College Confidential

Mountain West tiebreakers? Help me count the ways...

Interested in the tie-breaking scenarios for TCU and the rest of Mountain West men's basketball? Sure you are, but you don't have time to run the numbers, right? Thankfully, the MWC has it covered.
The regular season ends Saturday and there are multiple ways the standings could finish from first place to last place. TCU hosts No. 21 San Diego State (23-6, 9-4 in the MWC) at 6 p.m. Saturday at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
The Frogs (17-12, 7-6) are 6-0 at home in the league with previous upsets over ranked UNLV and New Mexico. The Aztecs beat the Frogs by 10 in San Diego Feb. 4. The Frogs are currently tied with Colorado State in fourth place. In any scenario, if the Frogs and Rams are tied in final standings, Colorado State would earn the higher seed, whether both finish 8-6 or 7-7. If there is a three-way tied at 7-7 with Wyoming, the Rams would earn the fourth seed, the Frogs the fifth, and the Cowboys the sixth.

Here's the release the MWC sent out to help media wade through the various tie-breaking confusion, with current standings, team-by-team league breakdowns, followed by the tiebreaker details:

MOUNTAIN WEST MEN’S BASKETBALL
TIEBREAKING SCENARIOS
(as of March 1, 2012)

	CONFERENCE			OVERALL
STANDINGS	W	L	Pct.	W	L	Pct.
New Mexico	9	4	.692	23	6	.793
San Diego St.	9	4	.692	23	6	.793
UNLV	8	5	.615	24	7	.774
Colorado St.	7	6	.538	18	10	.643
TCU	7	6	.538	17	12	.586
Wyoming	6	7	.462	20	9	.690
Air Force	3	10	.231	13	14	.481
Boise State	3	10	.231	13	15	.464

AIR FORCE
1-1 vs. Boise State
0-1 vs. Colorado State (Mar. 3)
0-2 vs. New Mexico
1-1 vs. San Diego State
0-2 vs. TCU
0-2 vs. UNLV
1-1   vs. Wyoming

BOISE STATE
1-1   vs. Air Force
1-1 vs. Colorado State
0-1 vs. New Mexico (Mar. 3)
0-2 vs. San Diego State
1-1 vs. TCU
0-2 vs. UNLV
0-2 vs. Wyoming

COLORADO STATE
1-0 vs. Air Force (Mar. 3)
1-1 vs. Boise State
1-1 vs. New Mexico
1-1 vs. San Diego State
1-1 vs. TCU
1-1 vs. UNLV
1-1 vs. Wyoming

NEW MEXICO
2-0 vs. Air Force
1-0 vs. Boise State (Mar. 3)
1-1 vs. Colorado State
1-1 vs. San Diego State
1-1 vs. TCU
1-1 vs. UNLV
2-0 vs. Wyoming

SAN DIEGO STATE
1-1 vs. Air Force
2-0 vs. Boise State
1-1 vs. Colorado State
1-1 vs. New Mexico
1-0 vs. TCU (Mar. 3)
1-1 vs. UNLV
2-0 vs. Wyoming

TCU
2-0 vs. Air Force
1-1 vs. Boise State
1-1 vs. Colorado State
1-1 vs. New Mexico
0-1 vs. San Diego State (Mar. 3)
1-1 vs. UNLV
1-1 vs. Wyoming

UNLV
2-0 vs. Air Force
2-0 vs. Boise State
1-1 vs. Colorado State
1-1 vs. New Mexico
1-1 vs. San Diego State
1-1 vs. TCU
0-1 vs. Wyoming (Mar. 3)

WYOMING
1-1 vs. Air Force
2-0 vs. Boise State
1-1 vs. Colorado State
0-2 vs. New Mexico
0-2 vs. San Diego State
1-1 vs. TCU
1-0 vs. UNLV (Mar. 3)

Two-way tie between UNM and SDSU at 10-4:

• UNM and SDSU split with each other
• Both teams split with CSU and UNLV
• SDSU is 2-0 vs. TCU, UNM is 1-1 vs. TCU
• Both teams are 2-0 vs. WYO
• SDSU gets No. 1 seed due to sweep of TCU

Three-way tie between UNM, SDSU and UNLV at 9-5:

