Mountain West Conference Tournament Odds: Nevada Odds-On Favorite

Updated: March 27, 2020 at 2:51 pm EDT

Published: March 12, 2019

Nevada forward Caleb Martin celebrating a basket. — Caleb Martin and the Nevada Wolf Pack will have home-court advantage in the 2019 MW tournament, which is being played at their campus in Las Vegas. Photo by John Byrne (wikimedia commons) [<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0">CC License</a>].

Wolf Pack disappointed bettors during late-season swoon
Nevada has a history of success against both potential quarterfinal opponents: Boise State & Colorado State
Utah St and Fresno St represent Wolf Pack’s biggest challengers

The Nevada Wolf Pack did little to endear themselves to loyal sports bettors over the final month of the regular season. After riding a dominating 10-game win streak to the top of the Mountain West Conference standings, they seemed to ease up down the stretch, posting a pair of outright losses and covering the spread just once over their final six contests.

However, the Wolf Pack’s late-season dip in performance has failed to dent their position as strong favorites to claim their second Mountain West Tournament title in three years, with the squad sporting short -165 odds.

Odds to Win 2019 Mountain West Conference Tournament

Team	Odds to Win 2019 MVC Tournament (Mar. 12)
Nevada	-165
Utah State	+200
Fresno State	+500
San Diego State	+1800
UNLV	+2000
Boise State	+5500
New Mexico	+9000
Colorado State	+12000
Air Force	+15000
Wyoming	+30000
San Jose State	+50000

Note that the 2019 Mountain West Tournament runs from March 13-16 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, which is also were Nevada plays its home games. Advantage Wolf Pack.

2019 MW Conference Tournament Bracket

There is a large drop in quality after the top three (Nevada, Utah State, and Fresno State). Coupled with home-court advantage, this is a big part of why Nevada is such a short favorite.

The way the bracket shapes up, no. 2-seed Utah State and no. 3-seed Fresno will likely have to get past each other before reaching the MW title game.

March to Sweet Sixteen in 2018 Fueling High Expectations

Nevada (28-3, 15-3 MW) entered the current campaign with high expectations after marching to their first-ever appearance in the Sweet 16 at last year’s edition of March Madness.

The Wolf Pack started strong, opening their schedule with 14 straight victories and returning to the AP Top 25 national rankings for the first time since 2010, peaking early on at No. 5.

Anatomy of a Sweet 16 team: How this special Wolf Pack group was constructed https://t.co/Q9IbPyuR1O pic.twitter.com/FNiuR0yC4A

— RGJ.com (@rgj) March 20, 2018

The top-seeded Wolf Pack continued their strong play against conference opponents with a 10-game run that closed with six victories by lofty double-digit margins.

They look likely to maintain their dominance when they open their MWC Tournament schedule on Thursday with a quarterfinal matchup against the winner of Wednesday’s clash between No. 8 Colorado State and No. 9 Boise State.

Nevada easily disposed of the Rams earlier this season, crushing Colorado State by a combined margin of 52 points in a pair of victories. While they were lucky to escape with a narrow 72-71 win over the Broncos as 7.5-point road chalk back on January 15, the Wolf Pack have otherwise dominated Boise State with wins in six straight meetings.

Aztecs Pose Serious Threat to Nevada in Semifinals

If, as expected, Nevada advances to the semifinals at this year’s tournament, they could face a real challenge from the San Diego State Aztecs, who are pegged as an intriguing +1800 longshot.

Nevada could face a real challenge from the San Diego State Aztecs, who are pegged as an intriguing +1800 longshot.

The fourth-seeded Aztecs closed out their regular-season in disappointing fashion, losing both straight up and against the spread in three of their final four dates to finish with an 11-7 record.

However, the Aztecs overcame some early-season adversity by embarking on a critical 8-1 SU run in late January, which featured an impressive 65-57 win over the Wolf Pack as 8-point underdogs.

https://twitter.com/StateStatus_NV/status/1099710597317488640

Nevada would later rebound to claim a decisive 81-53 victory over SDSU in last weekend’s finale, but has otherwise been dominated by the Aztecs, falling to defeat in 11 of 14 meetings, including a crushing 90-73 loss as 2.5-point chalk in the semifinal of last year’s conference tournament.

Aggies, Bulldogs Top Candidates to Face Wolf pack in Tournament Final

Both the No. 2 Utah State (+200) and No. 3 Fresno State (+500) look to be peaking at the right time.

The Aggies have posted wins in seven straight and 14 of 15, including an 81-76 home win over Nevada as 1.5-point underdogs last week. The offense has looked the best it has all year, averaging over 79 points per game over their past 15.

Aggies upset Wolf Pack, move into first in MW https://t.co/YBTGROpYCF #USUFans

— USUFans.com (@USUFans) March 3, 2019

The Bulldogs also enter the tournament on a high after running up the score in a 121-81 rout of San Jose State, extending their current win streak to three games.

Fresno State stunned the Aztecs with a 68-63 win to claim their lone MWC Tournament crown three years ago, and is undefeated in five March meetings with the Wolf Pack since 2003.

SBD’s NCAA conference tournament coverage:

Daniel Coyle

Sports Writer

Daniel has been writing about sports and sports betting for over 23 years. The seasoned pro has contributed to the likes of Sports Illustrated, Sportsnet, NESN, Bleacher Report, OddsShark, the Globe and Mail, and The Nation magazine.

NFL NBA MLB NHL Golf Soccer