MWC announces championship bracket

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Regular-season champion New Mexico enters the 2010 Conoco Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Championship as the No. 1 seed for the first time in the league's 11-year history. BYU finished second in the standings and earned the No. 2 seed, while UNLV won the tiebreaker with San Diego State to capture the No. 3 seed. The MWC Championship will be held in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack Center, March 10-13. First-round action takes place Wednesday, March 10 at 2 p.m. PT, with quarterfinals on Thursday, March 11, semifinals on Friday, March 12 and the championship game on Saturday, March 13 at 4 p.m. PT. All eight games of the MWC Championship will be broadcast in high-definition.

The Lobos (28-3, 14-2) will face the winner of Wednesday's first-round game between No. 8 seed Wyoming (10-20, 3-13) and No. 9 seed Air Force (9-20, 1-15) on Thursday at 12 noon (PT) in a broadcast on The Mtn. - MountainWest Sports Network. Wyoming leads the all-time series vs. Air Force, 71-28, with a split in the season series, and is 3-0 vs. the Falcons in MWC Tournament. The Cowboys are 7-10 all-time in the MWC Tournament, while the Falcons are 1-10. New Mexico, which holds a 5-9 record in MWC Tournament contests, swept Wyoming and Air Force this season.

No. 4 seed San Diego State (22-8, 11-5) battles No. 5 seed Colorado State (16-14, 7-9) in the 2:30 p.m. PT quarterfinal game Thursday, which will be simulcast on The Mtn. and CBS College Sports Network. The Aztecs and Rams have split their two previous MWC Tournament meetings, both in quarterfinal action. San Diego State is 10-8 in the MWC Tournament, while Colorado State is 7-9. The Aztecs narrowed the Rams' lead in the series to 35-30 after sweeping both meetings this season.

BYU (28-4, 13-3) takes on No. 7 seed TCU (13-18, 5-11) in the 6 p.m. PT quarterfinal game Thursday, which will be broadcast on The Mtn. The Cougars, 12-9 all-time in the MWC Tournament, lead the series 15-3 after sweeping the Horned Frogs this season. TCU is 1-4 overall in tournament play, including a loss to BYU in their only meeting.

No. 3 seed UNLV (23-7, 11-5) faces No. 6 seed Utah (14-16, 7-9) in the 8:30 p.m. PT quarterfinal game Thursday, which will be simulcast on The Mtn. and CBS College Sports Network. The Runnin' Rebels and Utes have met five previous times in MWC Tournament action, including one quarterfinal, three semifinals and the 2004 title game won by Utah. UNLV holds a league-best 17-6 all-time record in the MWC Tournament, including a 3-2 edge against Utah, while the Utes are 13-8 overall in tournament action. Utah took a 22-21 edge in the series after sweeping both meetings this season.

MWC MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES

• The MWC Tournament has produced six different champions in its 10-year history. UNLV (2000, 2007, 2008), San Diego State (2002, 2006) and Utah (2004, 2009) are the only teams to have won multiple titles, followed by BYU (2001), Colorado State (2003) and New Mexico (2005) with one apiece.
• The No. 1 seed has won the tournament just twice in 10 years. UNLV entered the inaugural MWC Tournament as the top seed in 2000 and won the title. In 2006, San Diego State became the second No. 1 seed to claim the crown.
• The No. 2 seed (BYU, New Mexico, UNLV), No. 3 seed (Utah), No. 5 seed (San Diego State) and No. 6 seed (Colorado State) have captured tournament championships, while the No. 4 seed is 0-4 and the No. 7 seed is 0-1 in title games. The No. 8 seed and No. 9 seeds have yet to appear in the championship game.
• A Mountain West Conference regular-season champion has made it to the finals of the tournament seven times in 10 years (UNLV in 2000; BYU in 2001, 2007 and 2008; Utah in 2005 and 2009; and San Diego State in 2006), winning the championship four times. San Diego State is the only team to win both an outright regular-season title and the tournament crown in the same year.

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