2020 Mountain West Conference men's basketball tournament

The 2020 Mountain West Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Mountain West Conference. It was held from March 4–7, 2020 at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Utah State upset heavily favored San Diego State to earn the Mountain West's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament

2020 Mountain West Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2019–20
Teams11
SiteThomas & Mack Center
Paradise, Nevada
ChampionsUtah State (2nd title)
Winning coachCraig Smith (2nd title)
MVPSam Merrill (Utah State)
TelevisionStadium, CBSSN, CBS
← 2019
2021 →
2019–20 Mountain West Conference
men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 6 San Diego State 17 1   .944 30 2   .938
Utah State 12 6   .667 26 8   .765
Nevada 12 6   .667 19 12   .613
UNLV 12 6   .667 17 15   .531
Boise State 11 7   .611 20 12   .625
Colorado State 11 7   .611 20 12   .625
New Mexico 7 11   .389 19 14   .576
Fresno State 7 11   .389 11 19   .367
Air Force 5 13   .278 12 20   .375
San Jose State 3 15   .167 7 24   .226
Wyoming 2 16   .111 9 24   .273
Conference tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

Seeds

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All 11 MW schools were eligible to participate in the tournament. Teams were seeded by conference record. Ties were broken by record between the tied teams, followed by record against the regular-season champion, if necessary. As a result, the top five teams receive byes into the tournament quarterfinals. The remaining teams will play in the first round. Tie-breaking procedures remained unchanged from the 2019 tournament, except that RPI was replaced by the NCAA's new NET rating.

  • Head-to-head record between the tied teams
  • Record against the highest-seeded team not involved in the tie, going down through the seedings as necessary
  • Higher NET
Seed School Conf Tiebreaker(s)
1 San Diego State 17–1
2 Utah State 12–6 1–0 vs Nevada
3 Nevada 12–6 0–1 vs Utah State
4 UNLV 12–6 1–3 vs Nevada/Utah State
5 Boise State 11–7 1–0 vs. Colorado State
6 Colorado State 11–7 0–1 vs. Boise State
7 New Mexico 7–11 1–0 vs Utah State
8 Fresno State 7–11 0–2 vs Utah State
9 Air Force 5–13
10 San Jose State 3–15
11 Wyoming 2–16

Schedule

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Game Time Matchup Score Television Attendance
First round – Wednesday, March 4
1 12:00 pm No. 8 Fresno State vs. No. 9 Air Force 70–77 Stadium 5,198
2 2:30 pm No. 7 New Mexico vs. No. 10 San Jose State 79–66
3 5:00 pm No. 6 Colorado State vs. No. 11 Wyoming 74–80
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 5
4 11:30 am No. 1 San Diego State vs No. 9 Air Force 73–60 CBSSN 8,189
5 2:00 pm No. 4 UNLV vs No. 5 Boise State 61–67
6 6:00 pm No. 2 Utah State vs. No. 7 New Mexico 75–70 7,723
7 8:30 pm No. 3 Nevada vs. No. 11 Wyoming 71–74
Semifinals – Friday, March 6
8 6:00 pm No. 1 San Diego State vs. No. 5 Boise State 81–68 CBSSN 9,630
9 8:30 pm No. 2 Utah State vs. No. 11 Wyoming 89–82
Championship – Saturday, March 7
10 2:30 pm No. 1 San Diego State vs. No. 2 Utah State 56–59 CBS 10,292
Game times in PT. Rankings denote tournament seeding.

Bracket

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First round
Wednesday, March 4
MWN
Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 5
CBSSN
Semifinals
Friday, March 6
CBSSN
Championship
Saturday, March 7
CBS
            
1 #5 San Diego State 73
9 Air Force 60
8 Fresno State 70
9 Air Force 77
1 #5 San Diego State 81
5 Boise State 68
4 UNLV 61
5 Boise State 67
1 #5 San Diego State 56
2 Utah State 59
2 Utah State 75
7 New Mexico 70
7 New Mexico 79
10 San Jose State 66
2 Utah State 89
11 Wyoming 82
3 Nevada 71
11 Wyoming 74
6 Colorado State 74
11 Wyoming 80

* denotes overtime period

See also

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References

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