2026 Mountain West Conference men's basketball tournament
| 2026 Mountain West Conference men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2025–26 |
| Teams | 12 |
| Site | Thomas & Mack Center Paradise, Nevada |
| Champions | Utah State (3rd title) |
| Winning coach | Jerrod Calhoun (1st title) |
| MVP | MJ Collins Jr. (Utah State) |
| Television | Mountain West Network, CBSSN, CBS/Paramount+ |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah State † | 15 | – | 5 | .750 | 29 | – | 7 | .806 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Diego State | 14 | – | 6 | .700 | 22 | – | 11 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Mexico | 13 | – | 7 | .650 | 25 | – | 10 | .714 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Canyon | 13 | – | 7 | .650 | 20 | – | 12 | .625 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nevada | 12 | – | 8 | .600 | 24 | – | 12 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boise State | 12 | – | 8 | .600 | 20 | – | 12 | .625 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colorado State | 11 | – | 9 | .550 | 21 | – | 13 | .618 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UNLV | 11 | – | 9 | .550 | 18 | – | 17 | .514 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wyoming | 9 | – | 11 | .450 | 18 | – | 15 | .545 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fresno State | 7 | – | 13 | .350 | 13 | – | 19 | .406 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Jose State | 3 | – | 17 | .150 | 9 | – | 24 | .273 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Air Force | 0 | – | 20 | .000 | 3 | – | 29 | .094 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 Mountain West tournament winner As of March 22, 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 Mountain West Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Mountain West Conference. It was held March 11–14, 2026, at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in Paradise, Nevada.[1] The tournament champion, Utah State, received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. It also was the last tournament under the current format as the conference will see many changes in the off season with some of the current schools.
Seeds
All 12 Mountain West schools participated in the tournament. Teams were seeded by conference record with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical percentages. The top four teams received byes into the tournament quarterfinals. The remaining teams played in the first round. Tie-breaking procedures remained unchanged since the 2020 tournament.[2]
- Head-to-head record between the tied teams
- Record against the highest-seeded team not involved in the tie, going down through the seedings as necessary
- Higher NET
| Seed | School | Conf | Tiebreaker(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utah State | 15–5 | |
| 2 | San Diego State | 14–6 | |
| 3 | New Mexico | 13–7 | 2–0 vs. Grand Canyon |
| 4 | Grand Canyon | 13–7 | 0–2 vs. New Mexico |
| 5 | Nevada | 12–8 | 1–1 vs. Utah State |
| 6 | Boise State | 12–8 | 0–2 vs. Utah State |
| 7 | Colorado State | 11–9 | 2–0 vs. UNLV |
| 8 | UNLV | 11–9 | 0–2 vs. Colorado State |
| 9 | Wyoming | 9–11 | |
| 10 | Fresno State | 7–13 | |
| 11 | San Jose State | 3–17 | |
| 12 | Air Force | 0–20 |
Schedule
| Game | Time[3] | Matchup | Score | Television | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round – Wednesday, March 11 | ||||||
| 1 | 12:00 pm | No. 8 UNLV vs. No. 9 Wyoming | 73–70 | Mountain West Network | 2,770 | |
| 2 | 2:30 pm | No. 5 Nevada vs. No. 12 Air Force | 80–45 | |||
| 3 | 6:00 pm | No. 7 Colorado State vs. No. 10 Fresno State | 67–63 | 2,351 | ||
| 4 | 8:30 pm | No. 6 Boise State vs. No. 11 San Jose State | 74–84 | |||
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 12 | ||||||
| 5 | 12:00 pm | No. 1 Utah State vs. No. 8 UNLV | 80–60 | CBSSN | 6,911 | |
| 6 | 2:30 pm | No. 4 Grand Canyon vs. No. 5 Nevada | 80–84 | |||
| 7 | 6:00 pm | No. 2 San Diego State vs. No. 7 Colorado State | 71–62 | 6,236 | ||
| 8 | 8:30 pm | No. 3 New Mexico vs. No. 11 San Jose State | 93–77 | |||
| Semifinals – Friday, March 13 | ||||||
| 9 | 6:30 pm | No. 1 Utah State vs. No. 5 Nevada | 79–66 | CBSSN | 9,048 | |
| 10 | 9:25 pm | No. 2 San Diego State vs. No. 3 New Mexico | 64–62 | |||
| Championship – Saturday, March 14 | ||||||
| 11 | 3:00 pm | No. 1 Utah State vs. No. 2 San Diego State | 73–62 | CBS/Paramount+ | 6,451 | |
| Game times in PDT. Rankings denote tournament seeding. | ||||||
Bracket
| First round Wednesday, March 11 Mountain West Network | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 12 CBSSN | Semifinals Friday, March 13 CBSSN | Championship Saturday, March 14 CBS/Paramount+ | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Utah State | 80 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | UNLV | 73 | 8 | UNLV | 60 | ||||||||||||||
| 9 | Wyoming | 70 | 1 | Utah State | 79 | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | Nevada | 66 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Grand Canyon | 80 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Nevada | 80 | 5 | Nevada | 84 | ||||||||||||||
| 12 | Air Force | 45 | 1 | Utah State | 73 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | San Diego State | 62 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | San Diego State | 71 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Colorado State | 67 | 7 | Colorado State | 62 | ||||||||||||||
| 10 | Fresno State | 63 | 2 | San Diego State | 64 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | New Mexico | 62 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | New Mexico | 93 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Boise State | 74 | 11 | San Jose State | 77 | ||||||||||||||
| 11 | San Jose State | 84 | |||||||||||||||||
Source:[4]
References
- ^ "2026 Basketball Championships". Mountain West Conference. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
- ^ "Men's basketball tiebreakers" (PDF). Mountain West Conference.
- ^ "Men's Basketball Championship". Mountain West Conference. November 20, 2025. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
- ^ "Bracket" (PDF). Mountain West Conference.