Even though the date of the last Mountain West basketball title game before the “Disloyal Five” leave for the Pac-12 has been known for some time, there was something sudden about the finality of Saturday’s affair between Utah State and San Diego State.
Especially after Utah State pulled away late for an anticlimactic 73-62 conclusion at Thomas & Mack Center.
It didn’t have to be this way.
One last classic game between the Aggies and the Aztecs, and the spirited battle between their fan bases, offered a stark reminder of what could have been had the leagues been able to figure it out and come together.
Eight institutions were represented among the semifinalists of the men’s and women’s tournaments. Four are leaving the league for the Pac-12 while four are staying.
A merged league, perhaps with some of the lesser schools allowed or even asked to drop down to perhaps the WAC or Big West, or in Air Force’s case, Conference USA, could have created a dominant brand in the Pacific Time Zone.
And Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez wouldn’t have had to hand over the trophy to Utah State after its third and final conference tournament championship like it was some sort of hostage exchange after watching two teams that are on their way out play for the last title.
Instead, the region will be left with two decent conferences and the fading memories of what has been a tremendous annual event in Las Vegas. Even though both leagues likely will continue to hold their tournaments here, it won’t be the same.
It’s been a special run in this building with so many great memories. Even that weird detour to Denver for a few years will go down in the league’s lore. All of those moments — the buzzer beaters, the drama, the Sarah Cummard incident — came rushing back watching the games the past few days.
And one of the most disheartening parts of this week was the glimpse it provided of what things could have looked like going forward.
Utah State’s fans and student section are what San Diego State’s used to be, explicit language, questionable content and all. Seriously, what happened to “The Show”? Has making 15 of the past 18 tournament championship games led to such apathy that their students can’t make the easy drive up the I-15 to drink Four Lokos in the parking lot and create chaos at the Thomas & Mack?
Ah, the memories of classic Mountain West tournaments of the past are flooding back. What a ride it has been.
The past week did, however, see the invasion of the Grand Canyon student section, which is on par with any in the league. They will continue to challenge New Mexico fans for crowd superiority at Mountain West tournaments of the future while Utah State and Gonzaga fans do the same for the Pac-12.
But imagine a world where Gonzaga, Utah State, New Mexico, Grand Canyon and even the non-student San Diego State fans filled up one building for a week in March?
The Pac-12 tournament will be fun in the future. It will be a good league. It is bringing in 17 of the past 20 Mountain West champions between football and men’s basketball.
Utah State and San Diego State have met in five of the past eight Mountain West finals, and their programs show no signs of slowing, though Gonzaga will have a big say in that. But they still will be dragged down by schools such as Fresno State, Texas State and Oregon State, no different than what they say they are trying to get away from in the Mountain West.
And the Mountain West will be fine, though the departures prompted additional moves to further dilute the strong teams that remain in the league. While the top two teams in the basketball standings are leaving, the next three are staying.
New Mexico and Grand Canyon will bring the fans, and UNLV always has relevance even when the Rebels are bad. Signs point to Josh Pastner building a strong foundation anyway.
But it won’t be the same. A great example of that came on Friday when New Mexico and San Diego State played for the last time as conference rivals in an electric atmosphere that came down to the final shot.
“It’s an epic rivalry, and it’s not just about the teams,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said. “It’s about the fan bases. When we play New Mexico, this building is full. So now the charge for the Mountain West is to fill the building with someone other than New Mexico fans now that the Aztec fans are taking their support to another conference. So hopefully the new teams they’ve added will support the teams like the Aztec fans do and the Lobo fans do and fill this building, because it’s a conference worthy of following.”
It will be, and so will the Pac-12. But it won’t be the same.
Saturday was the end of an era, and that’s sad. But the tragedy is that the parties couldn’t figure out how to work together.
Both sides will pay the price for that.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.
