Mountain West Conference 2004 Trivia Quiz

Answer: San Diego State Aztecs

Steve Fisher's SDSU Aztecs had great talent in 03-04 with senior forward Aerick Sanders, 6'9' forward Chris Walton (Bill Walton's son), and freshman starters Brandon Heath and Marcus Slaughter who turned out to be superb. However, due to their lack of experience, the Aztecs found it very difficult to close out games late with the lead.

Some of their key wins in 2003-04 was a 83-61 blowout victory against Ohio State at the Maui Invitational, and a 86-76 victory against former Big 12 Champions, Iowa State.

Answer: Wyoming Cowboys

The Wyoming Cowboys who were led by speedy point guard Jay Straight, greatly appreciated playing at home because their road record was a shocking 0-12. On the other hand, they did had several role players that shined in 03-04, like forward Joe Ries and guard David Adams.

Answer: BYU Cougars

Co-MWC MVP Rafael Araujo, and the BYU Cougars went the entire regular-season undefeated at home. Some of their key wins were a 85-61 victory over the Pac-10's USC, and a win over NCAA powerhouse Oklahoma State. Opponents found it nearly impossible to win at BYU's Marriott Center because of it's high altitude.

Answer: Colorado State Rams

Coach Dale Layer's CSU Rams showed daylight early in the season but crashed down late it the year, losing seven straight games at one point. Mainly because of constant knee injuries to center Matt Nelson who was a dominating beast when he is healthy. The 02-03 MWC Champions could not defend their title when they lost 80-73 to UNLV, finishing their dismal season at 13-16.

Answer: Air Force Falcons

Coach of the Year, Joe Scott, really turned his team around in 03-04 beating California, and Utah (twice). The Falcons pulled off a 13 game winning streak at one point starting the year out 15-2. Co-MWC MVP Nick Welch and the Air Force Academy Falcons ended the season 22-6(12-2) and earned a trip to the Big Dance.

Answer: UNLV Runnin Rebels

The 03-04 Runnin Rebels probably weren't as good as the Rebels of the early 90s, but they did have a decent year which included two wins against the Pac-10's California and USC. Talk about being cursed, the Rebels have been into the MWC Championship game in 2002, 2003, and 2004, but lost all three games by a combined 7 points.

Here's a look:

2002-San Diego State 78 UNLV 75,
2003-Colorado State 62 UNLV 61,
2004- Utah 73 UNLV 70.

Answer: New Mexico Lobos

The Lobos had key wins over Penn State and Utah in 03-04. However, their biggest present in 03-04 was forward Danny Granger. He led the Mountain West Conference in scoring (19.8ppg) even though he missed the first month of the season. In addition, Troy DeVries, a great three-point shooter, made an impact in the MWC.

Answer: Utah Utes

On March 13, 2004, the Utah Utes were in a dogfight was rival UNLV. The winner would get a trip to the NCAA Tournament, and the loser would most likely go home. During the final seconds of the game, head coach Kerry Rupp and all the Ute players unanimously agreed that they should get the ball to Nick Jacobson, a player who has shown a lot of heart in 03-04. So with 1.8 seconds left in the game, Nick Jacobson nailed the game-winning shot to seal the game and give Utah their first Mountain West Conference title, in addition to a trip to the NCAA's.

Answer: Steve Fisher

Head Coach Steve Fisher had done gargantuan things in his coaching career. He won the 1989 NCAA Championship, which included Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, and other members of the well-known Fab 5. When he took the job at SDSU on March 26, 1999, he turned SDSU, a small, little-known, dismal basketball program into a program that has become one of the elite in the west coast.

Answer: 3

Air Force, Utah, and Brigham Young, all earned a trip to the Big Dance and all winning over 20 games. The Mountain West Conference might not be the best confernce out there, be it sure was fun and exciting in 2003-2004.