Player of the Year: Without question, this honor belongs to Utah center Andrew Bogut. Not only is he the Mountain West's best player, Bogut deserves strong consideration for national player-of-the-year honors.
The 7-foot sophomore is averaging 20.6 points and 11.9 rebounds a game. He is shooting 63 percent from the field.
New Mexico forward Danny Granger is the only other Mountain West player worthy of consideration.
Coach of the Year: This is a two-man race between Utah's Ray Giacoletti and Wyoming's Steve McClain.
The case for Giacoletti is obvious. His team dominated the conference season, slightly exceeding expectations.
Utah was picked to finish second, behind UNLV.
Coming off an 11-17 season, the Cowboys were picked last. They are in fourth place, with one game left at Air Force.
The choice is Giacoletti, who managed to unify a staff and team in his first season. His best move came last spring when he flew to Australia to recruit Bogut into coming back for another season.
All-Conference Team: With Bogut at center, the other selections are guards Marc Jackson (Utah) and Jay Straight (Wyoming), with Granger and Odartey Blankson (UNLV) as the forwards.
Jackson's numbers (10.7 points and 3.7 assists per game) aren't overwhelming, but he provides the toughness every championship team needs. The others were clearly their team's best players.
Second-teamers should include Matt Nelson (Colorado State), Nick Welch (Air Force), Marcus Slaughter (San Diego State) and Antoine Hood (Air Force).
Top Defender: Utah's Bryant Markson deserves some kind of recognition. He often guarded the opponent's most dangerous perimeter player and also provided enough offense.
Best Newcomer: The temptation is to go with Jackson, who took off last season, but it doesn't seem fair because he had played in the conference already. The choice is Colorado State freshman Jason Smith, a promising 7-footer.
NEW MEXICO
Riding a five-game winning streak, the Lobos are making a late push to get an NCAA Tournament bid. The key may be to convince the selection committee that a three-game losing streak in January was due to Granger's knee injury.
Since Granger returned, the Lobos have gone 8-1. He scored 22 points in the win over UNLV late Monday.
The Lobos also are getting strong play from guards Troy DeVries and Mark Walters and center David Chiotti.
SAN DIEGO STATE
Slaughter suffered a toe injury early in last Saturday's loss to New Mexico, after scoring 11 points in the first five minutes. The injury kept him out of Monday's loss to Air Force.
The Aztecs have lost five consecutive games.
"I'm not happy that the season is coming to an end," Slaughter said. "We still have a chance to win in the tournament, and everyone wants a chance to win in the tournament because everyone gets tired of losing. We just have to find a way to win."
AIR FORCE
Since starting the conference season 5-1, the Falcons have gone 3-4.
They close the regular season at home against Wyoming. Air Force won at Laramie in overtime last month and is going for a second consecutive sweep of the series.
Seven of the last games between the two teams have been decided by seven points or less, including three that went into overtime.
UNLV
New Mexico ended the Rebels' five-game winning streak Monday. They now will try to win at Provo for the first time in five years.
In fifth place, UNLV likely will play Wyoming to open the conference tournament. The Rebels swept the season series against the Cowboys.
COLORADO STATE
Unless they can beat New Mexico, the Rams appear doomed to face Utah in the conference tournament. If the Rams and BYU lose this week, the Cougars hold the tiebreaker.
WYOMING
The Cowboys are out for revenge against Air Force, which won in Laramie. Wyoming allowed the Falcons to make a late three-pointer to tie the game. If the Cowboys finish tied with Air Force, the Falcons hold the tiebreaker.
