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The Western Athletic Conference could move its tournament to the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas in 2011, joining the West Coast Conference and Mountain West Conference which also host tournaments in Sin City.

Hey Pac-10 and Big West, what are you doing having your conference tournaments in Los Angeles and Anaheim respectively? Maybe you too could move your tournaments to Las Vegas. Maybe they could erect a court on Fremont Street and have them play.

But, for right now, the WAC appears serious.

The Western Athletic Conference could move its tournament to the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas in 2011, joining the West Coast Conference and Mountain West Conference which also host tournaments in Sin City.

Hey Pac-10 and Big West, what are you doing having your conference tournaments in Los Angeles and Anaheim respectively? Maybe you too could move your tournaments to Las Vegas. Maybe they could erect a court on Fremont Street and have them play.

But, for right now, the WAC appears serious.

St. Mary's might have been the biggest winner in Saturday's BracketBuster following a huge 75-64 win over Utah State. The Gaels had been adrift in recent weeks, seemingly rudderless without star Patrick Mills.

But St. Mary's has been solid in recent weeks, fattening up on the weaker teams in the West Coast Conference. Saturday's win over the Aggies was a big exclamation point on the season, letting people know that the Gaels are still in the hunt for an at-large bid.

Not to say that St. Mary's is in right now; the Gaels still have a lot of work to do. But the team is squarely on the bubble right now.

Cal State Fullerton will play host to Long Beach State on tonight. There was a time in recent memory when this was the preeminent college basketball rivalry in Southern California. Or at least the most blood thirsty among the fans, once even resulting in a brawl among the fans with 27 fans going to jail like it was an Eagles game or something.

There was a time when the Big West actually mattered.

UNLV ruled the college basketball world and produced the greatest team in college basketball history.

The conference had three teams among the field of 64.

The conference actually churned out NBA players on a regular basis.

Now it has come to this -- the Big West is looking at a No. 16 seed. The conference of Jerry Tarkanian is now one of the bottom-feeders in the NCAA.

Nobody likes to lose. Ever. And it's insulting to claim that losing might be the best thing that could ever happen to a team. Nothing will infuriate a fan base more than some outsider claiming that losing might be the best thing for a team.

So let's avoid that cliche right here. Losing is never a good thing. But sometimes you have to look at the bright side of things. Look big picture.

And in the wake of No. 21 Utah State's 10-point loss at Boise State on Saturday night, there might be some good that will come from it.

BracketBusters 2009 matchups have been announced. FanHouse has the skinny.

The BracketBusters series is going to finally force No. 22 Utah State to play somebody good. Well, sort of.

Utah State finally cracked the Top 25 thanks in part to a schedule that includes more cupcakes than a Duncan Hines display case. Utah State's strength of schedule is currently as shameful 275 -- and that includes games against BYU and Utah.