There is a great tradition in sports that happens every year as soon as the Super Bowl hangover subsides.
We as a collective fandom all of a sudden remember there are things to watch besides the NFL.
It’s usually around this time of year everyone recalls just how awesome college basketball is and starts paying attention to what remains one of the best sports in America.
Now that there is some focus on the college basketball world, it’s time for the nation to take notice of what is happening in the Mountain West.
This league is legit.
Six of the 11 teams in the conference are projected to make the NCAA Tournament field by ESPN’s Bracketology. While a lot can change, several of them are squarely in the field with a month to go before Selection Sunday.
That’s not even including a UNLV team that has proven a threat to beat every team in the league or lose to any team in the league — sometimes in the same week. The Rebels will certainly be a threat to add an extra bid by winning what figures to be an outstanding conference tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center next month.
Sure, we’ve seen these stories before. The Mountain West rises up to become a premier league every few years only to produce disappointing results in March. But San Diego State’s magical run last season showed things can be different for the league.
Will any of this year’s Mountain West teams make the national championship game like the Aztecs? The odds are against it.
But there has been a huge power shift in college athletics, and while the rich tend to only get richer in football, parity has taken full effect on the hardwood.
The Atlantic Coast Conference and Big East only have four teams projected in the field. The Pac-12 has just three. Gonzaga is squarely on the bubble.
Sure, there are some elite teams at the top. Connecticut is once again the best team in the country, and Purdue is right there with the Huskies. But everyone else is flawed. It’s a wide-open field.
The Mountain West is more than capable of having a few teams make it to the second weekend and is worthy of your attention the next couple of months.
After all, you don’t have the NFL to watch, and you can always get to that chore list during the summer.
Countdown begins
The A’s do not plan to move to Las Vegas until their permanent ballpark is finished and they can make a grand arrival.
While that news wasn’t earth-shattering, it did leave me wondering about what will happen in the local sports scene before they play their first official game as the Las Vegas Athletics.
First of all, it’s certainly not a stretch that Allegiant Stadium will get a second Super Bowl before the A’s move to town. The host cities are set through 2027, but it’s possible the 2028 game will be awarded to Las Vegas and take place a couple of months before even the most optimistic timeline of a spring 2028 debut for the A’s on the Strip.
It’s more likely Las Vegas gets the Super Bowl in 2029, but it’s also very possible the A’s don’t arrive until that season or even later the way the deal has moved along. So let’s make the Super Bowl a -150 favorite to be here before Major League Baseball.
Here’s another one that I have only half-jokingly talked about for a while, but is starting to look more and more possible.
Will an NBA team be in Las Vegas before the A’s arrive? It’s not that crazy.
Commissioner Adam Silver once again said this week that Las Vegas is on the shortlist. It’s a poorly kept secret that the league is going to expand to Las Vegas and likely Seattle in the near future. The only holdup is the new media rights deal, which expires next year.
Could expansion come by the 2027-28 season? That’s possible, but perhaps a tad ambitious. The following year may be the favorite, so let’s say 2028-29 for the NBA to officially be in town.
Again, that could be before the A’s. Let’s put this one at the A’s -120.
You know what? I just did another Google search for the A’s stadium plans and my computer just popped up a shrugging emoji. The line flipped. NBA -130.
Huh?
My favorite story of the week was that the Pac-12 and commissioner George Kliavkoff have agreed to part ways.
That hadn’t happened already?
All but two of the schools have announced their departure, and Oregon State and Washington State are left on their own like the Blockbuster video store in Bend, Oregon.
The Pac-12 and Kliavkoff announcing they are splitting up is like the Titanic announcing it is no longer accepting reservations.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.