By: Michael Protos in: Columns
14 Mar 2010As always, the college basketball landscape circa mid-season can alter significantly by March. This season was no exception.
By: Michael Protos in: Columns
14 Mar 2010In the final Mock Tournament, we see seismic shifts for this late in championship week, including a new No. 1 seed and fewer bubble teams making the cut.
By: Michael Protos in: Columns
13 Feb 2010Three potentially one-bid conferences could steal at-large spots from bubble teams if the favorites fail to win their conference tournaments.
By: Phil Kasiecki in: Conference Notes
3 Nov 2007Western Athletic Conference 2007-08 Preview
by Phil Kasiecki
Although perceived as a mid-major by many, the WAC had a solid season in 2006-07 by any standard. New Mexico State and Nevada went to the NCAA Tournament, while Utah State and Fresno State had strong teams that didn’t quite make it. Four teams reached 20 [...]
By: Phil Kasiecki in: Conference Notes
11 Nov 2006Western Athletic Conference 2006-07 Preview
by Phil Kasiecki
It’s a new season, but a couple of things won’t be new in the Western Athletic Conference in 2006-07, notably places in the standings. Most notably, Nevada should still be the favorites with the return of Nick Fazekas, who tested the NBA waters in the off-season. [...]
By: Hoopville Staff in: Conference Notes
19 Jan 2006Western Athletic Conference Notebook
by Mitch McLaughlin
Entering the 2005-06 season, all of the focus on the Western Athletic Conference was on the team that was picked by everyone to at least represent the conference in the Big Dance this March. That team, the Nevada Wolf Pack, was well on its way to being just the [...]
By: Hoopville Staff in: Conference Notes
5 Dec 2005Western Athletic Conference 2005-06 Preview
by Mitch McLaughlin
Entering the 2005-06 season, the Western Athletic Conference is adjusting to a massive realignment. The domino effect of schools switching conferences, which started on the East Coast, has had a big impact on the WAC. Rice, SMU, Tulsa and UTEP all left for Conference USA, and New Mexico [...]
By: Scott Allen in: Conference Notes
10 Nov 2004Pac-10 Conference 2003-04 Season Recap
by Scott Allen
Rice, SMU, Tulsa and UTEP are leaving the WAC at the end of this season for Conference USA, with New Mexico State, Utah State and Idaho set to fill their vacancy.
Reno will host the WAC tournament for the first time this season and will do so again in [...]
By: Hoopville Staff in: Conference Notes
19 Oct 2004Western Athletic Conference 2003-04 Season Recap
by Joaquin Mesa
When Kirk Snyder was taken in the draft by the Utah Jazz, everyone who supports the WAC conference jumped in joy. A first-rounder! An actual first-rounder! The WAC Player of the Year was probably just as surprised as most of the NBA’s General Managers [...]
By: Dean Austin in: Conference Notes
31 Mar 2004WAC Notebook
by Dean Austin
So let’s face it, you haven’t been paying much attention to the WAC. Every year Tulsa wins a boat load of games, Fresno State does something really stupid and ends up on probation and San Jose State stink out the joint. The excellent Tulsa coach takes his Golden Hurricanes into the [...]
By: Steve Sheridan in: Conference Notes
14 Mar 2004Western Athletic Finals Recap
Recap by Steve Sheridan
No. 1 Nevada 66, No. 2 UTEP 60
After being crowned co-champions of the WAC during the regular season, top-seeded Nevada and second-seeded UTEP faced off in the championship game on Saturday night, with Nevada escaping from The Save Mart Center with its first-ever WAC Championship, a [...]
By: Steve Sheridan in: Conference Notes
13 Mar 2004Western Athletic Quarterfinals Recap
Recap by Steve Sheridan
No. 1 Nevada 75, No. 8 SMU 60
Reigning WAC Player of the Year Kirk Snyder had a huge game for the Wolf Pack, scoring 22 points and grabbing nine rebounds in Nevada’s 75-60 quarterfinal win over SMU on Thursday night.
[...]
By: Steve Sheridan in: Conference Notes
13 Mar 2004Western Athletic Semifinals Recap
Recap by Steve Sheridan
No. 1 Nevada 67, No. 4 Rice 59
For the Nevada Wolf Pack, Kirk Snyder is the one constant offensive force. But unlike Thursday night’s game, some other Wolf Pack members were able to step up to help the top seed avenge its last loss [...]
By: Phil Kasiecki in: Conference Notes
11 Mar 2004Western Athletic Conference First Round Recap
Recap by Phil Kasiecki
(8) SMU 79, (9) Tulsa 60
Bryan Hopkins scored 30 points on 10-13 shooting to lead SMU to a 79-60 win over Tulsa on Tuesday night. The sophomore guard was 6-8 on three-pointers along the way to lead a 56% shooting effort by the Mustangs, [...]
By: Phil Dailey in: Conference Notes
30 Jan 2004WAC Notebook
by Phil Dailey
The Western Athletic Conference race is starting to heat up as it approaches the halfway point of the conference season. Leading the way for the WAC crown may be a bit of a surprise to some, but remind many of previous years.
After losing its top players from a year [...]
By: Phil Dailey in: Conference Notes
23 Jan 2004WAC Notebook
by Phil Dailey
The Western Athletic Conference season is well under way with many surprises. The biggest shock of this young conference season would have to be in El Paso. Currently the UTEP (12-3, 3-2) hoops squad is 10-1 at home and turning heads in the WAC as well as around the country. Some [...]
