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The Mountain West Conference needs to grow up.

The league's postseason tournament, which through at least 2016 will be played on UNLV's home court at the Thomas & Mack Center, should be moved.

Why?

This year might provide a good example.

UNLV has struggled much of the season, but the young Rebels are playing better and leading scorer Rashad Vaughn could return from a knee injury in time for the tournament.

Does anybody outside of San Diego want to bet against the Rebels on their home floor, where they've already beaten Arizona this season?

I wouldn't.

When he coached at Utah, Rick Majerus was one of the most vocal critics of playing the Western Athletic, then Mountain West tournament in Las Vegas.

Majerus, a calculating guy, based his public opposition on moral grounds. He constantly talked of the hypocrisy involved in playing a college basketball tournament in a city whose economy is based on gambling.

Majerus once said, "I just feel that we're telling the players, 'You can't gamble; watch out for gamblers,' and then there's no greater proximity to gamblers than Las Vegas. I just think we're sending mixed messages."

Another time, when the Utes were housed in a resort-casino, Majerus said, "We're at the WAC tournament and they want us to show the kids a film on gambling. And we're staying on top of a casino. I asked them where do they want me to show the tape — at the blackjack table, the craps pit or when the boys are checking out their Keno numbers?"

Actually, Majerus was probably too much of a basketball coach to be more concerned about the morality of gambling than the competitive advantage UNLV gains by playing at the Thomas & Mack.

And you'd better believe it matters.

Since 2000, the WAC/MWC tournament has been played in Las Vegas 12 times. (It was held in Denver from 2004-06).

In those 12 tournaments, UNLV has won three titles and reached four other championship games. In three years in Denver, the Rebels never won a championship and reached the title game just once.

The classic example of UNLV's home-court advantage came during the WAC tournament came in 1998 when, according the Las Vegas Review-Journal, "… the unheralded Rebels knocked off fifth-ranked Utah, 54-51, in front of 14,340 delirious fans."

Utah had beaten UNLV twice during the regular season. The Rebels entered the postseason tournament hoping for an invitation to the NIT.

Instead, UNLV upset Utah, advanced to the WAC championship game, beat Fresno State and grabbed a spot in the NCAA tournament that should have gone to a more deserving bubble team.

Utah?

Well, the Utes recovered nicely. After losing to UNLV, they entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 3 seed and defeated San Francisco, Arkansas, West Virginia, Arizona and North Carolina. They didn't lose again until the championship game against Kentucky.

It was a miraculous run — Exhibit A regarding UNLV's advantage at the Thomas & Mack and, in my mind, cemented as fact that big-time conferences shouldn't play their tournament in a member's building.

The Mountain West's logical option, starting in 2017, is EnergySolutions Arena.

For a variety of reasons, including playing one Utah-BYU game at noon, Salt Lake didn't meet expectations when it played host to the 1993 and 1994 WAC tournaments. But much has changed over the last two decades.

If planned properly, run correctly and organized by those with expertise, I'm convinced holding the tournament in Utah would make Mountain West presidents a lot of money and eliminate UNLV's home court advantage.

Barring that, at least move the tournament to a neutral venue in Las Vegas. The Strip is now teeming with sports and concert arenas. There's no reason the Mountain West can't find dates in one of them. Heck, everybody else has.

I bet the league's coaches would like the idea to be considered. —

Tribune Power Rankings

The West

1. Gonzaga (28-1, 16-0)

Is this the team that brings NCAA early exit streak to an end?

2. Arizona (24-3, 12-2)

Defensive grit helped them pull through weak stretch vs. UCLA.

3. Utah (21-5, 11-3)

Going 0-5 on the road against top 50 RPI teams isn't a good sign.

4. San Diego State (22-6, 12-3)

Two of final three at home gives Aztecs a good chance to win out regular season.

5. Oregon (20-8, 10-5)

Team is leaning on productive freshmen late in the year.

6. Colorado State (23-5, 10-5)

When the Rams hit the glass hard, they are tough to beat.

7. BYU (21-8, 11-5)

Getting to the line will be key if Cougs hope to knock off Gonzaga.

8. Stanford (17-9, 8-6)

As Texas struggles down the stretch, Cardinal need more signature wins.

9. Boise State (20-7, 10-4)

Season sweep of SDSU would greatly improve Broncos' bubble standing.

10. UCLA (16-12, 8-7)

Long shot NCAA chances probably require winning big in Pac-12 tourney.