BYU won a three-way tiebreaker with Mountain West Conference regular-season tri-champions Utah and New Mexico to enter the 2009 Conoco Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Championship as the No. 1 seed for the third consecutive year.

Utah finished second in the tie-breaking process and earned the No. 2 seed, while New Mexico captured the No. 3 seed. San Diego State ended regular-season league play in fourth place and claimed the No. 4 seed.

The MWC Championship will be held in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack Center today through Saturday.

The championship is Saturday at 4 p.m.

BYU's Cougars (24-6, 12-4), who won the tie-breaker by virtue of their two-game season sweep of San Diego State, will face the winner of today's first-round game between No. 8 Colorado State (9-21, 4-12) and No. 9 Air Force (9-20, 0-16) on Thursday at noon.

The Rams are 7-8 all-time in the MWC Tournament, while the Falcons are 0-9. BYU, which holds an 11-8 record in MWC Tournament contests, swept Colorado State and Air Force this season.

No. 4 San Diego State (21-8, 11-5) battles No. 5 UNLV (21-9, 9-7) in the 2:30 p.m. quarterfinals Thursday.

The Aztecs and Runnin' Rebels have squared off in tournament play four previous times, including two quarterfinal meetings, one semifinal contest and the 2002 title game won by San Diego State.

UNLV holds a league-best 17-5 all-time record in the MWC Tournament, while San Diego State is 8-7 in the tournament. The Aztecs narrowed the Rebels' lead in the series to 31-14 after sweeping both meetings this season.

Utah (21-9, 12-4) earned the No. 2 seed over New Mexico by virtue of the Utes' No. 9 ranking in the March 2 NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) report, and takes on No. 7 seed TCU (14-16, 5-11) in the 6 p.m. quarterfinal game Thursday.

The Utes, 10-8 all-time in the MWC Tournament, lead the series 91-74 after sweeping the Horned Frogs this season. TCU is 1-3 overall in tournament play. This year marks the first meeting between Utah and TCU in tournament action.

No. 3 New Mexico (21-10, 12-4) faces No. 6 Wyoming (18-12, 7-9) in the 8:30 p.m. quarterfinal Thursday. The Lobos and Cowboys will meet in the MWC Tournament for the first time. New Mexico is 5-8 all-time in the MWC Tournament, while Wyoming is 6-9 overall in tournament action. The Lobos narrowed the Cowboys' lead in the series to 62-56 after sweeping both meetings this season.

NOTES -- The MWC Championship has produced six different champions in its nine-year history. UNLV (2000, 2007, 2008) and San Diego State (2002, 2006) are the only teams to have won multiple titles, followed by BYU (2001), Colorado State (2003), Utah (2004) and New Mexico (2005) with one apiece ... The No. 1 seed has won the tournament just twice in nine years. UNLV entered the inaugural MWC Tournament as the top seed in 2000 and won the title. In 2006, San Diego State became the second No. 1 seed to claim the crown ...The No. 2 seed (BYU, New Mexico, UNLV), No. 3 seed (Utah), No. 5 seed (San Diego State) and No. 6 seed (Colorado State) have captured tournament championships, while the No. 4 seed is 0-3 and the No. 7 seed is 0-1 in title games. The No. 8 seed and No. 9 seeds have yet to appear in the championship game.