By: Phil Dailey in: Conference Notes
23 Dec 2003WAC Notebook
by Phil Dailey
It’s been a crazy start to the Western Athletic Conference hoops season. Not only are there a few teams making some surprising starts, but also many of the former conference title contenders are still continuing to struggle. Boise State (8-1) and Texas-El Paso (6-1) appear to be turning the most heads [...]
By: Phil Dailey in: Conference Notes
9 Dec 2003WAC Notebook
by Phil Dailey
Times are changing
As reported earlier in our Western Athletic Conference preview, this year’s WAC will not look like it has in the past. So far, the top teams from last season find themselves struggling for success. Fresno State (1-3), Tulsa (2-3) and Hawaii (2-2) are all limping [...]
By: Phil Dailey in: Conference Notes
4 Nov 2003WAC Conference Preview
by Phil Dailey
Move over Tulsa, step aside Hawai’i; this is the year for the lesser-known WAC teams to emerge to the top.
In years past, it was fairly clear who the top teams were and who was going to earn the automatic birth to the “big dance” come March. Everyone is well aware [...]
By: Phil Dailey in: Conference Notes
8 Oct 2003WAC Offseason Recap
by Phil Dailey
The State of the WAC
The Western Athletic Conference as we know it might becoming to a crossroad yet again in the next year or so. For now, Tulsa, Rice and Southern Methodist will remain a fixture in the conference.
For those of you out there who have been unaware [...]
By: Phil Dailey in: Conference Notes
2 May 2003Western Athletic Conference 2002-03 Recap
by Phil Dailey
The Western Athletic Conference faired a bit sub-par this past season as only one of its ten teams reached the NCAA Tournament. Tulsa once again did some damage in the postseason beating fourth-seeded Dayton in the first round, but then turned around and lost a 13-point lead against [...]
By: Phil Dailey in: Conference Notes
10 Mar 2003WAC Notebook
by Phil Dailey
The Western Athletic Conference season has come and gone and with no teams
this season having any hopes of an at-large bid for the NCAA tourney, this
weekend’s WAC championship will place its winner in the field of 65.
Since Fresno State imposed its own penalty for the Tarkanian-induced violations two years ago [...]
By: Phil Dailey in: Conference Notes
27 Feb 2003WAC Notebook
by Phil Dailey
“Bracket Buster” not so kind to the WAC
Last Saturday four Western Athletic Conference teams were thrust to the front of
“mid-major” hoops with an attempt to improve their RPI giving the winner an added
boost come NCAA tourney selection time.
Fresno State (19-6, 12-3 WAC) started off the nationally televised one-day
tournament against [...]
By: Phil Dailey in: Conference Notes
18 Feb 2003WAC Notebook
by Phil Dailey
Louisiana Tech getting ready for March
After one of the more disappointing starts of the year, Louisiana Tech
is now back in the hunt for the WAC title.
The Bulldogs took care of business last week as they knocked off Tulsa
in Ruston [...]
By: Phil Dailey in: Conference Notes
29 Jan 2003WAC Notebook
by Phil Dailey
Is Fresno State for real?
There comes a point in the season when a team shows its true colors. For Fresno State, they still keep winning, even when they shouldn’t. It seems like every week Fresno State gets some kind of accolade. Well, they should because they just won’t lose.
The [...]
By: Phil Dailey in: Conference Notes
24 Jan 2003WAC Notebook
by Phil Dailey
San Jose State earns first conference win
That’s right folks, the San Jose State Spartans (4-10 overall, 1-4
WAC) won their first Western Athletic Conference game last Saturday night against one
of the league’s best teams. Just when it looked like the Spartans
were in for a long season as the WAC doormat, they [...]
By: Phil Dailey in: Conference Notes
15 Jan 2003WAC Notebook
by Phil Dailey
Following a legend
There’s no doubt that Jerry Tarkanian is an absolute legend when it comes to
college basketball. Lets not be stupid here, but his final years at Fresno
St.
were anything but legendary, leaving the Bulldogs under investigation for
NCAA
violations and not getting the most out of his talented recruits.
With all that [...]
By: Phil Dailey in: Conference Notes
8 Jan 2003WAC Notebook
by Phil Dailey
Last place, Broncos think not
At the beginning of the season the Boise State Broncos (8-4, 2-0 WAC) were picked by most media outlets to finish last in the Western Athletic Conference. Althon, The Sporting News and Street and Smith all picked the Broncos to finish in the [...]
By: Phil Dailey in: Conference Notes
27 Dec 2002WAC Notebook
by Phil Dailey
Tough times in El Paso
From the start, it looked as though the Texas-El Paso
Miners (2-5) were in for a long season. Now, in addition to the
controversial departure of their former head coach Jason Rabedeaux, there is
the recent loss of their senior leader Roy Smallwood. Thus, the road to
success looks [...]
By: Phil Dailey in: Conference Notes
19 Dec 2002WAC Notebook
by Phil Dailey
The season is nearly a month old and the Western Athletic Conference is in
the process of finding out who are the contenders and who are the pretenders.
Seven WAC teams were in action last weekend including Hawai’i (2-1) and
Fresno State (5-1) both of whom lost their first games of the year. [...]

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Managing Editor Phil Kasiecki spent Friday (3/20) discussing NCAA first-round action on ESPN 1040 in Tampa. Download the broadcast! (5.7 MB)