• UNM, SDSU and UNLV split with each other
• All three teams split with CSU, TCU
• UNM and SDSU are 2-0 vs. WYO; UNLV is 1-1
• UNLV gets No. 3 seed
• UNM is 2-0 vs. AFA; SDSU is 1-1 vs. AFA
• SDSU is 2-0 vs. BSU; UNM is 1-1 vs. BSU
• If BSU is 4-10 and AFA is 3-11, tiebreaker goes to SDSU
• If AFA and BSU are tied at 4-10 (both UNM and SDSU went a combined 3-1 against AFA and BSU), tie broken based on Feb. 27 RPI ranking (28-SDSU; 34-UNM)
• SDSU is No. 1 seed due to higher RPI ranking

Two-way tie between UNM and UNLV at 9-5:

• SDSU is No. 1 seed at 10-4
• UNM and UNLV split with each other
• Both teams split with SDSU
• Both teams split with CSU, TCU
• UNM is 2-0 vs. WYO; UNLV is 1-1
• UNM gets No. 2 seed due to sweep of WYO

Two-way tie between SDSU and UNLV at 9-5:

• UNM is No. 1 seed at 10-4
• SDSU and UNLV split with each other
• Both teams split with UNM
• Both teams split with CSU, TCU
• SDSU is 2-0 vs. WYO, UNLV is 1-1 vs. WYO
• SDSU gets No. 2 seed due to sweep of WYO

Two-way tie between UNM and SDSU at 9-5:

• UNM and SDSU split with each other
• Split with UNLV, CSU, TCU
• UNM and SDSU are both 2-0 vs. WYO
• If AFA and BSU are tied at 4-10 (both UNM and SDSU went a combined 3-1 against AFA and BSU), tie broken based on Feb. 27 RPI ranking (28-SDSU; 34-UNM) – SDSU gets No. 1 seed due to higher RPI ranking
• If AFA is 3-11, SDSU still gets No. 1 seed due to 2-0 record vs. BSU because UNM is 1-1 vs. BSU

Three-way tie between UNLV, CSU and TCU at 8-6:

• UNM is No. 1 seed at 10-4 if it defeats BSU
• SDSU is No. 1 seed if it is tied with UNM at 9-5
• UNLV, CSU and TCU split with each other
• UNLV, CSU and TCU split with UNM and SDSU
• CSU and TCU are 1-1 vs. WYO; UNLV is 0-2 vs. WYO
• UNLV gets No. 5 seed
• CSU and TCU are both 3-1 vs. AFA and BSU
• Tie is broken based on Feb. 27 RPI ranking (27-CSU; 90-TCU)

Two-way tie between UNLV and CSU at 8-6:

• SDSU is No. 1 seed, UNM is No. 2 seed
• UNLV and CSU split with each other
• Both teams split with TCU
• CSU is 1-1 vs. WYO; UNLV is 0-2 vs. WYO
• CSU gets No. 3 seed due to split with WYO

Two-way tie between UNLV and TCU at 8-6:

• UNLV and TCU split with each other
• Both teams split with both SDSU and UNM
• Both teams split with CSU
• TCU is 1-1 vs. WYO; UNLV is 0-2 vs. WYO
• TCU gets No. 3 seed due to split with WYO

Two-way tie between CSU and TCU at 8-6:

• Split with each other
• Both teams split with SDSU, UNM, UNLV, WYO and BSU
• Both teams are 2-0 vs. AFA
• Tie broken based on Feb. 27 RPI ranking (27-CSU; 90-TCU)
• CSU gets No. 4 seed due to higher RPI ranking

Three-way tie between CSU, TCU and WYO at 7-7:

• CSU, TCU and WYO split with each other
• CSU split with UNM, SDSU and UNLV
• TCU split with UNM and UNLV, is 0-2 vs. SDSU
• WYO went 2-0 vs. UNLV, is 0-2 vs. UNM and SDSU
• CSU gets No. 4 seed, TCU gets No. 5 seed, WYO gets No. 6 seed

Two-way tie between CSU and TCU at 7-7:

• CSU and TCU split with each other
• CSU split with UNM, SDSU and UNLV
• TCU split with UNM and UNLV, is 0-2 vs. SDSU
• CSU gets No. 4 seed, TCU gets No. 5 seed

