Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Press Release Week No. 1

Nov. 11, 2009

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EXHIBITION RESULTS

Tuesday, November 3
@COLORADO STATE 74, Regis 65 (exh.)
@NEW MEXICO 98, New Mexico Highlands 68 (exh.)
@SAN DIEGO STATE 72, California Baptist 57 (exh.)
Thursday, November 5
@BYU 74, Trinity Western 56 (exh.), BYU-TV
Saturday, November 7
@COLORADO STATE 64, Western State 50 (exh.)
@UTAH 83, Findlay 70 (exh.)
@WYOMING 78, Regis 60 (exh.)
Tuesday, November 10
@UNLV 62, Washburn 52 (exh.)
@BYU 82, Central Washington 46 (exh.), BYU-TV
@SAN DIEGO STATE 89, Point Loma Nazarene 56 (exh.)

UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE

Friday, November 13
Basketball Travelers Tip-Off Tournament (Eugene, Ore.): COLORADO STATE vs. UC Davis, 4:30 p.m. PT
Mid-American Christian at TCU, 7 p.m. CT
Idaho at UTAH, 7 p.m. MT
Bradley at BYU, 7:30 p.m. MT, The Mtn.
South Dakota State at WYOMING, 7:30 p.m. MT
Western State at AIR FORCE, 8 p.m. MT
Saturday, November 14
UC San Diego at SAN DIEGO STATE, 2 p.m. PT
Basketball Travelers Tip-Off Tournament (Eugene, Ore.): COLORADO STATE vs. Winston-Salem State, 4:15 p.m. PT
UC Riverside at NEW MEXICO, 7 p.m. MT
Pittsburg State at UNLV, 7 p.m. PT
Sunday, November 15
Basketball Travelers Tip-Off Tournament (Eugene, Ore.): COLORADO STATE at Oregon, 3:30 p.m. PT

*Mountain West Conference game.
CAPS denotes Mountain West Conference team.
All times listed are local to game site and subject to change.

OPENING WEEKEND PREVIEW
Six Mountain West Conference teams tip off the 2009-10 season on Friday, November 13, with five of those squads playing in their home arenas. Highlighting Friday's slate is a 7 p.m. MT match-up featuring Bradley at BYU in the first game of the inaugural Mountain West-Missuouri Valley Challenge, a contest that will be televised on The Mtn. - MountainWest Sports Network. Other MWC teams in action on their home courts on Friday include Mid-American Christian at TCU (7 p.m. CT), Idaho at Utah (7 p.m. MT), South Dakota State at Wyoming (7:30 p.m. MT) and Western State at Air Force (8 p.m. MT). Colorado State opens the season at the Basketball Travelers Tip-Off Tournament in Eugene, Ore., where the Rams will square off against UC Davis in opening-round action. The rest of the league takes to the court on Saturday, November 14, with UC San Diego at San Diego State (2 p.m. PT), UC Riverside at New Mexico (7 p.m. MT) and Pittsburg State at UNLV (7 p.m. PT). Colorado State continues tournament play against Winston-Salem State (4:15 p.m. PT) on Saturday before wrapping up with host Oregon (3:30 p.m. PT) on Sunday, November 15.

MWC-MVC CHALLENGE
The 2009-10 season features the inaugural MWC/MVC Challenge, the first in a four-year agreement between the Mountain West and Missouri Valley Conferences. Nine Challenge Series games will be played each year, and each conference will host a total of 18 games in the four-year period. The Challenge will feature head-to-head competition between nine Mountain West and nine Missouri Valley teams annually. Evansville, by virtue of finishing the 2007-08 MVC regular season in 10th place, will be the Valley team that does not participate in the 2009 Challenge Series. In keeping with the overall objective of the Challenge, match-ups for the first year are based in part on 2008-09 pre-season rankings and RPI rankings from the previous year, or RPI rankings from the preceding three-year period. Below is a listing of the 2009-10 MWC/MVC Challenge contests:

HOME OPENERS
Eight of the nine Mountain West teams will open the 2009-10 campaign on their home court. Colorado State has won all 10 of its home openers in Moby Arena since the inception of the MWC in 1999, while Air Force has won eight straight home openers at Clune Arena. Below is a look at MWC home openers since 1999-00:

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
Utah has won 11 consecutive games in the Huntsman Center to tie for the nation's 14th-longest active home win streak heading into the 2009-10 campaign. The Runnin' Utes' last loss at home was on Dec. 10 vs. California (72-69). Below is a look at the country's top home win streaks entering the 2009-10 season:

300 WINS AND COUNTING
The Mountain West Conference is home to three 300-win head coaches. UNLV's Lon Kruger has eclipsed 400 wins with a 430-286 (.601) record in 22 years as a head coach. New Mexico's Steve Alford has accumulated a 354-204 (.634) record over an 18-year head coaching career, while San Diego State's Steve Fisher is 357-222 (.617) in 19 seasons as a head coach.

Since the inception of the Mountain West in 1999, BYU sits atop the league standings in MWC (99) and overall (214) victories. Below is a look at how all nine MWC teams have fared:

BYU, UNLV, UTAH AMONG NATION'S ELITE
Three Mountain West teams rank among the NCAA's top programs in regards to overall wins and/or winning percentage. UNLV has the nation's fourth-best winning percentage at .711 (1,058-429) while Utah ranks 10th (.656; 1,637-858). The Utes' 1,637 wins are the 12thmost in NCAA Division I history, while BYU's 1,578 victories rank 19th. Kentucky tops both lists with 1,985 wins at a .757 clip. Below is a look at the top five programs in each category, along with rankings for the top two MWC teams, entering the 2009-10 season.

