Experts predict 3-4 Mountain West Conference teams will go to Big Dance

With a week to go until the Mountain West Conference Tournament in Las Vegas, the league is receiving plenty of national respect from the online NCAA Tournament prognosticators.

Joe Lunardi, in his "Bracketology" column that appears on ESPN.com, projects four MWC teams going to the Big Dance. The MWC has never had more than three teams in the NCAA Tournament.

Lunardi lists New Mexico as a No. 2 seed — which would be the highest ever for a MWC school — in the West Regional playing No. 15 UC Santa Barbara at San Jose, Calif. BYU is a No. 4 seed playing No. 13 Murray State in the East Regional, also at San Jose.

Lunardi has UNLV as a No. 8 seed facing No. 9 Marquette in the Midwest Regional at Oklahoma City, Okla., while San Diego State is a No. 13 seed taking on No. 4 Temple in the South Regional at Spokane, Wash.

Meanwhile, Jerry Palm, who projects the field for CBSsports.com, has three MWC teams in his brackets.

New Mexico is a No. 3 seed playing No. 14 Weber State in the West Regional at San Jose; BYU is a No. 6 seed going up against No. 11 Virginia Tech in the East Regional at Providence, R.I.; and UNLV is a No. 8 seed meeting No. 9 Virginia Tech at Buffalo, N.Y., in the South Region.

San Diego State is a team "on the fence."

Palm points out that his projections are based on the tournament starting today rather than how he predicts the season will end.

PLANTING SEEDS: There could be some jockeying for seeding in the MWC Tournament during this final week of the regular season. Seventh-place TCU (5-9), sixth-place Colorado State (6-8) and fifth-place Utah (7-7) will be battling to enhance their positions.

First-place New Mexico (13-2) has clinched at least a share of the MWC regular-season championship and can claim it outright Wednesday at home against TCU. For now, BYU (11-3) stands in second place, followed by UNLV (10-5) and San Diego State (9-5).

Last-place Air Force (1-13) and eighth-place Wyoming (2-12) have locked up spots in the dreaded play-in game next Wednesday.

ELITE LOBOS: It's been an amazing season for New Mexico, which was predicted to finish fifth in the league in the preseason picks.

The Lobos have won 13 consecutive games, including last Saturday's 83-81 victory over BYU. They have already tied a school record for second-best overall win total (27) and they are 6-0 this season against ranked opponents.