100-97 OT vs. Washington (Nov. 19, 2023); 76-67 OT vs. Cal (Nov. 25, 2023)

Worst losses: 88-70 at New Mexico (Jan. 13); 79-73 at Grand Canyon (Dec. 5 , 2023)

Projections: Andy Katz No. 4 seed; Joe Lunardi No. 4 seed

Colorado State

Record: 20-7, 8-6 Mountain West

Remaining schedule: at UNLV; vs. Nevada; at Wyoming, at Air Force

Rankings: No. 22 AP; No. 25 NET; No. 28 KenPom

Record vs. Quad 1 teams: 4-6

Record vs. Quad 2: 4-0

Best wins: 69-48 at Creighton (Nov. 23, 2023); 88-83 vs. Colorado (Nov. 29, 2023); 75-55 vs. Utah State (Feb. 17); 79-71 vs San Diego State (Jan. 30); 75-62 vs. Boise State (Feb. 6); 86-81 vs. Washington (Dec. 2, 2023)

Worst losses: 77-64 at Nevada (Jan. 24); 79-76 at Wyoming (Jan. 27); 71-55 at San Diego State (Feb. 13)

Projections: Katz No. 8 seed; Lunardi No. 6 seed

Utah State

Record: 22-5, 10-4 Mountain West

Remaining schedule: at Fresno State, vs. Air Force, at San Jose State, vs. New Mexico

Rankings: No. 30 NET; No. 40 KenPom; receiving votes in latest AP Poll.

Record vs. Quad 1 teams: 3-4

Record vs. Quad 2: 5-1

Best wins: 68-63 vs. No. 19 San Diego State (Tuesday); 80-61 vs. Boise State (Feb. 10); 90-84 OT at Boise State (Jan. 27); 77-72 vs. then-No. 13 Colorado State (Jan. 6); 54-53 vs. San Francisco (Dec. 16, 2023); 79-69 vs. UC Irvine (Dec. 2, 2023).

Worst losses: 72-66 OT at Bradley (Nov. 11, 2023); 75-55 at Colorado State (Feb. 17); 81-67 at San Diego State (Feb. 3); 77-63 vs. Nevada (Feb. 6).

Projections: Katz No. 6 seed; Lunardi No. 7 seed

New Mexico

Record: 21-6, 9-5 Mountain West

Remaining schedule: vs. Air Force, at Boise State, vs Fresno State, at Utah State

Rankings: No. 20 NET; No. 24 KenPom; Receiving votes in latest AP Poll

Record vs. Quad 1 teams: 4-3

Record vs. Quad 2: 1-2

Best wins: 99-86 vs. then-No. 16 Utah State (Jan. 16); 88-70 vs. No. 19 San Diego State (Jan. 13); 68-66 at No. 22 Colorado State (Wednesday); vs. UC Irvine 78-65 (Dec. 20, 2023)

Worst losses: 83-73 at UNLV (Jan. 9); 80-77 vs. UNLV (Feb. 10); 81-70 at San Diego State (Feb. 16)

Projections: Katz No. 9 seed; Lunardi No. 10 seed

Boise State

Record: 18-8, 9-4 Mountain West

Remaining schedule: at Wyoming, at Air Force, vs. New Mexico, vs. Nevada, at San Diego State

Rankings: No. 35 NET; No. 43 KenPom

Record vs. Quad 1 teams: 5-5

Record vs. Quad 2: 2-2

Best wins: 65-58 vs. then-No. 17 Colorado State (Jan. 9); 67-66 at San Diego State (Jan. 20); 86-78 at then-No. 19 New Mexico (Jan. 31); 64-56 at Nevada (Jan. 12); 63-60 vs. Saint Mary’s (Dec. 1, 2023); 63-58 San Francisco (Nov. 12, 2023)

Worst losses: 68-64 vs. UNLV (Jan. 16); 80-61 at Utah State (Feb. 10); 85-68 at Clemson (Nov. 19)

Projections: Katz No. 10 seed; Lunardi No. 9 seed

Nevada

Record: 21-6, 8-5 Mountain West

Remaining schedule: at San Jose State, at Colorado State, vs. Fresno State, at Boise State, vs. UNLV

Rankings: No. 42 NET; No. 42 KenPom; Receiving votes in latest AP Poll

Record vs. Quad 1 teams: 5-4

Record vs. Quad 2: 1-1

Best wins: 77-63 at then-No. 22 Utah State (Feb. 6); 70-66 OT vs. then-No. 24 San Diego State (Feb. 9); 77-64 vs. then-No. 24 Colorado State (Jan. 24); 88-75 vs. TCU (Dec. 22, 2023); 83-76 at Washington (Nov. 12, 2023)

Worst losses: 98-93 at Wyoming (Jan. 20); 71-59 at San Diego State (Jan. 17); 73-52 vs. Drake (Dec. 9, 2023); 89-55 at then-No. 25 New Mexico (Jan. 28)

Projections: Katz No. 11 seed; Lunardi No. 10 seed