With a loss last Thursday against San Jose State, the San Diego State men’s basketball team saw its postseason hopes squashed. But as the saying goes, the show must go on.

And there’s no better place to do it than the city in the desert Las Vegas.

The conference with the most teams in Division I will now go to the city with the most lights to let its stars shine.

With such top-notch players as Utah’s Keith Van Horn, SJSU’s Olivier Saint-Jean and Tulsa’s Shea Seals, this tournament should definitely bring out the best in each of these players and the 12 teams involved.

Here’s how the road to the Western Athletic Conference tournament championship quite possibly could break down:

Quarterfinals: Tubbs and Tark

The projected pairing that could create the most interest in this round is a game between Fresno State and Texas Christian University. This game should be fast-break after fast-break, as TCU led the WAC in scoring this season with 85 points per game while FSU ended up second with 82.7.

More intriguing than the match-up on the court between these two offensive-minded teams would be the two opposing coaches pitted against one another. Bulldogs head coach Jerry Tarkanian and Horned Frogs head coach Billy Tubbs are both veterans of tournament battles such as these and, without a doubt, will have their teams prepared come game time.

Tulsa and Hawaii crap out

While FSU and the Utes should both advance to semifinal action on Friday, Tulsa and Hawaii may not find the road quite as easy.

The Rainbow Warriors could very well find themselves matched up with UNM in a rematch of two teams that met earlier this season a game in which Hawaii came out on top.

Tulsa, on the other hand, might be locked up with the University of Nevada-Las Vegas in the quarterfinals. Without a doubt the Thomas & Mack Center will be filled to the rafters with Running Rebels faithful. In tournaments such as these, the home crowd can make a difference. Take New Mexico last year as an example.

Once the semifinal round begins, the intensity will be turned up another notch.

The Shark’s back in his Tank

A match-up between Tarkanian’s Bulldogs and his former team, UNLV, almost assuredly would steal the spotlight. However, in this contest, FSU’s talent-laden squad should come out on top and move into the finals where they possibly could run into the winner of a Utah-New Mexico battle.

During the regular season, these two teams split, with each defending its home court. On a neutral site, however, Keith Van Horn should carry the Utes on to victory, which would set up a final between the Bulldogs and Utah.

The two teams did not meet even one time all season, yet did square off twice last year with FSU winning both games. In a game that should go right down to the wire, look for Bulldogs senior point guard Dominick Young to be the key.

In two games last season against the Utes, Young came up big in both with his three-point shooting, and he will sink Utah in this one as well.