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Klee's Corner: Behind the scenes with Mountain West Conference as NCAA tournament comes to Denver

paul klee, the gazette (colorado springs, colo.)
·3 min read

Mar. 12—For the Mountain West Conference, March is a trip.

Twenty-six men's and women's games in 20 days. Hosting the Mountain West tournament one week in Sin City (Las Vegas), the NCAA tournament in Grin City (Denver) the next.

Come to think of it, can the rest of us come?

"Everyone's welcome!" says Javan Hedlund, associate commissioner and Mountain West lifer.

The best event in sports is coming to Ball Arena, and I want to thank one of the parties that is chiefly responsible for the NCAA tournament games here Friday and Sunday.

Thanks, Mountain West.

We'll learn which teams are bound for LoDo when the NCAA selection committee unveils the 68-team bracket at 4 pm Sunday on CBS. While you won't find Front Range representation in this year's bracket, the void won't impact ticket sales. Denver's pod sold out in January. That's always the case when March Madness comes to Colorado. Last time we hosted the first weekend, in 2016, it had the second-highest attendance numbers of the eight host sites.

"When it comes to Denver and the NCAA tournament you better get your tickets right away," Hedlund says. "It is typically one of the first sites to sell out."

Imagine the scene when Rob Walton and Greg Penner build a Broncos dome, name it the Walmart Supercenter, and Denver lands another Final Four.

Just sayin'.

Still hunting tickets? A limited number of seats could become available at Ticketmaster Tuesday night. That's when attending schools must return their unsold allotment of tickets.

The Mountain West was born in 1999 and this will mark the fifth time it has served as the Denver host for the NCAA tournament. Denver was scheduled to host in 2020 before the useless COVID restrictions canceled the tournament. Who could forget the standing ovation for Air Force against North Carolina in 2004? Or BYU's Jimmer Mania in 2011? Or future NBA All-Star Domantas Sabonis and No. 11 seed Gonzaga busting brackets in 2016?

Fun fact: the MWC also hosted the women's 2012 Final Four at Pepsi Center, and the court from the Final Four is now used as the court for the Mountain West tournament in Vegas.

The Mountain West tournament wrapped up Saturday at the Thomas and Mack Center, closing a stretch of 20 MWC games over seven days. This week the league hosts six games over three days at Ball Arena. The Mountain West staff's itinerary goes like this: Thursday to (the next) Sunday in Vegas, fly back to Colorado Springs at midnight Sunday, drive north to Ball Arena Monday, Denver until the next Sunday.

All ball, all the time. They're so lucky.

Three Mountain Westers have been with the league since it debuted: Hedlund, deputy commissioner Bret Gilliland and senior associate commissioner Carolayne Henry. Thanks, folks. And credit a tremendous partnership between the Mountain West, Visit Denver and Ball Arena for making Denver one of the most popular pods during the first weekend of the Big Dance.

"The great thing about working with Visit Denver and Ball Arena," Hedlund said, "is they start with a 'yes' on everything."

As the host conference, the MWC handles everything from assigning team hotels to press conferences to media seating to police escorts for the teams. As for Mountain West basketball, the analytics suggest it's the sixth-best conference in the country, ahead of the ACC. The league's praying for four bids — San Diego State, Boise State, Utah State and Nevada, with the latter in a "very precarious spot," ace bracketologist Brad Evans of Bally Sports said.

Denver's also scheduled to host NCAA tournament games in 2025.

"West coast basketball is so underrated," Hedlund said. "I think the West needs to stand up and shout from the rooftops."

Agreed. Same for Denver's status as one of the best NCAA tournament sites on the circuit.

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Broncos Country soon will learn what Sean Payton thinks about the roster he inherited.