The San Diego State Aztecs cashed the exacta a season ago by winning the regular season title before cutting the nets down in the Mountain West Tournament. If Brian Dutcher’s kids are to win a third straight regular season title in a few weeks, it’s going to need to get some help and take care of its business with it a full two games in back of front-running Boise State and it already falling at home to the Broncos in one of the lowest scoring games of the season. Tuesday’s road clash in Boise will be huge! SDST is however the third choice of linemakers at BetRivers Sportsbook who currently have Boise State listed as the top dogs followed closely by the Wyoming Cowboys. And then there’s my preseason heartthrob – the Colorado State Rams – lurking in the weeds. And in case everything gets turned upside down, the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels aren’t going away anytime soon. The MWC could seriously end up sending four teams to the NCAA Tournament regardless of how the tourney plays out. That speaks volumes for a conference that currently has six teams ranked amongst the Pomeroy Ratings’ top-65 teams! This has been one of the more electric conferences to follow, and it’s regular season and conference tourney winners must be shown some respect. Here’s my favorite, underdog and longshot selections to win the Mountain West’s regular season title.

MWC Title Odds at BetRivers Sportsbook

Boise State -106

Wyoming +135

San Diego State +800

Colorado State +1500

UNLV +50000

Fresno State OTB

Nevada OTB

Utah State OTB

New Mexico OTB

Air Force OTB

San Jose State OTB

Favorite to Bet: Boise State Broncos -106

I wouldn’t argue if you decided to run with Hunter Maldonado and the Cowboys instead. Wyoming is a well-rounded team that gets the job done on the offensive end of the court (No. 26). However, it leaves a bit to be desired defensively with it serving up nearly 66 points per game (No. 85) while ranking No. 101 in efficiency. Boise State is the exact opposite. The offense doesn’t do anything otherworldly, but the defense more than makes up for it with it conceding fewer than 60 points per game (No. 11) and ranking No. 11 in efficiency. It’s also got a shooter by the name of Marcus Shaver Jr. that hasn’t shied away from taking and making the big time shot with the game on the line. The Broncos currently own a half-game lead over Wyoming atop the standings, and got four games remaining on the docket. The Cowboys have five with road trips still scheduled for Colorado State and UNLV which comprises Boise’s final two road games as well. The big difference is that the Broncos also get San Diego State and Nevada at home. Nothing is a given when it comes to the upper echelon of this conference as highly competitive it’s been at the top of the heap. Even so, Boise looks to be in a good place to earn at the very least a share of the regular season title mostly due to how its remaining schedule plays out paired with the talent and experience on the roster.

Underdog to Bet: Colorado State +1500

CSU has never won the Mountain West regular season title since it became a conference back in 1999. It’s also only got one conference tournament title to its credit; that coming way back in 2003. Sitting 1.5-games back with only four games remaining, the time is now if this year’s team is to make some program history. Niko Medved has got an exceptional squad at his disposal that has the makeup of a team that could reach the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament should everything fall into place. Its offense has been a joy to watch with it averaging better than 76 points per game (No. 59) while converting at a near 50 percent clip from the field (No. 9) that’s been deadly from long range (No. 52). It also doesn’t hurt that it’s been the seventh best free throw shooting team in the country! Problems do however arise at the other end of the court where it allows over 67 points per game (No. 127) and ranks No. 122 in efficiency. It’s also shown an inability to win big games on the road having most recently fallen at UNLV along with Wyoming and San Diego State. Regardless, David Roddy is arguably the best player in the conference as well as one of the best in the country. He’ll undoubtedly be going all-out to lead this team to the title with three games remaining against Wyoming, @Utah State, and Boise State in the finale. The Rams could pay-off handsomely at 15-1 if it busts out the broom!

Longshot to Bet: UNLV Runnin’ Rebels +50000

While it would take a colossal choke job by every team currently ahead of them in the standings, the Rebs enter the final two weeks of the regular season playing their best ball by far. After taking it to CSU over the weekend to sweep the regular season rivalry, Kevin Kruger’s kids have secured wins in five of their last seven games and hooked CBB bettors up along the way by covering the closing betting odds six times. Bryce Hamilton continuing to play out of his mind is one of the main reasons why UNLV currently has a puncher’s chance to make some noise at the end of the year. That being said, it would take results of epic proportions for the team to actually win the regular season MWC title. It would need to win its four remaining games against @Nevada, Boise State, Wyoming and @New Mexico then hope all ahead of them tank with a capital T. It’s likely not going to happen. Still, throw a beer money investment on it just in case and be sure to hit the Rebs to win the conference tournament immediately since they’re odds of doing so are destined to shorten up considerably after hitting the board in a few weeks.