Wednesday, March 25 - Quarterfinals
Davidson/St. Mary's at SAN DIEGO STATE, 6 p.m. ESPN2
POSTSEASON RESULTS
Tuesday, March 17 - First Round
@SAN DIEGO STATE 65, Weber State 49
@NEW MEXICO 83, Nebraska 71 ESPNU
@Kentucky 70, UNLV 60 ESPN
Thursday, March 19 - Second Round
@Notre Dame 70, NEW MEXICO 68 ESPN2
Friday, March 20 - Second Round
@SAN DIEGO STATE 70, Kansas State 52
College Basketball Invitational
Tuesday, March 17 - First Round
Northeastern 64, @WYOMING 62 HDNet
NCAA Tournament
Thursday, March 19 - Philadelphia, Pa. - First Round
No. 9 Texas A&M 79, No. 8 BYU 66 CBS
Friday, March 20 - Miami, Fla. - First Round
No. 12 Arizona 84, No. 5 UTAH 71 CBS
MWC POSTSEASON NOTES
For the first time in the 10-year history of the Mountain West Conference, five teams topped the 20-
win mark heading into postseason play, with BYU (25-8), New Mexico (22-12), San Diego State (25-
9), UNLV (21-11) and No. 25 Utah (24-10) all hitting the benchmark. In 10 years of the MWC, all 33
teams that have had 20 or more wins prior to "Selection Sunday" have been invited to the postseason.
Overall, the MWC has had 42 postseason bids since its inception in 1999-2000.
Utah entered postseason action ranked No. 25 in the Associated Press poll and received votes in the
USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll, along with BYU.
BYU and No. 25 Utah were included in the field of 65 for the 2009 NCAA Tournament, marking the
eighth straight year the Mountain West had at least one at-large qualifier on Selection Sunday. In 10
years, the MWC has had 22 NCAA bids, including 13 at-large berths. New Mexico, San Diego State
and UNLV secured bids to the National Invitation Tournament, while Wyoming was invited to
participate in the College Basketball Invitational.
Number five seed and MWC Tournament champion Utah (24-10) ended its season with an 84-71loss
to No. 12 seed Arizona (21-13) in the Midwest Regional at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Fla. BYU
(25-8) completed its 2008-09 season with a 79-66 loss to No. 9 seed Texas A&M (24-10) at the
Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pa. The No. 5 and 8 rankings marked the two highest seeds the
Mountain West Conference has ever received in the same NCAA Tournament.
Utah posted a 3-4 record vs. teams in the NCAA Tournament field this season, topping LSU, Gonzaga and
Morgan State while falling to California, Oklahoma, Utah State and Arizona. BYU compiled a 1-3 mark
against NCAA participants in 2008-09, beating Utah State, and losing to Arizona State, Wake Forest and
Texas A&M.
BYU met Texas A&M for the second straight year in first-round action of the NCAA Tournament. Last
year, the Aggies held on for a 67-62 win over the Cougars. Overall, BYU is 1-2 all-time vs. Texas
A&M, claiming an 83-81 victory in the first meeting on Dec. 28, 1972.
No. 25 Utah earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in the MWC's
10-year history, and made its sixth trip in that span. Overall, the Utes have participated in 27 NCAA
Tournaments, compiling a 35-30 (.538) record with four Final Four appearances. Utah's last visit to the Big
Dance was in 2005, where the Utes advanced to the Sweet 16 before falling to Kentucky (62-52).
BYU earned an at-large bid for the fifth time in seven years and made its 24th trip to the Big Dance
overall. With the loss to Texas A&M last Thursday, the Cougars, 11-27 (.289) in NCAA Tournament
action, are now on an eight-game NCAA losing streak that dates back to a first-round win vs. SMU
(80-71) in the 1993 tournament.
New Mexico (22-12), San Diego State (25-9) and UNLV (21-11) all received invitations to the NIT. The
Lobos opened tournament play with an 83-71 win over Nebraska on March 17 before falling to Notre
Dame, 70-68, on March 19. The Runnin' Rebels fell to Kentucky (70-60) on March 17 to end their
season. The Aztecs, a No. 1 seed in their region, defeated Weber State (65-49) on March 17 to
advance to the second round where they were victorious over Kansas State (70-52). SDSU will host the
winner of the March 23 Davidson at St. Mary's contest in the NIT quarterfinal round. The winner of that
game will advance to the semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York.
In the College Basketball Invitational, Wyoming concluded its season with a loss to Northeastern (64-
62) in the College Basketball Invitational. It was the Cowboys' first postseason appearance since a trip
to the NIT in 2003.
BYU, NEW MEXICO AND UTAH SHARE MWC REGULAR-SEASON CROWN
For the second time in the 10-year history of the Mountain West, three teams laid claim to a share of the
regular-season crown as BYU, New Mexico and No. 25 Utah each finished with a 12-4 mark in league play
in 2008-09. This marks the fifth shared or outright title for both BYU and Utah, while New Mexico claims its
first. BYU and Utah were also members of the first set of MWC tri-champions, sharing the 2000-01 regularseason
title with Wyoming. The Cougars' and Utes' five crowns apiece are the most in the 10-year history
of the league, followed by Wyoming with two during that span. Air Force and UNLV havealso claimed one
title each. Air Force (2003-04), BYU, (2006-07, 2007-08), Utah (2004-05), San Diego State (2005-06) and
Wyoming (2001-02) are the only teams to win an outright MWC title.
