So you think you can dance?

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Five days ago, finding a way to beat Brigham Young was Lon Kruger's top priority. The UNLV coach accomplished that goal, and now he's calling the rivalry a thing of the past.

Just for this week.

The Mountain West Conference has a record four teams in the NCAA Tournament. What that means is the league has earned recognition and respect across the country.

But what it also means is the Mountain West is under the microscope. If its four teams perform poorly in first-round games, expect the league to get ripped as an impostor.

So Kruger said he's rooting for BYU, New Mexico and San Diego State because the image of the MWC is on the line.

"As it relates to national credibility, I think winning tournament games is the best thing you can do," Kruger said. "Four teams from the league is great. It's a big step for our conference. It's the best opportunity that we've had to kind of make a statement."

The quality of that statement will be revealed soon, as all four teams open play on the NCAA Tournament's first day.

The Rebels (25-8) and Cougars (29-5) arrived Tuesday at the same site, and both teams will practice today at the Ford Center.

BYU, a No. 7 seed in the West Region, faces Florida at 9:20 a.m. Thursday. UNLV, a No. 8 seed in the Midwest, meets Northern Iowa, which won the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and tournament titles, at 4:10 p.m.

The Lobos (29-4) and Aztecs (25-8) will play about the same time on opposite coasts.

New Mexico, a No. 3 seed in the East, faces Montana at 6:50 p.m. at San Jose, Calif. San Diego State, a No. 11 seed in the Midwest, meets Tennessee at 6:55 p.m. at Providence, R.I.

"I do think we're going to win some games this year as a conference," Rebels junior guard Tre'Von Willis said. "We have some really good teams, and I think it's a good league, but we'll see. I've seen the matchups, and I think everybody can win their game. I'm interested to see how this turns out.

"Last year we had two teams in, and both of them got first-round exits."

BYU and Utah represented the Mountain West last March, and both were treated as punching bags. The Cougars were whipped 79-66 by Texas A&M, and the Utes were dominated 84-70 by Arizona.

The MWC is 8-22 in the NCAA Tournament since 2000, with each team but Texas Christian making at least one appearance.

UNLV is 3-3 after reaching the Sweet 16 in 2007 and the second round in 2008. It was during the Rebels' run in Chicago in 2007 when CBS analyst Billy Packer said UNLV came from the "Big Mountain Conference."

Rebels sophomore Chace Stanback said his knowledge of the Mountain West was limited when he transferred from UCLA two years ago.

"I really wasn't familiar with it, but I knew it had some pretty good teams," Stanback said. "Now that I see it, it's overwhelming the talent that we have in this conference. There's a lot of talent, and it's pretty amazing. The talent level is about the same as the Pac-10.

"A lot of teams in the Pac-10, you always see them on TV and they're always talked about. The Mountain West is rarely talked about. We haven't really got that much exposure. But I definitely feel like this conference is starting to emerge."

Willis, a transfer from Memphis, was voted first-team All-MWC this season. Three other members of the first team -- New Mexico junior Darington Hobson, BYU junior Jimmer Fredette and San Diego State freshman Kawhi Leonard -- are being touted as NBA prospects.

Fredette will be aiming to help the Cougars stop an ugly streak. BYU has lost its past seven NCAA first-round games. It is 0-6 in the tournament as an MWC member, not winning a game since 1993.

In the past four NCAA Tournaments, UNLV owns the league's only three victories. The rest of the league is a combined 0-6.

"I definitely feel like there will be a few of our teams advancing," Stanback said.

Three of the four MWC teams are favored in Thursday's games, with only San Diego State going in as a small underdog.

"We haven't won many over the last few years," Kruger said. "But we've got better seeds than we've ever had, and I think all four teams have a good opportunity to represent the league well. It's always important to win games from a national credibility standpoint."

Contact sports reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or at 702-387-2907.