Two-way tie between TCU and WYO at 7-7:

• TCU and WYO split with each other
• TCU split with UNM and UNLV, went 0-2 vs. SDSU
• WYO is 2-0 vs. UNLV; is 0-2 vs. UNM and SDSU
• TCU gets No. 5 seed, WYO gets No. 6 seed

Two-way tie between CSU and WYO at 7-7:

• CSU and WYO split with each other
• CSU split with UNM, SDSU, UNLV and TCU
• WYO split with TCU and UNLV; went 0-2 vs. UNM and SDSU
• CSU gets No. 5 seed, WYO gets No. 6 seed

Two-way tie between AFA and BSU at 4-10:

• AFA and BSU split with each other
• AFA split with SDSU, CSU, WYO and went 0-2 vs. UNM, TCU, UNLV
• BSU split with UNM, CSU, TCU and went 0-2 vs. SDSU, UNLV, WYO
• If SDSU is No. 1 seed, AFA gets No. 7 seed due to split with SDSU
• If UNM is No. 1 seed, BSU gets No. 7 seed due to split with UNM

Two-way tie between AFA and BSU at 3-11:

• AFA and BSU split with each other
• AFA split with SDSU, WYO and went 0-2 vs. CSU, UNM, TCU, UNLV
• BSU split with CSU, TCU and went 0-2 vs. UNM, SDSU, UNLV, WYO
• AFA gets No. 7 seed due to split with SDSU
• BSU gets No. 8 seed

-- Stefan Stevenson
@FollowtheFrogs 

 

TCU men's hoops sophomore Jarvis Ray academically ineligible for the rest of the season

TCU sophomore Jarvis Ray is academically ineligible for the rest of the season. The guard did not make the trip to UNLV Wednesday and did not play in the Mountain West Conference opener last Saturday at Colorado State. He played in 12 of the Horned Frogs' 16 games this season, including one start Dec. 19 at USC. He last played Jan. 11 against UT Pan American, scoring two points in 14 minutes. His most productive game came Nov. 14 when he scored a career-high 12 points, had two blocks and three steals.
Ray (6-foot-6) attended O. Perry Walker High School in New Orleans.
TCU (10-7, 0-2 in MWC) plays Boise State (10-7, 0-2) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.

-- Stefan Stevenson
@FollowtheFrogs 

 

TCU baseball's 2012 schedule; season begins Feb. 17 vs. Ole Miss

TCU baseball will play 23 games against 2011 NCAA tournament teams, and 11 games against Big 12 teams, in its 54-game 2012 schedule. The season opens Feb. 17 with a three-game series against Mississippi at Lupton Stadium. TCU, competing in the Mountain West for the last time, plays each conference opponent six times, with three at home and three on the road. The MWC tournament is May 24-27 in Las Vegas.

TCU's 2012 Baseball Schedule
All times are p.m.; * denotes Mountain West game
Date(s), Opponent, Time(s)
Feb. 17-19, Mississippi, 6:30, 2, 1
Feb. 21, at Baylor, 4:05
Feb. 24-26, at Cal State Fullerton, 9, 8, 1
Feb. 28, Texas State, 6:30
March 2-4, Oklahoma State, 6:30, 2, 1
March 6, Baylor, 6:30
March 9-11, Texas Tech, 6:30, 2, 1
March 13, at UTSA, 6
March 16-18, at UNLV*, 8:05, 4:05, 3:05
March 20, at Texas State, 6:30
March 23-25, atNew Mexico*, 7, 3, 2
March 27, at UT Arlington, TBA
March 30-April 1, UNLV*, 6:30, 2, 1
April 3, Dallas Baptist, 6:30
April 5-7, UNC Wilmington, 6:30, 6:30, 2
April 11, UT Arlington, 6:30
April 13-15, Air Force*, 6:30, 4, 1
April 17, Louisiana-Monroe, 6:30
April 20-22, at San Diego State*, 8, 8, 1
April 24, Texas A&M, 6:30
April 27-29, Manhattan, 6:30, 4, 1
May 1, Oklahoma, 6:30
May 4-6, New Mexico*, 6:30, 4, 1
May 11-13, at Air Force*, 4, 2, 1
May 15, at Oklahoma, TBA
May 18-20,  San Diego State*, 6:30, 4, 1
May 24-27, MWC Tournament (Las Vegas), TBA 