UTES CLAIM SECOND MWC TOURNAMENT CROWN
No. 25 Utah captured its second MWC Tournament crown, defeating San Diego State, 52-50, in the 2009
tourney finals on March 14. The contest marked the third consecutive year the title was won by the No. 2 seed
(UNLV in 2007 and 2008). The Utes began their run to the crown with a 61-58 win over TCU in quarterfinal
action and a 68-55 victory vs. Wyoming in the semifinals before meeting up with the Aztecs in the finals.
SDSU'S KELVIN DAVIS RECIPIENT OF USBWA MOST COURAGEOUS AWARD
San Diego State senior guard Kelvin Davis has been named the 2009 recipient of the U.S. Basketball
Writers Association's Most Courageous Award. Davis, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma shortly
after the 2007-08 season, went through chemotherapy and radiation treatments during the summer and into
the early part of the 2008-09 basketball campaign. Despite his health status, Davis returned to the team
and has played in eight games during the 2008-09 season. The Waterbury, Conn., native will be honored
at the USBWA's Awards Breakfast, Monday, April 6 in Detroit. Davis is also one of 12 finalists for the V
Foundation Comeback Award, presented by The V Foundation for Cancer Research. That winner will be
announced the weekend of the NCAA Final Four.
MOUNTAIN WEST DOMINATES NABC ALL-DISTRICT TEAM
Ten Mountain West student-athletes were named to the 2008-09 National Association of Basketball Coaches'
(NABC) Division 17 All-District team. BYU's Lee Cummard, San Diego State's Kyle Spain and Lorrenzo
Wade, UNLV's Wink Adams and Utah's Luke Nevill were selected to the first team, while New Mexico's Tony
Danridge and Daniel Faris, TCU's Kevin Langford, UNLV's Rene Rougeau and Wyoming's Brandon Ewing
were named to the second team. This marks the first time in league history that an all-district basketball team
was comprised strictly of players from the MWC.
UTAH'S LUKE NEVILL HONORED BY USBWA
Utah senior center Luke Nevill was chosen as the 2008-09 District VIII Player of the Year by the U.S.
Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). Nevill, the 2008-09 MWC Player and Defensive Player of the
Year, leads the league in rebounding (9.0 rpg) and blocks (2.7 bpg) and ranks fourth in scoring (16.8 ppg).
He headlines a USBWA All-District VIII team that also includes BYU's Lee Cummard and Jimmer Fredette,
New Mexico's Tony Danridge and Wyoming's Brandon Ewing.
IT'S ALL ACADEMIC
New Mexico forward Roman Martinez was named to the 2008-09 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District
VI Men's Basketball Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The
junior from El Paso, Texas, holds a 3.45 cumulative grade point average in University Studies and was
recently accepted to the UNM Anderson School of Management. Martinez averaged 10.6 points and 6.4
rebounds per game this season.
GOING DANCING
Over its 10-year history, the Mountain West has received 22 bids to the NCAA Tournament, including 13 atlarge
berths. The MWC has had at least one at-large qualifier in nine of those 10 years, including eight
straight. The only year in which the MWC sent a lone representative to the Big Dance was in 2000-01, when
BYU, Utah and Wyoming shared the regular-season title and the Cougars captured the league's automatic
bid by winning the MWC Tournament. Below is a breakdown of the league's NCAA participants by year.
The Mountain West was not eligible to receive an automatic bid in its first year (1999-00). UNLV and Utah
earned at-large bids to the 2000 NCAA Tournament.
YEAR
REGULAR-SEASON CHAMPION
AUTOMATIC QUALIFIER
AT-LARGE QUALIFIER
1999-00
UNLV/Utah
Not eligible
UNLV/Utah
2000-01
BYU/Utah/Wyoming
BYU
None
2001-02
Wyoming
San Diego State
Utah/Wyoming
2002-03
BYU/Utah
Colorado State
BYU/Utah
2003-04
Air Force
Utah
Air Force/BYU
2004-05
Utah
New Mexico
Utah
2005-06
San Diego State
San Diego State
Air Force
2006-07
BYU
UNLV
BYU
2007-08
BYU
UNLV
BYU
2008-09
BYU/New Mexico/Utah
Utah
BYU
20 WINS=POSTSEASON
A league-record five MWC teams have reached the 20-win benchmark in 2008-09. San Diego State and
BYU lead the quintet with 25 victories apiece, while No. 25 Utah had 24, and New Mexico and UNLV tied
with 21 wins each. The previous best for most 20-win teams at the end of regular-season play was four in
2006-07, when BYU, UNLV, Air Force and San Diego State all hit the mark prior to the MWC Tournament.
In the 10-year history of the Mountain West, all 34 MWC teams that have had 20 or more wins prior to
"Selection Sunday" have been invited to the postseason. This season, BYU (25-8) and Utah (24-10) each
received invitations to the NCAA Tournament, while New Mexico (22-12), San Diego State (25-9) and UNLV
(21-11) were invited to participate in the NIT. In addition, Wyoming (19-14) played in the College
Basketball Invitational. Overall, the MWC has had 45 postseason bids since 2000.
ROAD WARRIORS
BYU won a league-record nine road games this season, while tying the mark for most road victories (six) in
Conference play. Four teams shared the previous mark of eight overall road wins: Air Force (2003-04),
UNLV (2006-07), BYU (2007-08) and New Mexico (2007-08). BYU also tallied six MWC road victories last
season, matching the 2004-05 Utah and 2005-06 San Diego State squads
