MWC hoops are stronger than ever

If you can believe polls, rankings, RPI and all that data that's dumped into spread sheets this time of the year, Mountain West Conference basketball has never been stronger, with New Mexico and BYU ranked in AP's Top 15.

Many experts predict the league could earn four NCAA Tournament bids when invitations are handed out in eight days. Compare that with the Pac-10, which has only Cal as a sure-fire invitee.

The MWC is certainly benefiting from a talent drain in the Pac-10, a league that lost no less than six players in the first round of the 2009 NBA draft. Some were underclassmen who'd surely have been the backbone of better competition this season.

"The last couple of years, I think it's as competitive as any conference in the country," said Utah's Jim Boylen. "We've got three, maybe four NCAA-bound teams and we're competitive in the middle of the pack."

What the MWC misses is a big-time center who dominates the post. This could hurt come NCAA Tournament time if one of the teams faces a physical, strong, dominating post guy.

This league's best post player is San Diego State's Billy White, who is a slim forward, more of a finesse player. White leads the league in field goal percentage at 57 percent, but he's a guy with a 30-inch waist. There is no big guy in this league with a 42 belt size, meaty shoulders and a big, space-clearing butt.

This league does have point guards, however. And if you want to make a run in the postseason, you have to have playmakers who can score and get to the line late in the shot clock and create when things bog down.

I'd take BYU's Jimmer Fredette and New Mexico's Dairese Gary on the playground or NCAA platform any day.

"The one thing that sticks out to me is the depth of good young players coming back," said Boylen.

"There's a chance the league could be even better next year and have two or three teams ranked in the top 25 to start the season. We have a lot of young players playing well, and that's real encouraging. It's very competitive this year and I think it will be very good and very competitive next year."

The Lobos swept BYU en route to the MWC regular-season title, but Sagarin has the Lobos at No. 22 behind No. 9 BYU with UNLV 37th and SDSU 48th.

Pomery, a differing rating system based on predictors, has BYU No. 5, Utah State 21st, UNLV 32nd, UNM 40th and SDSU 47th.