With their hopes for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament in the balance, San Diego State did just enough to escape Colorado State in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.

According to Freddie Roach, in no way is his fighter, Manny Pacquiao, taking Saturday’s welterweight fight with Joshua Clottey at Dallas Cowboys Stadium lightly. The trainer himself however, isn’t giving Clottey much of a shot.

Darington Hobson walked off the Thomas and Mack Center floor Thursday to chants of "M-V-P" after New Mexico beat Air Force, 75-69, in its first-round game in the Mountain West Conference Tournament. Most valuable player, indeed. Hobson, the Mountain West player of the year, scored 28 points with 15 rebounds to help the Lobos escape from the pesky Falcons.

Last season, as UNLV got together to watch the NCAA tournament selection show after losing four of their last six games, it was a foregone conclusion for the Rebels not to get their hopes up too much.

The Las Vegas Wranglers’ Josh Prudden said it best. “Coming back was the theme of our road trip. We consistently came from behind and played well in the third period,” he said.

Air Force has extended its season - at least momentarily. Air Force, which went 1-15 in the Mountain West this season and finished last in the standings, defeated Wyoming, 59-40, Wednesday afternoon at the Thomas and Mack Center in the Mountain West Conference tournament play-in game.

The UNLV basketball team twice this season has lost to Utah. Still, oddsmakers are making the Rebels a double-digit favorite against the Utes in Thursday’s Mountain West Conference quarterfinal game at the Thomas & Mack Center, set to tip-off at 8:30 p.m. UNLV is a 12-point favorite against Utah, which could be without two of its top players and has to play the Rebels on their home court.

After upsetting UNLV for the second time this season on Feb. 17, Utah junior guard Carlon Brown wasn't shy in commenting on the energy — or lack of energy — the Rebels showed in what at the time was deemed a must-win game. The Rebels responded by winning four straight against the four teams at the bottom of the Mountain West standings to again give their NCAA tournament resumé a facelift.

Although New Mexico coach Steve Alford might not support the Mountain West Conference Tournament being held in Las Vegas, his team’s best player has no complaints. Darington Hobson, recently named Mountain West Player of the Year, said it’s the perfect place for the conference’s postseason.

In 2004, when Las Vegas had perhaps its closest brush with landing a professional sports team — as the city pursued baseball’s Montreal Expos — a Chicago businessman hatched a plan to finance a stadium here without public money.

Wranglers head coach Ryan Mougenel didn’t have a good feeling as his team warmed-up before Tuesday night’s game at Bakersfield. “We weren’t looking sharp,” he said. “I didn’t like the feel of us before the game and didn’t like where our minds were at.”

There would be no deep run in the Mountain West Conference basketball tournament this March for the UNLV women’s squad. The Lady Rebels on Tuesday night rallied back from a double-digit second-half deficit, but were limited to 29 percent shooting in falling, 60-55, to Wyoming in a first-round game at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Rebels fans are noticeably missing from the Thomas & Mack Center tonight. The UNLV women’s basketball team is playing Wyoming in the first-round of the Mountain West Conference tournament and could have needed your help.

The American business juggernaut that is the NFL has historically been fairly hesitant to extend its influence in aiding other sports, according to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

The good news for the UNLV basketball team is that Utah, its quarterfinal opponent Thursday in the Mountain West Conference tournament, isn’t playing like the team that already has beaten the Rebels twice this year.