Is UNLV the best team in the Mountain West?
It would have been unthinkable to ask that question six weeks ago, after a home loss to Air Force dropped the Scarlet and Gray to 9-9 overall and 2-4 in Mountain West play. Since then, however, Kevin Kruger’s squad has played like a contender, ripping off 10 wins in 11 games and piling up quality victories while climbing the conference standings.
And on Tuesday, they conquered the program’s biggest hurdle, knocking off conference bully San Diego State in a 62-58 brawl at the Thomas & Mack Center.
It was UNLV’s fourth win over a ranked team this season, and the third in the last 11 games.
It’s the ultimate example of peaking at the right time, and senior wing Keylan Boone is certain that no one wants to face this version of UNLV in an elimination game.
“We didn’t start off the season where we wanted to, but we’re finishing it out how we wanted to,” Boone said. “We’re a scary team in this conference.”
So, the question, again: Is UNLV the best team in the Mountain West?
It’s entirely possible. With one game remaining, Kruger has his team tied for second place, just a game out of the top spot. If first-place Utah State (13-5) loses its season finale against New Mexico, that would mean the winner of Saturday’s game between UNLV and UNR would be crowned regular season co-champion.
After vanquishing San Diego State, Kruger said his players realize the stakes.
“We’re playing for something,” Kruger said. “We’re going to our arch-rival, up on their senior night, still with a lot to play for. Guys know that. They’ve deserved it. They earned it, so they should be proud of that.”
UNLV has already locked up a top-five finish in the standings, which will grant them a bye in the first round of the Mountain West tournament. That will place them just three more victories away from earning an improbable NCAA Tournament berth for the first time since 2013.
Thanks to their red-hot run, even the at-large metrics look a lot better for the Scarlet and Gray than anyone could have imagined. Beating San Diego State bumped them from No. 81 to No. 77 in the all-important NET rankings, and that is significant; Rutgers made the 2022 tournament with a NET ranking of No. 77, making them the lowest-rated team to earn a bid since the introduction of the NET in 2019.
Most at-large teams are comfortably inside the top 60, but UNLV might not be done moving up the charts. A win at UNR would give them another Quad 1 victory, and depending on how the Mountain West brackets shake out, the conference tourney could provide two more Quad 1 opportunities before the championship game.
Three more wins (followed by a loss in the conference championship game) would at least give UNLV a reason to watch the selection show next Sunday.
Even if UNLV is shut out of the big dance, the NIT is sure to extend an invitation. One bracketology projection has UNLV penciled in as a No. 5 seed in the 32-team tournament.
Brackets, selection shows, NET rankings, regular-season championship hopes — the fact that UNLV is even discussing such things in March is a welcome sign for the program.
It’s a team that has come a long way this season, and given how well UNLV is playing, they believe they can go even further.
“Six weeks ago, everyone wrote everyone in this program off,” Kruger said. “And there was a nastiness around it. But they stuck together, they continued to work they went and won in some tough venues, they had some great wins here at home, and they’re playing for each other.”
Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.
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