Monday, March 3, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
March Madness has invaded Las Vegas as the 14th annual Western Athletic Conference tournament kicks off today at the Thomas & Mack Center.
By Saturday, the conference's automatic bids in the NCAA men's and women's tournaments will be decided. Twelve of the conference's 16 teams are in town vying for that coveted slot.
The opening round of the seventh annual women's tournament begins today with four games. UNLV did not qualify as the Lady Rebels finished seventh in the Pacific Division and only the top six teams from each division advanced.
The men open play Tuesday. UNLV, with a 19-8 overall record, saw its six-game win streak snapped Saturday at Colorado State and finished third in the Pacific with an 11-5 record. The Rebels kick off the single-elimination tournament by meeting Rice, the sixth-place finisher from the Mountain Division, at 12:30 p.m. The Owls are 12-14 overall, 6-10 in conference. Rice has lost six of its last seven games.
UNLV's success in the WAC tournament will determine whether it participates in the NCAA or NIT tournament. Most observers believe the Rebels need at least to reach the finals of the WAC tournament to have a chance at an NCAA bid.
The other opening-round games Tuesday pit Texas Christian vs. Wyoming at 3 p.m., Colorado State against Southern Methodist at 6 and San Jose State vs. New Mexico at 8:30.
Utah, Hawaii, Fresno State and Tulsa all drew first-round byes and will begin play Thursday in the quarterfinals. Tulsa plays the UNLV-Rice winner, Fresno State faces the TCU-Wyoming survivor, Utah meets the CSU-SMU winner and Hawaii plays the San Jose-New Mexico victor.
More than 13,000 all-session tickets have been sold for the weeklong event, nearly doubling last year's total at Albuquerque. Individual session tickets are available at the Thomas & Mack box office. Prices range from $5-$25, depending upon the session. Parking will cost $4. Since this is not a UNLV event, the Thomas & Mack has to charge the parking fee which had been waived for Rebel basketball games.
New Mexico is the defending tournament champion. The Lobos defeated Utah 64-60 at The Pit in Albuquerque to earn the WAC's automatic berth last year.
On the women's side, Colorado State is the defending champ. The Rams beat New Mexico last year.
archive
