If the competition in Mountain West men's basketball hasn't been stiff enough in recent seasons, suddenly the student sections have become the show within the show.
Which is not to be confused, of course, with "The Show," the so-dubbed maniacal, madcap mob of students at San Diego State that leaves few stones unturned when attempting to unsettle the opposition.
Having covered San Diego State men's basketball from the outset of coach Steve Fisher's arrival in 1999, I can attest to witnessing nights at Viejas Arena (formerly Cox Arena) where you could actually hear players exhale at the line before taking a foul shot. The building was frequently as empty as a con artist's promise, the result of 13 losing seasons in the 14 years prior to Fisher's debut.
Today, obtaining a ticket to a San Diego State men's basketball game is a challenge of major proportion.
ESPN's Andy Katz nailed it in his Jan. 16 "3-Point Shot" blog when he described the vast difference at Viejas Arena between then and now.
"The Show" is just one of many distractions endured by opposing teams when traversing through Mountain West venues. There are the "Howl Raisers" at The Pit at New Mexico, already one of the most daunting venues in the nation. There's the "The Stampede" at Wyoming's "Dome of Doom (elevation 7,220 feet)," the deafening, incessant chant of "Reh-bels," Reh-bels" at the Thomas & Mack Center, home to UNLV, and the raucous "white-outs" staged by students at Colorado State. Even at Air Force's Clune Arena, the smallest venue in the league, the decibels generated by a full house rattle the most poised of teams.
Yet for those who missed it, the Mountain West newcomers from Boise State put their own spin on things in Wednesday night's contest against No. 12/15 UNLV, executing a pair of flash mobs that nearly helped lift the Broncos over the hurdle before Boise State fell, 77-72, in overtime.
Welcome to the madness BSU. Only wish you were staying. With football ruling the day, the Broncos are off to the Big East in 2013, while basketball gets shipped back to the WAC. Equaling the mayhem generated by what is fast becoming one of the top leagues in the nation will be no small feat.
Katz, in another blog post on Jan. 26, suggested that the aura experienced on Wednesday night could be hard to find down the road.
In the interim, Bronco fans, you'll be able to match wits this March with some of the best at the Conoco Mountain West Basketball Championships at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, though I wouldn't be tardy in purchasing tickets.
Already, ticket sales for the Championships are directly on pace with last year's record-breaking all-session sales, despite the fact that the MW only has eight institutions this year instead of last year's nine. The lower bowl is likely to sell out within the next week to 10 days, so I'd buy an all-session ticket now to guarantee a seat close to the action. The men's semifinals have sold out each of the last two years, as did last year's championship game.
To purchase tickets, contact your favorite Mountain West institution's ticket office. For more information on the 2012 Conoco MW Basketball Championships, visit TheMWC.com/2012.
Mick McGrane has covered the Mountain West since the league's inception in 1999. He spent 12 years at the San Diego Union-Tribune, where he served as the beat writer for San Diego State football and men's basketball. He currently represents the MW as a member of the Football Writers Association of America All-America Committee and is a member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. McGrane serves as senior writer to the Mountain West, providing readers with exclusive, in-depth information about the Conference by highlighting its eight member institutions and contributing feature stories on student-athletes that participate in the league's 18 sponsored sports.
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