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Hello and welcome, everyone, to our official Bubble Watch 2021-22 Mountain West men’s basketball fan club! All are welcome to join! First item on the agenda: talking about how awesome Wyoming’s white, red and blue uniforms are, and also how awesome it is that Wyoming has “7220” painted on its home court, but of course we’re interested in more than just Wyoming, definitely. For example: Did you know that Fresno State, a 14-6 team that isn’t even one of the four teams on the Mountain West bubble radar right now, has one of the best players in the country in Orlando Robinson? He’s a 7-foot center who blocks shots, rebounds like crazy, and shoots 3s at a 40 percent clip? It’s all true. Awesome league.Wyoming (16-3, 6-1; NET: 35, SOS: 120): How good is Jeff Linder? The former Northern Colorado coach arrived at Wyoming in the spring of 2020. Wyoming, for all of its aesthetic pleasures — that might be our favorite logo in all of college sports — had not been a very successful basketball program since at least the early Steve McClain era, which even then only resulted in one NCAA Tournament bid. In the matter of a season and a half, Linder has this program rolling, hosting packed crowds, upending league title favorites in raucous home environments, and putting itself squarely in the picture for an at-large tournament bid. That was the implication of Monday night’s massive home win over Colorado State, when Hunter Maldonado scored 35 points on 19 shots and the home fans stormed the court when the final buzzer sounded. A legendary night — and Linder is just getting started.
