How the Mountain West is trying to fix its basketball problem

[POKE FAN]

How the Mountain West is trying to fix its basketball problem (Jeff Eisenberg)

“I’ve coached in the SEC and the Pac-12, and the venues and the travel in the Mountain West are so underrated,” Nevada coach Eric Musselman said. “To win at New Mexico, to win at San Diego State, to win at Wyoming, that’s really hard. You have to be an awfully good team to win at those places.”

“We called every single BCS program in the country, and nobody would do it,” assistant coach Jeremy Shyatt said. “They’re not lining up to come to Laramie. They’re thinking, ‘If we go to Wyoming, what do we have to gain?'”

To combat that problem, Wyoming annually participates in exempt tournaments that allow them to face strong competition at a neutral site. The Cowboys also recently landed a two-for-one deal with South Carolina in which they’ll play the Gamecocks twice in Columbia in return for one game in Laramie.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/how-the-mountain-west-is-trying-to-fix-its-basketball-problem-181754018.html

 

[ItSucksToBeACSURam]

Thats a good article and really outlines the trouble we have. I didnt realize the MVC/MWC matchups were determined so far in advance. Why not the day after march madness sit down and match up teams for the upcoming season.... Probably makes too much sense...

 

[Cowboy Junky]

The future of this league is bright. I think Menzies will get it done in Las Vegas. He'll be competitive there after a few years of recruiting.

UNM won't hold onto Neil long. You can bet your ass the new coach will take advantage of the Pit.

SDSU is playing bad right now. We'll see how they deal with replacing a legend coach when Fish retires. Their days at the top are numbered.

Leon Rice has it going in Boise. Until he leaves, they'll always be a factor in the MWC. He has built a solid program in Boise.

Musselman is getting it done in Nevada. He doesn't have the depth yet, but when he does, watch out. The Nevada program looks like it's getting ready for a return to relevance.

Wyoming has our cupboards stocked. Next year we get Hunter Maldonado, Buddha Jones, Nyaires Redding, Austin Meuller, and Anthony Mack, as well as a redshirting Hunter Thompson. We lose McManimal and Morris Marshall.

We need UNLV and UNM to pick up the slack. When they do, and they will soon, there will be four well established programs in SDSU, Wyoming, Nevada, and Boise waiting at the top for them.

Next year has a chance to be a big year for MWC basketball and Wyoming specifically.

Now we just need to replace Hoser with Wichita State.

 

[POKE FAN]

The future of this league is bright. I think Menzies will get it done in Las Vegas. He'll be competitive there after a few years of recruiting.

UNM won't hold onto Neil long. You can bet your ass the new coach will take advantage of the Pit.

SDSU is playing bad right now. We'll see how they deal with replacing a legend coach when Fish retires. Their days at the top are numbered.

Leon Rice has it going in Boise. Until he leaves, they'll always be a factor in the MWC. He has built a solid program in Boise.

Musselman is getting it done in Nevada. He doesn't have the depth yet, but when he does, watch out. The Nevada program looks like it's getting ready for a return to relevance.

Wyoming has our cupboards stocked. Next year we get Hunter Maldonado, Buddha Jones, Nyaires Redding, Austin Meuller, and Anthony Mack, as well as a redshirting Hunter Thompson. We lose McManimal and Morris Marshall.

We need UNLV and UNM to pick up the slack. When they do, and they will soon, there will be four well established programs in SDSU, Wyoming, Nevada, and Boise waiting at the top for them.

Next year has a chance to be a big year for MWC basketball and Wyoming specifically.

Now we just need to replace Hoser with Wichita State.

I agree that Menzies will get things going at UNLV eventually. A few bumps in the road right now.

I don't see Noodles lasting too much longer at UNM unless he really gets things going. Booing at The Pit Tuesday night as UNM lost to UNLV. This was after Saturday's meltdown against Nevada at home.

Really looking forward to what the new additions will bring to Cowboy basketball with their collective athleticism. Just hope this program digs in defensively with the much faster pace under Edwards. We shall see.

 

[stymeman]

I think if we continue on this path and we are consistently ranked year in and year out then teams will have to come to Laramie on occasion. I'd sooo love to see us really make the Dome of Doom a place to be reckoned with. I still say that if Brandenburg woulda never left and built the dynasty on the high plains, we would had one helluva a program at UW and for sure a force to be reckoned with in the MWC and for sure the West!!!