Jan. 4, 2007
LAS VEGAS - The Mountain West Conference takes center stage Saturday, January 6 with a nationally televised men's basketball doubleheader on VERSUS. Action gets underway at 12:30 p.m. PT as No. 16 Air Force and UNLV each look to extend their 10-game winning streaks in an MWC clash in Colorado Springs. In another MWC match-up at 2:30 p.m. PT, preseason favorite San Diego State will attempt to put an end to BYU's 23-game home win streak in Provo.
Saturday's contests are part of a 2006-07 MWC television package that features an unprecedented 99 games on national and regional television, including 65 of the 72 conference matchups, and all eight MWC Championship contests. The television coverage provided by the MWC broadcast partners in 2006-07 is more than triple the national and regional telecasts MWC men's basketball has received in previous years. Seventy-five games will be shown on The MountainWest Sports Network - the mtn., with 17 to be broadcast nationally on CSTV: College Sports Television and seven on VERSUS.
Air Force is 14-1 - matching its best start in school history - with wins over Texas Tech, Wake Forest, Stanford and George Washington. Six of the Falcons' victories have been by 30 or more points, and they have won 10 straight since losing to Duke in a neutral-court setting on Nov. 20.
UNLV, off to its best start in 14 years at 14-2, has won 10 straight since losing a Nov. 28 road contest at then 16th-ranked Arizona and is receiving votes in the national polls. The Runnin' Rebels handed nationally ranked Nevada, Reno its only loss of the year to date and delayed Bobby Knight's quest to surpass Dean Smith as the all-time wins leader in men's basketball with a Dec. 28 victory in Lubbock, Texas.
San Diego State (11-4) opened the 2006-07 season with eight consecutive wins, including a Dec. 18 decision over California in another VERSUS-televised event, while BYU (10-4) has won 23 consecutive games in the Marriott Center and enters Saturday's contest riding a five-game win streak.
VERSUS (VERSUS.com) is the national cable home of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Stanley Cup Playoffs as well as best-in-class events like The Tour de France, the America's Cup, the Dakar Rally, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), Professional Boxing, the Boston Marathon, AMA Motocross and Davis Cup. Now in more than 70 million homes, the network features the best field sports programming on television and is a destination for sports fans, athletes and sportsmen to find exclusive, competitive events that audiences can't find elsewhere. The network offers unique, competition-themed original programming and is the exclusive home of Survivor in syndication. VERSUS, a wholly owned company of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK), is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.
VERSUS can be found on DirectTV (Channel 608), Dish Network (Channel 151) or by contacting your local cable provider. Cox Cable in Las Vegas shows VERSUS on Ch. 67.
