I do remember reading from Wrubell that MWC officials (not referees but the fruitcakes that run the thing) were in Vegas looking over the arena and trying to come up with some possible changes to the appearance of the arena so it isn't so "comfortable" for UNLV during the tournament. Whether that means bringing in a new floor, spray painting the seats white, making UNLV sit on the opposite side of the gym, etc. who knows, but if they can make UNLV feel different it should help.

I don't know how you get around it. Denver was a good option but it killed any hope of revenue because no one showed up. People like Vegas during early March and it seems to attract more fans to the tourney.

How about somewhere in SoCal (other than SD)?

Whats happening in Vegas must stay in Vegas.

The tourney in Vegas is the best thing for the MWC. Vegas is a high profile entertainment venue. The big conferences would probably love to have the opportunity to play their tournements in Vegas. It's all about glamour and show there. When considering all of the gambling that is involved with March Madness one looks straight to Vegas. The MWC gets more exposure in Vegas than anywhere else. (I'm not advocating gambling, just saying Vegas is a spotlight city and the MWC is lucky to have the city in their conference.)

So Cal is a bad idea. I live in Socal and the MWC would get completely overshadowed by the other conference tournements here. (not just the pac-10).

Take UNLV out of the equation and BYU likley has the biggest advantage when comparing the other eight conference schools because of the large LDS poulation in Vegas. How many Wyoming, TCU, Air Force or New Mexico fans are there in Vegas? Not as many as BYU. BYU should hold Vegas as a venue.

BYU has been getting drilled in the big dance and they could use playing away in Vegas as good preparation for the big tournement.

As long as BYU does not lose by 30 points again, this could be a great audition for the dance. It is hard to imagine that BYU will play as well as they played in Provo or as poorly as they played in Las Vegas. The same could be said for UNLV. I think BYU has a chance if they play UNLV at home, but less than 50 / 50. On a neutral court, this would be a great match-up. I hope New Mexico or SDSU or even Utah kicks UNLV out early and we get a chance to play one of them on a neutral court. A revenge game against SDSU would be sweet.

Go Cougs

PS Maybe they could play all of the games at the T&M except when UNLV is playing someone and play those games over at the Orleans court used in the pre-season tournament. That would be sweet.