Wyoming officially put the Mountain West Conference on notice. You can't look at the Cowgirls as a strong middle of the pack team. Joe Legerski can't convince me he's still building his program anymore. TThe Cowgirls passed UNLV as more than just a thorn in everyone's side, capable of upsets here and there. Wyoming has to mentioned in the same breath as powerhouses New Mexico, Utah, TCU and BYU.

The Cowgirls rolled to a 72-56 win over Wisconsin Saturday, claiming the WNIT championship. It was a sweet ending to a breathless tournament run that saw record crowds turn out in Laramie, Wyo., to support the best basketball team in town. It sounds an awful lot like the Lobos' run to the WNIT championship, which came right before they rattled off six consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

Wyoming has done it all without a senior in the starting lineup and a seven-player rotation. The Cowgirls have a solid recruiting class and should develop more reserves to make them an even stronger team next year. And you can't underestimate how extended postseason play and a championship can propel a team to greater heights.

This is really great news for the Mountain West Conference. It will be a challenge to keep up with this flourishing program, but that's a wonderful headache.

Now all I ask is that Wyoming toughens up its schedule. The Cowgirls mowed down some pretty big name teams in the WNIT, so it's clear they can compete at the highest level. The reason they didn't get an NCAA Tournament invite and TCU did was because the Frogs played a ton of Top 25 teams before Mountain West play began. TCU didn't even have to beat those teams, the Frogs were just be smart enough to schedule them. I'm not saying Wyoming should bite off more than it can chew, but the Cowgirls' biggest non-conference game can't be Montana State anymore. This championship should get Wyoming an invite to the pre-season WNIT. Wyoming needs to be in that tournament and stay on the national radar. It's the natural next step for a program that is growing by leaps and bounds.

Posted by ilimon at 06:39 PM | Permalink