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Utah State cinched its first NCAA Tournament berth in eight years

No. 2 seed Utah State won the Mountain West Tournament on Saturday, handling San Diego State 64-57 to earn the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Utah State (28-6) heads into March Madness having won 10 straight games and 17 of their last 18. It’s the Aggies’ first NCAA Tournament berth since 2011.

Tournament preview

The 2019 Mountain West Conference men’s basketball tournament begins on Wednesday, March 13 from the Thomas & Mack Center at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. Both Nevada and Utah State finished the regular season with 15-3 conference records, with the former holding the 2-0 tiebreak over Fresno State, who Utah State split with in the regular season.

We have all you need to know to follow the action, as the top two teams try to strengthen their bids for the larger NCAA Tournament while the rest are hoping for upsets.

The stakes

The winner of the tournament will go on to the larger NCAA Tournament, though Nevada already appears to be a lock for those festivities. That really just leaves Utah State, who are right on the bubble and need some impressive wins in the tournament to get a bid to the NCAA Tournament. There may be an outside chance for other teams, but all eyes will be on the Wolf Pack and Aggies.

Format

All 11 teams from the MWC are in the bracket, including the 4-26 San Jose State Spartans. The top four seeds all get first-round byes, with only San Diego State and UNLV knowing who they’ll play in the second round — each other.

Teams & seeds

No. 1 Nevada Wolf Pack (27-3)
No. 2 Utah State Aggies (25-6)
No. 3 Fresno State Bulldogs (22-8)
No. 4 San Diego State Aztecs (19-12)
No. 5 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels (17-13)
No. 6 Air Force Falcons (13-17)
No. 7 New Mexico Lobos (13-17)
No. 8 Colorado State Rams (12-19)
No. 9 Boise State Broncos (12-19)
No. 10 Wyoming Cowboys (8-23)
No. 11 San Jose State Spartans (4-26)

Bracket & results

Play for the MWC tournament begins on Wednesday, March 13 with three games, continues on Thursday with four games, has two games to narrow it down to the finals on Friday, and then the finals themselves take place on Saturday.

The first-round matchups will be available on Stadium, which means it’s on a variety of streaming platforms, including their own site and FuboTV. Second- and third-round matchups take place on CBS Sports Network (live streaming via CBSSN and FuboTV). The finals will be broadcast by CBS (live streaming via CBS All-Access and FuboTV).

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Here is the schedule, with all times ET.

Wednesday, March 13

Game 1: No. 8 Boise State 66, No. 9 Colorado State 57
Game 2: No. 7 New Mexico 78, No. 10 Wyoming 68
Game 3: No. 6 Air Force 87, No. 11 San Jose State 56

Thursday, March 14

Game 4: No. 1 Nevada 77, No. 8 Boise State 66
Game 5: No. 4 San Diego State 63, No. 5 UNLV 55
Game 6: No. 2 Utah State 91, No. 7 New Mexico 83
Game 7: No. 3 Fresno State 76, No. 6 Air Force 50

Friday, March 15

Game 8: No. 4 San Diego State 65, No. 1 Nevada 56
Game 9: No. 2 Utah State 85, No. 3 Fresno State 60

Saturday, March 16

Game 10: No. 2 Utah State 64, No. 4 San Diego State 57