 

TCU will be without Winkler this week at MWC tournament

Just when TCU thought its pitching staff was completely healthy for the first time in more than a month, another setback has hindered the Horned Frogs.
TCU's most dominant and reliable pitcher this season, Kyle Winkler, will not pitch this week at the Mountain West Conference tournament to rest his arm due to some tenderness. TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said Winkler is not injured, and would have likely pitched if the NCAA Regional tournament started this week. Winkler (8-2) pitched at New Mexico last Thursday, holding the Lobos to three hits and no runs in 4 2/3 innings out of the bullpen. Winkler skipped his previous start to rest his arm. Winkler leads the team with a 1.40 ERA in 90 innings pitched this season.
Top-seeded TCU (40-15) opens the MWC tournament at 9 p.m. Wednesday at Tony Gwynn Stadium against the lowest-seeded team to advance from Tuesday's first round. Matt Purke (5-1) will start for the second time since developing shoulder soreness April 16 at San Diego State. Purke had four strikeouts in three innings last Thursday against New Mexico before Winkler took over on the mound. The 10th-ranked Frogs' usual Game 3 starter Steven Maxwell (5-0) has not pitched since developing biceps soreness April 24. He threw batting practice Monday, but his availability for the MWC tournament is questionable. Andrew Mitchell (4-1) is slated to start Thursday and Erik Miller (6-6) will likely start Friday.
-- Stefan Stevenson 

 

TCU 2011 schedule details released

The Mountain West Conference released game times and television broadcast information for the 2011 season Thursday. A start time for TCU's opener at Baylor Sept. 3 is still to be determined, as is which television network will broadcast the game. The start time for the Week 2 showdown at Air Force is still unsettled, but the MWC says it will be at either 2:30 or 6:30 and shown on the Versus Network. The rest of the Horned Frogs' schedule details are known, which include at least four night games. The Frogs will host SMU at 7 p.m. Sept. 30, which is a Friday. The game was originally scheduled for Oct. 1. The Frogs beat SMU in University Park on a Friday in 2010. The following week TCU plays at San Diego State at 9:30 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
The Frogs potentially caught a break with two day games in consecutive weeks at Wyoming and Boise State Nov. 5 and 12. Those games start at 1 and 2:30 p.m., respectively. TCU concludes the season with a 1:30 p.m. meeting with UNLV Dec. 3 at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

2011 TCU football schedule

Date	Opponent	Time (CST)	TV
Sept. 3	at Baylor	TBD	TBD
Sept. 10	at Air Force	2:30 or 6:30	VS.
Sept. 17	Louisiana-Monroe	1 p.m.	The Mtn.
Sept. 24	Portland State	6 p.m.	None
Sept. 30	SMU	7 p.m.	CBS Sports Network
Oct. 8	at San Diego State	9:30 p.m.	CBS Sports Network
Oct. 15	Bye
Oct. 22	New Mexico	1 p.m.	The Mtn.
Oct. 28	BYU (at Cowboys Stadium)	7 p.m.	ESPN
Nov. 5	at Wyoming	1 p.m.	The Mtn.
Nov. 12	at Boise State	2:30 p.m.	VS.
Nov. 19	Colorado State	2:30 p.m.	CBS Sports Network
Nov. 26	Bye
Dec. 3	UNLV	1:30 p.m.	VS.

 

TCU '11 schedule released, meets Boise Nov. 12

TCU’s complete 2011 football schedule was released Thursday by the Mountain West Conference, for what will be the Frogs’ last season in the league.

Contrary to rumors and prevailing thought, TCU will travel for a showdown at Boise State Nov. 12, not the final week of the regular season. Another curve ball thrown by the MWC: TCU’s request for an open date Sept. 10 was denied. Instead, the Frogs will travel to Air Force for their conference opener. TCU edged the Falcons 20-17 in Colorado in 2009.

TCU will have two bye weeks – Oct. 15 before hosting New Mexico and Nov. 26 before hosting UNLV in the regular-season finale. Every Frogs’ game falls on a Saturday, except their Friday, Oct. 28 game against BYU at Cowboys Stadium.

