2026 Mountain West Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament Basics
Format
Traditional bracket
Site
As usual, the Thomas & Mack Center, UNLV’s home arena, hosts the event, though on a different floor than the one the Runnin’ Rebels normally use.
Participants
This is probably going to be the first and only Mountain West Tournament with 12 teams. Grand Canyon joined this season. Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Utah State are all heading for the Pac-12 after this season, with Hawai’i and UC Davis joining from the Big West and UTEP from Conference USA. So, this looks to be a 10-team event going forward.
Schedule
Downloadable PDF Bracket
First Round (Wed. 3/11)
Gm. 1: (9) Wyoming (18-14, 9-11) 70, (8) UNLV 73
Gm. 2: (12) Air Force (3-29, 0-20) 45, (5) Nevada 80
Gm. 3: (10) Fresno State (13-19, 7-13) 63, (7) Colorado State 67
Gm. 4:(11) San José State 84, (6) Boise State (20-12, 12-8) 74
Quarterfinals (Thurs. 3/12)
Gm. 5: (8) UNLV (17-16, 11-9) 60, (1) Utah State 80
Gm. 6:(5) Nevada 84, (4) Grand Canyon (20-12, 13-7) 80
Gm. 7: (7) Colorado State (21-12, 11-9) 62, (2) San Diego State 71
Gm. 8: (11) San José State (9-24, 3-17) 77, (3) New Mexico 93
Semifinals (Fri. 3/13)
CBSSN will air both games.
Gm. 9: (5) Nevada (22-12, 12-8) 66, (1) Utah State 79
Gm. 10: (3) New Mexico (23-9, 13-7) vs. (2) San Diego State (21-10, 14-6), 12 a.m.*
Home split: Aztecs 83-79 on 1/17 and Lobos 81-75 on 2/28.
Championship (Sat. 3/14)
Gm. 11: Gm. 10 winner vs. (1) Utah State (27-6, 15-5), 6 (CBS)
Mayhem Potential
Data originally posted by Bob Vetrone Jr. on Twitterin 2020 with my own additions for the seasons beyond.
The top two seeds have dominated Mountain West Tournament since 2011, winning 12 of the 15 titles on offer. However, the No. 2 has been more successful than the No. 1 with seven titles, compared to just five for the top seed. New Mexico won as the 6 seed in 2024. Remember that there was a 2020 Mountain West Tournament only because the event was moved up a week due to a convention that was eventually canceled due to the pandemic.
- 2 seed (7): 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2025
- 1 seed (5): 2013, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023
- 4 seed (1): 2015
- 5 seed (1): 2018
- 6 seed (1): 2024
NCAA Bid Totals In The 68-Team Era
- 6 bids (1): 2024 (4-6, 11 members)
- 5 bids (1): 2013 (2-5, 9 members)
- 4 bids (4): 2012 (1-4, 8 members), 2022 (0-4, 11 members), 2023 (5-4, 11 members), 2025 (2-4, 11 members)
- 3 bids (2): 2011 (4-3, 9 members), 2015 (1-3, 11 members)
- 2 bids (4): 2014 (2-2, 11 members), 2018 (2-2, 11 members), 2019 (0-2, 11 members), 2021 (0-2, 11 members)
- 1 bid (2): 2016 (0-1, 11 members), 2017 (0-1, 11 members)
The Mountain West may be a single bid conference for the first time in a decade. Utah State is safely in, but New Mexico and San Diego State have been hovering around the Cut Line for weeks now. One of them may need to claim the auto bid to ensure a two-bid showing in 2026, but both may go if enough things go wrong for other bubble teams.
Last Conference Tournament Titles
Colorado State: 2025 (2 seed)
New Mexico: 2024 (6 seed)
San Diego State: 2023 (1 seed)
Boise State: 2022 (1 seed)
Utah State: 2020 (2 seed)
Nevada: 2017 (4 seed)
Fresno State: 2016 (2 seed)
Wyoming: 2015 (4 seed)
UNLV: 2008 (2 seed)
San José State: 1996 (6 seed)
Air Force has never won a conference tournament title.The Falcons will need to win their first four conference games of the season to claim their first in 2026.
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