MWC predictions

[buddylee32]

Who will win the MWC and how what teams will make the big dance in March?

[JRI]

UNM will win conference.

UNLV, SDSU, UNM in the tourney.

[buddylee32]

No CSU in the tourney?

[bonesw505]

UNLV

UNM
SDSU
CSU
Fresno (Dark Horse)

[JulieG]

UNM

UNLV
SDSU
UNR

[DAshroom34]

Unlv has to be the favorite. I love our team, but unlv is loaded.

[bonesw505]

Yeah, and don't count out CSU. They actually got (a lot) better.

[WeAre]

They also lost the coach that got them there...could be surprised by CSU but UNM will still win this conference, Rice hasnt shown he can meld talent into a team yet.

[buddylee32]

CSU will be right there even if they lost their coach they have the most coming back!

[TheLoboMan]

They also lost the coach that got them there...could be surprised by CSU but UNM will still win this conference, Rice hasnt shown he can meld talent into a team yet.

He only coached one year with another coach's players and you don't think he can coach?

He has shown that he can recruit his tail off. He's hired great assistants and is signing talent the likes that have never been seen in this conference.

Rice will have a full year of conditioning his players for the uptempo game he coaches. Last years team didn't have the stamina because they weren't used to his style. With all the horses he has now, Watch Out.

[Welcome2ThePit]

1. UNLV
2. SDSU
3. UNM
4. Reno

5. CSU

Sorry Rams, but you're going to the NIT this year, even though you'll probably be very good and deserve an at large. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the committee punished the MWC for having a poor showing by limiting us to 3 bids. Doubt we'll see four again this year, but you never know. The top 5 should be some really exciting competition.

[COLOLOBO]

Many seem to have forgotten that UNM did win the conference and the MTN tourney last year and went further than any other conference team in the NCAA tourney. They did that with a team that was picked by some to come in 4th and most saying they would finish not better than 3rd. We have three starters returning, the first big off the bench returning, a 4star center starting, and the first wing off the bench returning. SDSU picked 1st last year has many returning from an underachieving team has a team leader returning with a great deal of talent but not much else going for him plus some new parts that need to mesh into a team. UNLV another media darling has a bunch of great parts that need to be assembled by a coach that underachieved in his first year.
Alford told the media that "next year’s team will be very good" and that my friends is the first time I recall him ever saying that before the year starts. While UNM will be over shadowed by the glitter of the new recruits at the fore mentioned universities this UNM addition of Lobos will be the best team and teams win not glittering recruits. Therefore, if I were a betting man my money would be on Alford and company to take another Championship!

[stchas]

Many seem to have forgotten that UNM did win the conference and the MTN tourney last year and went further than any other conference team in the NCAA tourney. They did that with a team that was picked by some to come in 4th and most saying they would finish not better than 3rd. We have three starters returning, the first big off the bench returning, a 4star center starting, and the first wing off the bench returning. SDSU picked 1st last year has many returning from an underachieving team has a team leader returning with a great deal of talent but not much else going for him plus some new parts that need to mesh into a team. UNLV another media darling has a bunch of great parts that need to be assembled by a coach that underachieved in his first year.
Alford told the media that "next year’s team will be very good" and that my friends is the first time I recall him ever saying that before the year starts. While UNM will be over shadowed by the glitter of the new recruits at the fore mentioned universities this UNM addition of Lobos will be the best team and teams win not glittering recruits. Therefore, if I were a betting man my money would be on Alford and company to take another Championship!

UNM was the preseason pick to win the conference by MWC coaches and media last year. What publications are you referring to when you say that they were "picked by some to come in fourth and no better than 3rd".

[MacLobo]

UNM was the preseason pick to win the conference by MWC coaches and media last year. What publications are you referring to when you say that they were "picked by some to come in fourth and no better than 3rd".

I was just about to say the same thing! I don't remember SDSU being picked to finish 1st by anyone last year. I remember UNLV getting some votes, but our Lobos were preseason #1 last year hands down.

[MacLobo]

Also, not sure why people keep saying that Rice underachieved in his first year.....he did beat the #1 ranked team in the country, had his team in the top 10, and made the tournament. Yes, he had some talent....and yes, they flatlined a bit at the end. However, I dont think that's "underachieving" as a first year (ever) head coach.

[WeAre]

I never said Rice "underachieved" or "couldnt coach" ..what I said was he hasn't shown he can meld talent into a team..which is true. His stars imploded at the end of last year..they weren't playing team ball.

[MacLobo]

I never said Rice "underachieved" or "couldnt coach" ..what I said was he hasn't shown he can meld talent into a team..which is true. His stars imploded at the end of last year..they weren't playing team ball.

COLOLOBO said that he underachieved....I agree with you, though. If he had beat CU, and then lost, would we be saying something different though? They did play well the first 75% of the season, though! I think coaches just figured out how to stop their style, and Rice couldn't improvise enough. He'll learn to do that more as he gains experience. One thing I don't like about Rice, however, is that he seems as though he's disinterested or something during the game. I know that's just his demeanor, but you never see any passion/fire/etc. I don't know if any of that transfers to the players, but if he were our coach I like to see a little more emotion.

