# 2009–10 Mountain West Conference men's basketball season

The 2009–10 Mountain West Conference men's basketball season marked the 11th season of Mountain West Conference basketball.

## Preseason

The Mountain West Conference held its pre-season media day on October 6, 2009 at The Mtn. studios in Denver, Colorado. The league's media overwhelmingly voted Brigham Young the preseason #1 and BYU junior guard Jimmer Fredette the preseason player of the year.
New Mexico's Roman Martinez was named to the 30-man Lowe's Senior CLASS Award preseason candidate list.

### Mountain West Media Poll

| Rank | Team | Votes |
| 1 | BYU (23) | 215 |
| 2 | San Diego State (1) | 166 |
| 3 | UNLV | 161 |
| 4 | Utah | 143 |
| 5 | New Mexico | 141 |
| 6 | Wyoming | 89 |
| 7 | TCU | 82 |
| 8 | Colorado State | 58 |
| 9 | Air Force | 25 |

### Preseason awards

Preseason All-MWC team
* Jimmer Fredette, BYU
* Jonathan Tavernari, BYU
* Billy White, San Diego State
* Zvonko Buljan, TCU
* Tre'Von Willis, UNLV
Preseason Player of the Year
* Jimmer Fredette, BYU
Preseason Newcomer of the Year
* Derrick Jasper, UNLV
Preseason Freshman of the Year
* Kawhi Leonard, San Diego State

## Regular season
### Season summary & highlights

* TCU reached the quarterfinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off, losing to Arizona State, 52–49.
* Utah was the runner up in the Las Vegas Invitational, losing to Oklahoma State, 77–55.
* UNLV was the runner up in the inaugural Diamond Head Classic, losing to Southern California, 67–56.
* New Mexico ranks 17th in the Nation for Basketball Attendance. The Lobos averaged a crowd of 13,994. New Mexico was first in the Mountain West with UNLV in second.

### Mountain West – Missouri Valley Challenge

2009 marks the inaugural year of the Mountain West - Missouri Valley Challenge – matching teams from the Mountain West against teams from the Missouri Valley Conference in an effort to bolster strength of schedule for both leagues. Match-ups were set in January, 2009 and were based on 2008–09 preseason projections. The MVC won the first Challenge 5–4 as Northern Iowa knocked off Wyoming in the final game.

#### Results

* November 13: BYU defeated Bradley, 70–60
* November 20: Colorado State lost to Indiana State, 65–60
* November 21: UNLV defeated Southern Illinois, 78–69
* December 5: Air Force lost to Missouri State, 58–48
* December 12: TCU lost to Wichita State, 80–68
* December 19: New Mexico defeated Creighton, 66–61
* December 19: Utah lost to Illinois State, 73–63
* December 22: San Diego State defeated Drake, 76–73 (OT)
* December 23: Wyoming lost to Northern Iowa, 72–54

### Rankings

2009–10 Mountain West Conference Weekly Rankings Key: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. RV = Received Votes :
| Coaches Poll | Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Final |
| Air Force | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Brigham Young | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 18 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 15 | 15 | 16 |
| Colorado State | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| New Mexico | | | RV | RV | RV | 19 | 13 | 19 | 15 | RV | RV | 23 | 15 | 15 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 10 |
| San Diego State | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | RV |
| Texas Christian | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| UNLV | | | RV | 21 | 17 | 20 | 23 | RV | RV | RV | | RV | RV | 25 | 25 | RV | RV | RV | RV | |
| Utah | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Wyoming | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Conference awards & honors
### Weekly awards

MWC Player of the Week Throughout the conference season, the MWC offices name a player of the week.
| Week | Player of the week |
| November 16 | Jimmer Fredette, BYU |
| November 23 | Darington Hobson, UNM |
| November 30 | Grant Parker, AFA |
| December 7 | Roman Martinez, UNM |
| December 21 | Kawhi Leonard, SDSU |
| December 21 | Roman Martinez, UNM |
| December 28 | Edvinas Ruzgas, TCU |
| January 4 | Jimmer Fredette, BYU |
| January 11 | Andy Ogide, CSU |
| January 11 | Jonathan Tavernari, BYU |
| January 18 | A.J. Hardeman, UNM |
| January 25 | Tre'Von Willis, UNLV |
| February 1 | Jimmer Fredette, BYU |
| February 8 | Darington Hobson, UNM, and Tre'Von Willis, UNLV |
| February 15 | Kawhi Leonard, SDSU |
| February 22 | Jimmer Fredette, BYU |
| March 1 | Dairese Gary, UNM |
| March 8 | Kawhi Leonard, SDSU |