Any UNR success this week good for UNLV, Mountain West
As UNLV coach Marvin Menzies spends time on the road recruiting, he also will watch with interest how his prior team, New Mexico State, plays as the NCAA Tournament gets underway in earnest on Thursday.
But there is also the Rebels’ big rival up north.
It may not feel good for Menzies or anyone associated with UNLV or any self-respecting Rebels basketball fan, but because UNR is in the Mountain West, this probably isn’t the week to cheer against the Wolf Pack.
“Regardless of rival or not, I think any time the conference can be represented in a positive way makes it good for all 11 teams,” Menzies said. “It will be one of those games we’ll be watching close.”
The Wolf Pack are the 12th seed in the Midwest Region, and they play No. 5 Iowa State at 6:57 p.m. Thursday.
Because the Mountain West was a one-bid conference for the second year in a row, if UNR was to advance to the Sweet 16, that could help make the case for additional teams in succeeding years.
Part of the conference’s problem even when it sent multiple teams to the tournament was they regularly fell flat once they got there. Mountain West teams have made the Sweet 16 five times in 44 appearances, with San Diego State doing it twice. UNLV got there in 2007.
No Mountain West team has ever advanced beyond that round.
“We’re all pulling for (UNR),” Air Force coach Dave Pilipovich said. “We need them. Even the year we had five teams (2013), we had three bounced out in the first round.”
As for the tournament as a whole, the Rebels this season played Midwest No. 1 seed Kansas, East No. 2 Duke and Midwest No. 3 Oregon. Though the Rebels lost convincingly to all three, they at least had some positive stretches against Kansas and Oregon.
Not so much against Duke, a 94-45 loss at T-Mobile Arena. So it should be little surprise that of the three, Menzies said the Blue Devils have the best shot to win it all.
But he said many schools have a legitimate chance.
“I think there are a lot of potential Cinderellas based on the parity in college basketball,” Menzies said. “I think there are a lot of teams, six or eight when I was reading it casually, that I can see some potential upsets. Those happen every year, but to get one of those teams to the third round, I can see that, too. I think it’s going to be a really interesting, fun tournament. I think it will be one of the better ones in our recent history if my speculation comes to fruition.”
Like Menzies, other coaches said they believed it was a wide-open field.
“I think you have maybe seven or eight contending teams that can win the national championship,” Pilipovich. said. “I think you may have a winner from the West — Arizona, UCLA, maybe a fan favorite Gonzaga trying to get to a first Final Four, but a very talented team. Maybe Oregon as well.
“So it’s going to be fun. I think there will be some upsets early. Everybody’s talking about the Wichita State matchup with Dayton and where (the Shockers) got a higher seed (10th in the South) than they should’ve. I think Vegas has them as a favorite over Dayton (by 6 points). I think a team out of our league, Nevada, they have a chance. If Cameron Oliver comes to play, they can beat Iowa State and have a chance to play a good Purdue team and get to the Sweet 16.”
Southern Utah coach Todd Simon, who was the Rebels’ interim coach for half of last season, said he doesn’t root for teams as much as he does players. He coached some players at Findlay Prep who are in the field, including Nigel Williams-Goss at Gonzaga.
As for a favorite, Simon likes Villanova, the top seed in the East.
“To me, until they’re out, they’re the defending champs,” Simon said. “Out West, Gonzaga is playing at a high level. I’ll never bet against Nigel Williams-Goss. He’s won everywhere he’s went. Arizona, they’re as balanced a team as (Sean Miller has) had since he’s been there.
“Seedings are fairly interesting this year. I think you’re going to see some of these teams like Wichita and Middle Tennessee, those are good, good basketball teams. People might call them upsets, but it’s really not. Even Nevada. That’s going to be a tough prep for somebody.”
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Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.
REASONS TO CHEER
These coaches have vested interests in the following teams:
UNLV coach Marvin Menzies: New Mexico State, 14th seed in the East Region. The Aggies open with No. 3 Baylor at 9:40 a.m. Friday. Menzies coached New Mexico State for nine seasons, taking the Aggies to five NCAA Tournaments.
Air Force coach Dave Pilipovich: UNR, 12th seed in the Midwest. The Wolf Pack open with No. 5 Iowa State at 6:57 p.m. Thursday. Because UNR is in the Mountain West, Pilipovich knows any success by the Wolf Pack helps the rest of the conference.
Southern Utah coach Todd Simon: Gonzaga, top seed in the West. The Bulldogs open with No. 16 South Dakota State at 11 a.m. Thursday. Simon coached Gonzaga star Nigel Williams-Goss at Findlay Prep.
