Mountain West - 2009-2010 Basketball Betting Preview | Sportsbookbuzz.com

The Cougars have cashed three consecutive Mountain West Conference titles, and have bowed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on each occasion. With the other big boys in the conference taking a step back, expect Brigham Young to improve upon last season’s 25-8 (15-15 ATS) mark.

Utah won’t challenge BYU for the conference championship this season, but Jim Boylen has the foundations of a good program in place. Utah has to develop more athleticism if it’s to re-emerge as a player on the national scene. They were exposed as a No.5 seed in the Dance in their opening-round matchup with Arizona.

This would normally be a down year at New Mexico, which went 22-12 (17-15 ATS) last season. But the conference as a whole is taking a step back. The team will be young, although it does have four players from last year’s rotation in the mix. They’ll struggle early, but are primed to be a dependable wager by season’s end.

San Diego State is in the same boat as New Mexico after last season’s 26-lO (18-13-1 ATS) record. The most profitable wager in the conference last year, Billy White is the only returning starter, and it’s not , clear who’ll join him in this season’s starting five. Transfers Malcolm Thomas and Tyrone Shelley have chemistry and Kawhi Leonard and Brian Carlwell could also end up as starters.

The Rebels were the least profitable wager in the Mountain West at 21-11 (U-17 ATS), and don’t be surprised if that trend continues. As much as Tre’Von Willis is the face of the team, he’ll be aided by transfers Derrick Jasper (Kentucky) and Chace Stanback (UCLA).

Wyoming is a team to watch this season, even if the Cowboys went a pedestrian 19-13 last season. In the black at 16-9 against the number, Wyoming is banking on 7-foot-2 center Boubacar Sylla to plug the lane and make the paint an unwelcome place for its Mountain West opponents.

TCU should get back to .500 in the standings and against the number after finishing 14-17 (13-13 ATS) last year. Texas Christian added freshman forward Garlon Green (brother of NBA guard Gerald Green) and junior college star Greg Hill in order to take some of the load off of power forward Zvonko Buljan’s shoulders.

It’s almost amazing that Colorado State went 12- 15-2 ATS (9-21 SU) last season, until you quickly remember oddsmakers’ ability to provide them with plenty of points. The guys setting the lines will have to do it again this season, because the Rams figure to be just as bad as the team that went a combined 4-28 in conference play over the past two seasons.

Colorado State was bad last season, but Air Force couldn’t hold up the Cowboys’ collective jock strap. The Falcons failed to win a conference game in 2008-09, and finished lO-21 overall (lO-14 ATS). With the top three scorers gone from last year, and top freshman Trevor Noonan on his way to the University of Denver, it’s actually going to get worse before it gets better.