Let's get one thing out of the way quickly: the Mountain West Conference is underrated. It has been for a while. That's the unfortunate downside to playing in the Time Zone That TV Forgot.
It's still hard to imagine, though that a conference that ranks third on KenPom.com (ahead of the ACC, Pac-12, Big 12 and SEC) is only in line for one top-five seed. But that's what Joe Lunardi says, and we certainly won't fight back: More lower-seeded MWC teams mean more potential Giant Killers. The best ones, though, might not be the teams you'd expect.
New Mexico, UNLV, Colorado State and San Diego State look like NCAA locks as the MWC tourney begins Tuesday. Boise State is one of Lunardi's last four in. No one else even qualifies for the bubble. But two other teams could make things interesting in Las Vegas this week.
To read the rest of this article and gain complete access to ESPN Insider's college basketball content, sign up today.
Jordan Brenner | email
ESPN The Magazine contributing writerABOUT THIS BLOG
Giant Killers Blog
Giant Killers is Insider's annual metrics-based forecast of NCAA tournament upsets. A Giant Killer is a team that beats a tourney opponent seeded at least five spots higher. For a full explanation of our model, click here.
Peter Keating
Peter Keating is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine, where he has covered investigative and financial stories since 1999. His work on concussions in football has earned awards from the Deadline Club, the New York Press Club and the Center for the Study of Sport in Society. He joined the Giant Killers team in 2008.
Follow Peter Keating on Twitter.
Jordan Brenner
Jordan Brenner is a contributing writer for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN Insider. He has covered pro and college basketball for the last decade and launched the Giant Killers project in 2006.
Follow Jordan Brenner on Twitter.
