WAC Tournament Preview

Schedule (all games at the University of Nevada):

Tuesday, March 10th / First Round
- Game 1: #8 Hawaii vs. #9 Fresno State

Thursday, March 12th / Quarters
- Game 2: #4 Boise State vs. #5 New Mexico State
- Game 3: #1 Utah State vs. Game 1 Winner
- Game 4: #2 Nevada vs. #7 San Jose State
- Game 5: #3 Idaho vs. #6 Louisiana Tech

Friday, March 13th / Semis
- Game 6: Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner
- Game 7: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner

Saturday, March 14th / Finals
- Game 8: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner

Favorite: The favorite for this year's WAC tournament has got to be Utah State. The Aggies coasted through most of the regular season, posting a 24-1 record before dropping three of their last six games. Their gaudy record is buoyed a bit by playing a weaker schedule. No 27 win team has ever been kept out of the NCAA tournament, but I think it will be tough for Utah State to grab a bid with an SOS of 134 (although their RPI of 27 is impressive, think back to Missouri State a few years ago who was left out with an RPI of 21). USU is led by 26 year old senior Gary Wilkinson (who is an interesting story), whose 16.9 ppg and 7.1 rpg were enough to earn him conference player of the year honors. Wilkinson does have some talent around him, namely perimeter players Jared Quayle and Tyler Newbold and Wilkinson's front court mate Tai Wesley.

Gary Wilkinson hopes to take the Aggies dancing.
(photo credit: Dean Hare/AP)

Contender: Nevada has to be considered a serious threat to win this thing. For starters, they are the best program in the league, churning out NBA players regularly. This year, they are not as good as they are used to, but the Wolfpack still managed to finish second in the league. They are led by freshman center Luke Babbit, who posted averages of 16.4 ppg and 7.1 rpg, and point guard Armon Johnson, who went for 15.0 ppg and 4.3 apg. But the biggest reason that they should scare USU is that the entire tournament is being played at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nevada.

Sleeper: I'm going with Boise State. They are a balanced and experienced team (they have five guys averaging between 9.0 ppg and 12.8 ppg, four of whom are upper-classemen, and all of whom played in the dance last year). They have a possible date with Utah State in the semi's, and if you remember they ended the Aggie's 19 game winning streak on Valentine's Day, the last time these two teams met.

BIAH's Pick: Nevada.