# 2018–19 Mountain West Conference men's basketball season

The 2018–19 Mountain West Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2018, followed by the start of the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play begins in January 2019 and concludes in February 2019. The season marks the 19th season of Mountain West Conference basketball.

## Preseason
### Coaching changes

On February 26, 2018, Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy resigned after being placed on administrative leave. On March 22, Drake head coach and former CSU assistant coach Niko Medved was hired as the new head coach of Colorado State.
On March 12, 2018, Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry left Fresno State to become head coach at UTEP. He finished at Fresno State with a seven-year record of 126–108. On April 5, it was announced that the school had hired San Diego State assistant coach Justin Hutson as head coach.
On March 11, 2018, Utah State head coach Tim Duryea was fired after three seasons. He finished at Utah State with a three-year record of 47–49. On March 25, reports indicated that the school had hired South Dakota head coach Craig Smith as head coach, which was confirmed the next day.

### Conference predictions
#### Predicted Mountain West results

Source
| Rank | Team |
| 1. | Nevada (18) |
| 2. | San Diego State (1) |
| 3. | New Mexico |
| 4. | Boise State |
| 5. | Fresno State |
| 6. | UNLV |
| 7. | Wyoming |
| 8. | Colorado State |
| 9. | Utah State |
| 10. | Air Force |
| 11. | San Jose State |
| (first place votes) ||

#### Preseason Mountain West teams

| Honor | Recipient |
| Preseason Player of the Year | Caleb Martin, Nevada |
| Preseason Freshman of the Year | Jordan Brown, Nevada |
| Preseason All-MWC Team |
| Preseason All-MWC Team | Jordan Caroline, Nevada |
| Preseason All-MWC Team | Justin James, Wyoming |
| Preseason All-MWC Team | Caleb Martin, Nevada |
| Preseason All-MWC Team | Cody Martin, Nevada |
| Preseason All-MWC Team | Deshon Taylor, Fresno State |
Source

### Watchlists
## Regular season
### Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.
| | Air Force | Boise St | Colorado St | Fresno St | Nevada | New Mexico | San Diego St | San Jose St | UNLV | Utah St | Wyoming |
| vs. Air Force | – | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| vs. Boise St | 1–1 | – | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| vs. Colorado St | 0–2 | 1–1 | – | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. Fresno St | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | – | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| vs. Nevada | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | – | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| vs. New Mexico | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | – | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. San Diego St | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | – | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| vs. San Jose St | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | – | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. UNLV | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | – | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| vs. Utah St | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | – | 0–2 |
| vs. Wyoming | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | – |
| Total | 8–10 | 7–11 | 7–11 | 13–5 | 15–3 | 7–11 | 11–7 | 1–17 | 11–7 | 15–3 | 4–14 |