With the second half of conference play just starting, the race to win men’s and women’s basketball titles in the Mountain West Conference figures to go down to the final week and maybe even the final game.

For the men it figures to be a three-team race, with a fourth still with a shot to make things happen.

Brigham Young, New Mexico and UNLV are tied a top the league standings with 7-2 records. All three also are in the top 25 this week and in the top 40 in the latest RPI rankings.

San Diego State is 5-4 in the conference, but has enough talent and ability to win this league. You can look at the Aztecs a couple of different ways: Three of their conference losses have by two points each. They are either really close to being really good or just where they stand now, around the middle of the pack.

Men’s games to watch this week include New Mexico at UNLV on Wednesday and UNLV at San Diego State on Saturday.

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Two games in the loss column separate the top six teams on the women’s side.

TCU is atop the standings with a 7-2 mark. BYU, New Mexico and San Diego State are 6-4. Wyoming is 5-4 and Utah is 4-4.

This is a big week for the Cowgirls as they host San Diego State Wednesday and play at TCU Saturday.

At very least UW needs a split.

The women’s MWC Tournament is a different format than the men. The top two seeds receive byes to the semifinals, and the third seed gets a bye into the quarterfinals. A four seed for lower must win four games to win the tournament.

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See Tuesday’s paper for a story on why it will be a lot tougher for the UW men to beat San Diego State for the second time this season when the two teams meet in San Diego Wednesday. Also see the latest RPI rankings for all nine MWC teams.