Utes might be better off with No. 2 seed for tourney

Now that Utah has lost its chance to win an outright Mountain West Conference title by itself — unless it gets help from Wyoming — let’s look at some of the Utes’ possibilities.
The Utes can still finish with either the No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 seed for the MWC Tournament. With a loss to TCU Saturday, they could end up tied with San Diego State at 11-5 if the Aztecs get home wins over Colorado State and UNLV this week. However, SDSU’s two losses to BYU will keep them behind the Utes in the event of a tie.
If Utah wins Saturday, it could be No. 1 if BYU loses tonight. The Utes will have the edge in a tiebreaker with New Mexico if they both finish at 12-4 because of higher RPI ranking because the two will have the same losses to the same teams.
Of course, Ute players, coaches and fans would rather finish first by themselves than share the title with BYU and/or New Mexico, which will happen if the Cougars and Lobos win out this week.
However, it might be better for the Utes if they don’t get the No. 1 seed.
Here’s why:
As the No. 1 seed, the Utes would likely be in the same half of the bracket as UNLV, which is likely to end up with the No. 5 spot in the tournament if it beats Air Force tonight. That would mean a semifinal matchup against the Rebels on their home floor next week.
Also, they would likely play Colorado State in the opening round, which might be tougher than playing TCU, which will likely be the No. 7 seed. CSU has lost to Utah and New Mexico in overtime in its last four games, while TCU has lost nine of 10 games.
We’ll know a lot more after tonight’s MWC games. Regardless of what happens, the main thing for the Utes is to win Saturday, which will give them a piece of the MWC title and likely wrap up an NCAA berth.