The Mountain West men's basketball tournament kicks off in Las Vegas with three first-round matchups, where teams compete for an automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

The tournament features all 11 Mountain West teams at the Thomas & Mack Center, with the top five seeds receiving first-round byes: No. 1 New Mexico, No. 2 Colorado State, No. 3 Utah State, No. 4 San Diego State, and No. 5 Boise State.

First Round Matchups (Wednesday):

No. 8 San Jose State vs. No. 9 Wyoming (11 a.m.)

• SJSU swept regular season meetings
• Winner faces No. 1 New Mexico

No. 7 Nevada vs. No. 10 Fresno State (1:30 p.m.)

• Nevada swept regular season series
• Winner faces No. 2 Colorado State

No. 6 UNLV vs. No. 11 Air Force (4 p.m.)

• UNLV won both regular season games by combined 44 points
• Winner faces No. 3 Utah State

Key Tournament Stories:

New Mexico enters as defending champions and top seed, led by Mountain West Player of the Year candidate Donovan Dent (20.4 PPG, 6.5 APG).

Richard Pitino earned Mountain West Coach of the Year after leading the Lobos to a 17-3 conference record.

San Diego State and Boise State's quarterfinal matchup has NCAA Tournament implications, with both teams on the bubble.

Colorado State enters on a seven-game winning streak, led by Nique Clifford's all-around performance (18.4 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 4.4 APG).

Tournament Schedule:

• Quarterfinals: Thursday
• Semifinals: Friday (6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.)
• Championship: Saturday (3 p.m. on CBS)

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