2018–19 Mountain West Conference men's basketball season

2018–19 Mountain West Conference men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
DurationNovember 2018
through March 2019
Number of teams11
TV partner(s)ESPN, CBSSN, CBS
Regular Season
League championsNevada
Season MVPSam Merrill
Tournament
Mountain West Conference men's basketball seasons
← 2017–18
2018–19 Mountain West Conference
men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 20 Nevada 15 – 3   .833 29 – 5   .853
No. 25 Utah State † 15 – 3   .833 28 – 7   .800
Fresno State 13 – 5   .722 23 – 9   .719
San Diego State 11 – 7   .611 21 – 13   .618
UNLV 11 – 7   .611 17 – 14   .548
Air Force 8 – 10   .444 14 – 18   .438
New Mexico 7 – 11   .389 14 – 18   .438
Boise State 7 – 11   .389 13 – 20   .394
Colorado State 7 – 11   .389 12 – 20   .375
Wyoming 4 – 14   .222 8 – 24   .250
San Jose State 1 – 17   .056 4 – 27   .129
† Mountain West Conference tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2018–19 Mountain West Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2018, followed by the start of the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play begins in January 2019 and concludes in February 2019. The season marks the 19th season of Mountain West Conference basketball.

Preseason

Coaching changes

On February 26, 2018, Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy resigned after being placed on administrative leave.[1] On March 22, Drake head coach and former CSU assistant coach Niko Medved was hired as the new head coach of Colorado State.[2]

On March 12, 2018, Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry left Fresno State to become head coach at UTEP.[3] He finished at Fresno State with a seven-year record of 126–108. On April 5, it was announced that the school had hired San Diego State assistant coach Justin Hutson as head coach.[4][5]

On March 11, 2018, Utah State head coach Tim Duryea was fired after three seasons.[6] He finished at Utah State with a three-year record of 47–49. On March 25, reports indicated that the school had hired South Dakota head coach Craig Smith as head coach, which was confirmed the next day.[7][8]

Conference predictions

Predicted Mountain West results

Source[9]

Rank Team
1. Nevada (18)
2. San Diego State (1)
3. New Mexico
4. Boise State
5. Fresno State
6. UNLV
7. Wyoming
8. Colorado State
9. Utah State
10. Air Force
11. San Jose State
(first place votes)

Preseason Mountain West teams

Honor Recipient
Preseason Player of the Year Caleb Martin, Nevada
Preseason Freshman of the Year Jordan Brown, Nevada
Preseason All-MWC Team
Jordan Caroline, Nevada
Justin James, Wyoming
Caleb Martin, Nevada
Cody Martin, Nevada
Deshon Taylor, Fresno State

Source[9]

Watchlists

Regular season

Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.

  Air Force Boise St Colorado St Fresno St Nevada New Mexico San Diego St San Jose St UNLV Utah St Wyoming
vs. Air Force – 1–1 2–0 0–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 2–0 0–2
vs. Boise St 1–1 – 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 1–1 0–2 2–0 1–0 0–2
vs. Colorado St 0–2 1–1 – 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–0 0–1 2–0 2–0 1–1
vs. Fresno St 1–0 0–2 1–1 – 2–0 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–1 1–1 0–2
vs. Nevada 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 – 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–2 1–1 0–1
vs. New Mexico 0–1 0–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 – 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–1
vs. San Diego St 1–1 1–1 0–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 – 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–1
vs. San Jose St 2–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–0 – 2–0 2–0 2–0
vs. UNLV 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–0 2–0 0–2 2–0 0–2 – 1–0 0–2
vs. Utah St 0–2 0–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–1 – 0–2
vs. Wyoming 2–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 0–2 2–0 2–0 –
Total 8–10 7–11 7–11 13–5 15–3 7–11 11–7 1–17 11–7 15–3 4–14

Postseason

Mountain West tournament

Main article: 2019 Mountain West Conference men's basketball tournament

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Larry Eustachy steps down at Colorado State after being put on administrative leave". ESPN.com. February 26, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  2. ^ Star, Sean (March 22, 2018). "Colorado State set to hire Niko Medved as its men's basketball head coach". Reporter-Herald. Loveland, CO. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  3. ^ Broaddus, Adrian (March 12, 2018). "UTEP hires Fresno State's Rodney Terry as their new basketball coach". theprospectordaily.com. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  4. ^ Zeigler, Mark. "Fresno State hires SDSU basketball assistant Justin Hutson as head coach". sandiegouniontribune.com. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  5. ^ "Fresno State hires San Diego State assistant as men's basketball coach". fresnobee. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  6. ^ Greene, Dana (March 11, 2018). "Utah State fires head basketball coach Tim Duryea". Good4Utah. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  7. ^ "Source: Utah State set to hire South Dakota's Craig Smith as new basketball coach". Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  8. ^ Garry, Mick (March 26, 2018). "South Dakota's Craig Smith named men's basketball coach at Utah State". Sioux Falls Argus Leader. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  9. ^ a b Roberts, Rachel (October 16, 2018). "The Mountain West preseason basketball poll is out. And Boise State is not happy". The Idaho Statesman. Retrieved October 16, 2018.