[bonesw505]

[GiJoeRay]

UNLV will win the regular season crown, UNM will will the conference tourney, SDSU and UNR will get NCAA at large bids, and FSU and CSU will get an NIT nod.

[oneepstein]

Rice has not "proven" himself, but by definition he cannot have done so. "Proving" ones self takes results over time and Rice has not had time so he cannot have accomplished the task some of you are hanging on to as an advantage you may have. I can understand wanting to hang your hat on a perceived advantage (coaching) with all the news coming out about your conference foes loading up... that's natural. At the end of the day, Coach Alford may in fact be the better coach but in college basketball it takes horses and personally I like Coach Rice's horses a Hell of a lot more.

Admittedly, I don't know a whole lot about who UNM has coming in. I suspect there's some reasonable talent and along with the players I'm already aware of and a seriously tough arena to play in, I think UNM will be solid as usual and even have a chance to surprise a few people who want to jump on the CSU or UNR bandwagon. It wouldn't surprise me one bit to see UNM battle past SDSU (personally I'd love to see that) but at the end of the day...

#1 - UNLV

Good luck Lobo's! The season can't get here soon enough.

[MWCfan]

Khem Birch isn't eligible until conference play. By the time of the MWC tourney, UNLV will probably be a very formidable force. Their front court rebounding with Birch, Moser and Smith or Goodman will be tough to match up with. The two starting guards (I'm assuming Anthony Marshall and Bryce Jones) are pretty good rebounders, too. I saw Bryce Jones matched-up against former Aztec Billy White on the internet last night, and the 6'5 Jones lit-up White for 29 points in the Desert Reign Tournament.

Got a lot of UNLV players along with others in the 4 teams. Billy White has a helluva Mohawk. I think game time is 7:30 and 9pm our time tonight.

Link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/rebel-net-com

[MRLobo]

I think preseason MWC looks like this:

UNLV
SDSU
UNM
CSU

UNR

Fresno
Wyoming

BSU
Air Force

4 NCAA bids
1 NIT

[red_rise]

I never said Rice "underachieved" or "couldnt coach" ..what I said was he hasn't shown he can meld talent into a team..which is true. His stars imploded at the end of last year..they weren't playing team ball.

If you mean to suggest he cant mold a team, he lost just 3 games before conference play began and beat a team many considered the best in the nation... #1 UNC in his first yr with these players. They were playing just as much team ball at the end of the season as the beginning but didnt not have the physical form to keep the frantic pace the play in the 1st half of games. Also the guy had 1 yr to put together a mismatched bunch of players used to Kruger ball and ask them to run fast and play hard. There was no discontent on the team, no star arguments asking for the ball. It was all team but no gas. Do you have any facts to suggest his stars imploded? What stars? I sure saw alot of effort and work out of Moser and Marshall last season. Clearly Stanback underperformed but he didnt implode and hes a streak shooter battling knee problems. Other than losing in the Semis in one hell of a game between the two teams, there wasnt an implosion or meshing issue, in fact the team has great chemistry.

[UNLVREBEL]

i appreciate the fact that you guys call unr "unr".

[WeAre]

So conditioning was the issue...if I recall they also didn't have near the same assist/turnover ratio, and from being at the Colorado game and watching the tournament , a lot more "on court" bickering seemed to be going on..I understand that comes with exhaustion and frustration when your used to winning so I could be wrong. I am not saying Rice will not succeed..I am saying he is a first year coach, we will see how he handles this group of talent. I hope he does well, other than 2 or 3 games a year..

[oneepstein]

i appreciate the fact that you guys call unr "unr".

What the Hell else would you call them?

[oneepstein]

As a show of solidarity and mutual respect (but mostly because I think it will be funny) how bout some of you Lobo fans saunter over to Aztec Mesa and start posting under the thread titled UNLV lands top 100 player Savon Goodman. I really don't care what you say just be creative about them going to the Big Least/Mest. The thread has been on for at the top of the list for about a week and there's already 9 pages. I think it's tweaking them to keep looking at that thread day after day.

[bonesw505]

I would start with something like this:

"Hey just checking in. Wanted to see how conference realignment is going. Also, have you guys ever heard of Savon Goodman?"

[Da Rebels!!!]

Khem Birch isn't eligible until conference play. By the time of the MWC tourney, UNLV will probably be a very formidable force.Link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/rebel-net-com

Not quite accurate, Khem will be eligible to play by the 2nd week of December and will definitely play against UNC on Dec 29th.

[hobo]

I never said Rice "underachieved" or "couldnt coach" ..what I said was he hasn't shown he can meld talent into a team..which is true. His stars imploded at the end of last year..they weren't playing team ball.

It was apparent Rice in his first year concentrated in the Runnin Rebs of old - the fast break. So Rice melding his talent according to what he knew best, the fast break, which he said he would do and bring back when he was hired.

But as the season progressed and after teams learned to stopped their fast break, they had no half court offense - an area Rice didn't concentrate. Their lack of a half court offense was their achilles heal in the end - not so much a lack of a melding of talent, but a lack of coaching priorities in year one.

I am sure the half court offense will be a focus for Rice this year.