Only games against four-year American institutions are included (data from NCAA):

MWC ARENAS AMONG TOUGHEST IN NCAA
Mountain West teams have combined to tie for the nation's best home-court winning percentage in conference play over the first 10 years of the league. Since the inception of the MWC in 1999, member institutions are a collective 424-204 (.675) against MWC opponents on their home courts. Below is a look at the top five conference home court winning percentages from the 1999-00 through 2008-09 seasons:

UNM'S ROMAN MARTINEZ CANDIDATE FOR LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS AWARD
New Mexico senior forward Roman Martinez is among 30 candidates for the 2009-10 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: classroom, character, community and competition. An acronym for "Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School", the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. Martinez, a three-year letterwinner for the Lobos, received all-MWC honorable mention in 2008-09 after averaging 10.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. The El Paso, Texas, native is a three-time Academic All-MWC honoree and was named to the ESPN the Magainze Academic All-District VI team in 2009. An active member of the Albuquerque community, Martinez was accepted to the UNM Anderson School of Management a year ago and carries a 3.44 cumulative grade point average. The list of candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four "Cs" of classroom, character, community and competition. The winner will be announced at the 2010 NCAA Men's Final Four® in Indianapolis in April.

MWC CHAMPIONSHIP RETURNS TO LAS VEGAS
The MWC Championship returns to the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev., (March 10-13) for the eighth time in the league's 11-year history. The MWC Tournament was held in Las Vegas from 2000-2003 before moving to Denver's Pepsi Center for three years (2004-06). The 2011-13 MWC Tournaments will also take place at the Thomas & Mack Center.

MWC COACHES
San Diego State Head Coach Steve Fisher is the dean of Mountain West Conference men's basketball coaches. Fisher is in his 11th season at the helm of the Aztec program and is the only MWC coach to hold his current position since the inception of the conference in 1999. UNLV head coach Lon Kruger is the second-longest tenured coach in the league, now in his sixth season with the Runnin' Rebels. BYU's Dave Rose is in his fifth season with the Cougars, while Air Force's Jeff Reynolds, Colorado State's Tim Miles, New Mexico's Steve Alford, Utah's Jim Boylen and Wyoming's Heath Schroyer are each in their third year with their respective programs. Jim Christian is in his second year at TCU.

LEAGUE OF NATIONS
MWC rosters featured 17 international student-athletes in 2009-10. TCU has a league-high five players from outside the United States, followed by Wyoming with four.

MWC PREDICTIONS
Below is a look at how the media poll favorite has fared in regular-season play since the inception of the Mountain West Conference in 1999:

RETURNING STARTERS/LETTERWINNERS
In 2009-10, Mountain West teams feature rosters that total 67 returning letterwiners, including 23 starters, the second-lowest tally in league history. Youth will be served in 2009-10, as this season's 38-member freshman class is the largest for the MWC since a league-record 40 freshmen hit the courts in 2005-06. Meanwhile, the 2009-10 sophomore class of 37 is a conference-high. The upperclassmen are largely outnumbered with 29 juniors matching a league-low (three previous times) and 23 seniors ranking as the second-fewest number (22 in 2007-08). Following is a breakdown of the 2009-10 rosters.

RETURNING ALL-MWC PERFORMERS
Only two of 15 all-MWC selections return for the 2009- 10 season, and both are from BYU: junior guard Jimmer Fredette and senior forward Jonathan Tavernari, who were first and third-team all-MWC selections in 2008- 09, respectively. Also back are the 2008-09 Newcomer and Freshman of the Year, TCU senior center Zvonko Buljan and Wyoming sophomore guard Afam Muojeke, respectively.

MWC PLAYERS IN THE NBA
As of October 27, 2009, NBA opening-day rosters featured 12 individuals who played their collegiate careers at current Mountain West institutions:

Jason Smith, Colorado State (Philadelphia 76ers)
J.R. Giddens, New Mexico (Boston Celtics)
Danny Granger, New Mexico (Indiana Pacers)
Kenny Thomas, New Mexico (Sacramento Kings)
Kurt Thomas, TCU (Milwaukee Bucks)
Louis Amundson, UNLV (Phoenix Suns)
Joel Anthony, UNLV (Miami Heat)
Marcus Banks, UNLV (Toronto Raptors)
Shawn Marion, UNLV (Dallas Mavericks)
Andrew Bogut, Utah (Milwaukee Bucks)
Andre Miller, Utah (Portland Trailblazers)
Theo Ratliff, Wyoming (San Antonio Spurs)

WORKING OVERTIME
There have been a total of 93 overtime games played in the 10-year history of the Mountain West Conference. The overall MWC record for overtime contests in a season is five, shared by New Mexico (2007-08), Air Force (2001-02) and UNLV (2001-02), while the record for most overtime games in league play is four, shared by New Mexico (2006-07) and UNLV (2001-02). The longest game in MWC history was a four-overtime outing between Wyoming and Air Force on Jan. 28, 2002 (WYO, 83-76). Below is a breakdown of the number of overtime games played by MWC teams since the league's inception in 1999.

FIVE MWC TEAMS IN TOP-100 OF RPI RANKINGS
Five MWC teams were ranked in the Top-100 of the final 2008-09 NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) report. The league record for most Top-100 RPI teams at the end of a season is six (2001-02). Utah was the MWC's top-ranked team in 2008-09, with the Utes checking in at No. 14, followed by San Diego State at No. 31. Three other MWC teams joined Utah and SDSU in the Top 100 (BYU-33; New Mexico-69 and UNLV-72). Below are the RPI rankings for MWC teams since 1999-00 (data from NCAA):

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.