One of TCU's toughest games is Oct. 8 at San Diego State. The Aztecs (9-4, 5-3 in MWC in 2010) have a bye the week before. TCU will be coming off three home games. Boise State was given a Week 2 bye after it opens against Georgia at the Georgia Dome Sept. 3. It will be the Broncos first season in the MWC after playing for years in the Western Athletic Conference. Boise State plays at UNLV the week before hosting TCU. TCU and Boise State last met in the Fiesta Bowl after the 2009 season. The Broncos won 17-10. Air Force is the lone MWC team with a bye in the final week. Boise finishes at home against New Mexico, San Diego State hosts Fresno State (which joins the MWC in 2012 along with Nevada from the WAC) in a nonconference season finale and TCU hosts UNLV.

-- Stefan Stevenson

 TCU 2011 Schedule

Date	Opponent
Sept. 3	at Baylor
Sept. 10	at Air Force
Sept. 17	Louisiana-Monroe
Sept. 24	Portland State
Oct. 1	SMU
Oct. 8	at San Diego State
Oct. 15	Bye
Oct. 22	New Mexico
Oct. 28	BYU* (at Cowboys Stad.), 7 p.m.
Nov. 5	at Wyoming
Nov. 12	at Boise State
Nov. 19	Colorado State
Nov. 26	Bye
Dec. 3	UNLV

 * -- On ESPN2; Other game times and television coverage will be released at a later date.

TCU men's hoops predicted to finish 7th again

The TCU men's basketball team has hopes of turning around its program this season with a slew of fresh talent and a renewed vigor. But the Mountain West Conference media doesn't see it that way. The Horned Frogs, which finished 13-19 and in seventh place last season, is predicted to finish seventh again by league media. The preseason predictions and superlatives were announced today in Littleton, Colo. at the MWC Media days. BYU's Jimmer Fredette was named preseason Player of the Year. The Aztecs had two players selected to the preseason All-MWC team in forwards Kawhi Leonard and Malcolm Thomas. New Mexico guard Dairese Gary and UNLV guard Tre'Von Willis and Fredette round out the preseason team. Women's basketball coaches will meet with the media Wednesday.

Here's how the media predicted the men's MWC standings to look in March:

 Preseason Men’s Basketball Media Predictions

Team (1st-place votes), Total Points, ’09-‘10 Overall, MWC Rec.

1. San Diego State (21), 261, 25-9, 11-5
2. BYU (5), 220, 30-6, 13-3
3. New Mexico (3), 214, 30-5, 14-2
4. UNLV (1), 203, 25-9, 11-5
5. Colorado State, 132, 16-16, 7-9
6. Utah, 105, 14-17, 7-9
7. TCU, 92, 13-19, 5-11
8. Wyoming, 88, 10-21, 3-13
9. Air Force, 35, 10-21, 1-15

Web gem

I think I just saw one of the best plays of the tournament. Utah first baseman Austin Jones hit a popup foul in the bottom of the fifth inning against UNLV. Rebels third baseman Braden Walker ran near the UNLV dugout, leaned over a railing and made the catch for the second out.
Utes lead 3-1 at the top of the sixth. -Trae

That's cool

The door just opened up here in the pressbox. Who popped his head in? Former Arizona Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly, whose son Michael is a catcher for UNLV. Baseball fans will remember Bob was the manager when Arizona won the World Series in 2001 over the Yankees. -Trae

Rebels upset Aztecs, 6-2

The No.6 seed UNLV Rebels broke a 2-2 tie with four runs in the top of the ninth to upset No.3 San Diego State in the opening game of the Mountain West Conference tournament today at Lupton Stadium.
The Aztecs (30-27) got a dominant outing from starter James McLaughlin, who had a no-hitter through five innings. McLaughlin (3-2) allowed one baserunner in that span when he hit Michael Brenly in the second. UNLV (22-35) got its first hit in the top of the sixth when Steve Rinaudo singled to left field.
The Rebels took a 2-0 lead, but the Aztecs added a run in both the sixth and eighth innings to tie the game at 2-2.
McLaughlin (3-2) went 8 2/3 innings, allowing five hits, one walk and six runs (four earned), while striking out six. He threw 120 pitches, 75 of them for strikes.
UNLV advances to face No.1 seed TCU tomorrow night at 7 p.m. -Trae Thompson