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Three Reasons Why Wyoming WillWin the Mountain West Tournament
Can the six-seeded Cowboys win it all?
Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire
Wyoming has a chance.
The Wyoming Cowboys are a very interesting team when it comes to what they can do in the Mountain West tournament. They are a good team with a good coach in Allen Edwards, but the big issue is that they are two different teams from home and away.
–Mountain West Tournament Bracket, Schedule
–Why San Diego State Can Win The Mountain West Title
–Why Boise State Can Win The Mountain West Title
–Mountain West Tournament Projections By The Numbers
At home, they have wins over Nevada and Boise State but then they have road loses to New Mexico (before the Lobos got hot) and an up and down San Diego State team.
However, there are a few reasons why the Cowboys can win it all.
Bracket favors the Cowboys
Wyoming has a very favorable matchup as the six seed when they take on San Jose State and that is the first step to advancing and winning this whole tournament.
If all higher seeds win then the Cowboys would have the top three seeds in th is tournament.
One might ask how is this bracket set up for Wyoming?
After the presumed SJSU win, they would be facing a hot New Mexico team which has won five straight games. That winning streak included a 119-114 over the Cowboys.
If Wyoming gets past the Lobos they face the second-seeded Boise State Broncos. The two did split their games this year.
Well, Wyoming defeated Boise State in Laramie and on the road played them to a tight single-digit loss.
That should make for an exciting game with the Saturday nightcap when those two should likely meet.
Moving on to the finals should mean a Nevada matchup, but the advantage comes into play by beating a really good Boise State team. Meaning the Cowboys will be prepared after playing one heck of a team in the round prior.
Wyoming beat Nevada at home — yes, there is a trend with the Cowboys home court — but in Reno, they lost by only nine points. While the Cowboys are a six seed they are capable of beating the best teams in the Mountain West.
Best scoring duo in the conference
The Wyoming Cowboys have arguably one of the best, if not the best, one-two scoring punches in Justin James and Hayden Dalton. The two combined to score 25 or more points in 15 games and five times they have scored 30 or more points in a game.
Those two have the capability of taking over a game if it were to come down to that. They also have a few others who can score with Austin Herndon who puts up 9.9 points per game and has a defensive presence down low and swats 2.2 shots away per game.
Show up for (most) big games
As mentioned above they have wins over a streaking San Diego State team, split the series between both Boise State and Nevada, plus they have a win over Fresno State. The only problem is that most of those came at home, with the exception of the Fresno State win.
This team is a very different team compared to playing in Laramie compared to anywhere else. However, these games in Las Vegas are neutral site games and that might limit the issue of playing away from home. Also, Cowboys fans likek to show up to Las Vegas, so that could be a catalyst for a tournament run.
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