Just the facts: Pokes, Rebels hang banners
LARAMIE -- You probably already know Wyoming is just one of two teams in the current Mountain West Conference to win a National Championship on the hardwood.
That came back in 1943 when Kenny Sailors and the Cowboys knocked off Georgetown 46-34 inside New York's Madison Square Garden.
The other team to hang a banner was UNLV, which claimed the 1990 title with a 103-73 rout of Duke.
The Runnin' Rebels have by far had the most postseason success in the league, winning 33 NCAA Tournament games. The Cowboys are second with nine victories during March Madness. That's 42 combined wins for UNLV and Wyoming. The rest of the conference has won just 32 games at the Big Dance.
In fact, these two programs are the only ones in the MW to make it to a Final Four, let alone a championship game:
UNLV - Final Four (4 times - 1977, 1987, 1990, 1991)
Wyoming - Final Four (1 time - 1943)
Only four of the 11 teams in the league have made an Elite 8 appearance:
UNLV - Elite 8 (5 times - 1977, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991)
Wyoming - Elite 8 (6 times - 1941, 1943, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1952)
Utah State - Elite 8 (1 time - 1970)
Colorado State - Elite 8 (1 time - 1969)
When it comes to the Sweet 16, which came into existence in 1951, you can tack on five more current programs:
UNLV - Sweet 16 (10 times - 1975, 1976, 1977, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 2007)
Wyoming - Sweet 16 (4 times - 1952, 1953, 1967, 1987)
Utah State - Sweet 16 (3 times - 1962, 1964, 1970)
San Diego State - Sweet 16 (2 times - 2011, 2014)
New Mexico - Sweet 16 (2 times - 1968, 1974)
Nevada - Sweet 16 (2 times - 2004, 2018)
Colorado State - Sweet 16 (2 times - 1954, 1969)
San Jose State - Sweet 16 (1 time - 1951)
Fresno State - Sweet 16 (1 time - 1982)
Here is the full list of NCAA Tournament appearances and records for current MW schools:
Air Force: 4 (0-4)
Boise State: 7 (0-7)
Colorado State: 10 (4-11)
Fresno State: 6 (2-5)
Nevada: 15 (6-9)
New Mexico: 15 (8-16)
San Diego State: 13 (6-13)
San Jose State: 3 (0-3)
UNLV: 20 (33-19)
Utah State: 22 (6-24)
Wyoming: 15 (9-20)
After dominating the 40's, 50's and 80's, the Cowboys have been to the NCAA Tournament just twice in the 2000's. The last appearance came back in 2015 when Larry Nance Jr., Josh Adams and Co. were bounced in the first round 71-54 by Northern Iowa in Seattle.
In 2002, Wyoming upset No. 6 Gonzaga 73-66 in Albuquerque. Uche Nsonwu-Amadi scored a team-high 14 points and Marcus Bailey added 11 in the win. Josh Davis, an Oregon native who thought about attending GU out of high school, also scored 11 points and pulled down 14 rebounds.
The Cowboys would fall to No. 3 Arizona 68-60 two nights later.