History isn't on SDSU's side

Call it the Curse of the No. 1 Seed.

As the Mountain West Conference tournament gets under way tonight in Denver with a first-ever play-in game, history is not on the side of the team that plays the winner of that contest — top-seeded San Diego State.

The Aztecs are the No. 1 seed for the first time in league history, but being the favorite in this tournament is not necessarily a good thing.

Only once has the top seed in the MWC tournament won it and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. That was in the inaugural 2000 tournament, when No. 1 UNLV won the crown.

Since then, it's been a No. 2 seed (BYU), a No. 5 seed (SDSU), a No. 6 seed (CSU), a No. 3 seed (Utah) and a No. 2 seed (New Mexico).

That aside, SDSU coach Steve Fisher isn't too concerned about the track record of the top seeds in the MWC tournament. "We're very proud of the fact that we're the favorite," he said. "But like any team, we're going to have to roll up our sleeves and work hard."

Why hasn't the top seed fared well in the tournament? "It's a case of a lot of good teams," Fisher said. "It's a testament to the quality of the league."

Every year, the tournament has been wide-open, and it appears that is the case this year, too. Tonight's Colorado State-TCU play-in game and three of the four quarterfinal matchups feature contests between teams that split their regular-season series.

"You look at the first-round games and you might as well throw the seeds out the window," said Wyoming coach Steve McClain. "It's about who comes to play for three days."

San Diego State is 8-0 this season against teams on its side of the bracket, posting 2-0 records against Colorado State, TCU, UNLV and New Mexico.

OTHER SEEDING TIDBITS: The MWC regular-season champion has reached the finals of the MWC tournament only three times in six years (UNLV in 2000, BYU in 2001, Utah in 2005), winning the championship twice. UNLV and BYU are the only teams to win a MWC regular-season title and tournament crown in the same year.

• The top seed has made it to the MWC tournament finals twice in six years, posting a 1-1 record. The Nos. 7 and 8 seeds are the only seeds without a championship game appearance.

• The top two seeds have only met once in the MWC tournament finals. No. 2 seed New Mexico defeated No. 1 seed Utah in last year's title game.