DENVER — It can get even better for the Mountain West, if you can imagine better than Sunday.

Imagine two or three teams in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16. Imagine that. After poring over the big ol’, beautiful bracket revealed on Sunday, it’s not hard to imagine.

That’s about the only way the Mountain West can trump this Selection Sunday, because it turned into one of the best days in 23 seasons of Mountain West action ball. The league got four teams in the Big Dance, which was deserved but hardly guaranteed. Wyoming was one of the final teams awarded a spot in the best event in sports. The selection committee did the right thing by including the Pokes. Have you endured a Wyoming winter? Survival should grant extra credit during the selection process. And let’s be honest. It’s a better tournament when a real-deal mid-major gets the nod over a seventh-place ACC squad.

And that made it four Mountain West programs in the field: Colorado State (a No. 6 seed, the highest in program history) Boise State (No. 8), San Diego State (No. 8) and Wyoming (No. 12 and a play-in entry). First time since 2013 the Mountain West got four, one off the league’s record mark. It’s been that kind of banner season for the Colorado Springs-based league. It can get better, though, because of the matchups they drew in the NCAA Tournament.

Before you place those bets: Vegas doesn’t agree at all. The Mountain West is an underdog in three of the four matchups. So don’t trust me or Vegas on picking these crazy games in March.

As usual, it’s wise to fill out your bracket based on mascots. You’ll do as well as the rest of us.

The NCAA Tournament is a guessing game, anyway, so these are one man’s guess:

No. 6 Colorado State vs. No. 11 Michigan: Don’t let the big scary name fool you. Unless it’s in the handshake line, Michigan shouldn’t scare the Rams. You usually want to draw a middling power conference team over a mid-major powerhouse that’s won 20-something straight. Michigan’s just OK.

As one opposing coach assessed Michigan on Sunday night: “Some talent if they play (hard).”

CSU always plays hard. I like CSU here. Besides, Michigan’s bid should’ve gone to North Texas.

No. 8 Boise State vs. No. 9 Memphis: The Broncos are an underdog, too, which I find hard to believe. You’d think Mountain West regular-season and tournament titles would put some respect on Boise State’s name, but no! Boise State doesn’t really have bad games, while Memphis had a bunch. Plus, it’s in Portland and the massive Gonzaga crowd in Portland will back Boise State and coach Leon Rice. Broncos win.

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No. 8 San Diego State vs. No. 9 Creighton: It’s a shock to the system the first time you play San Diego State. The Aztecs not only play slow, they play angry, and at the end you need an ice bath. Maybe I’m drinking the Mountain West Kool-Aid during too many late tipoffs, but SDSU.

No. 12 Wyoming vs. No. 12 Indiana: Again, it’s like the Michigan thing. Indiana isn’t the Indiana from the movies. This is a toss-up, a last-possession game, and Wyoming’s Graham Ike will be the best player. What a moment for Vista Ridge grad Hunter Maldonado. Five years of rebuilds and he closes with Indiana in the Big Dance. Good things for good people.

And what a moment for the Mountain West — if the Mountain West takes advantage of it.

Speaking of taking advantage of the moment, CSU coach Niko Medved cashed in with a contract extension and pay raises for his staff on Sunday. Hmmm, sounds like some power conference program has been sniffing around Medved. But that’s how a man seizes the moment of CSU’s highest NCAA seed and the right to wear home uniforms in the first round.

We have a Big Ten-Mountain West Challenge in CSU-Michigan and Wyoming-Indiana. Then CSU football opens next season at Michigan. That’s a lot of “Hail to the Victors” for one calendar year.

If they play how they played for most of the season, any of the four Mountain West teams can win a couple games in the postseason. Last year, Gonzaga and Baylor were unbeatable for anyone other than Gonzaga and Baylor. It just wasn’t happening. But there isn’t a No. 1 seed of that caliber now, and I foresee a Murray State from a 7 seed, or a No. 13 Vermont, winning three games and blowing up everyone’s bracket.

Why not Colorado State or Boise State? What the league wants to avoid is a repeat of 2013, when the Mountain West got five teams in and left with two wins total. That was a kick to the league’s reputation, and this season was too much fun and exposure to stink it up now.

No. 23 Colorado State knocked off by San Diego State in Mountain West semifinals

The Missouri Valley put four teams in the tournament in 2006, but only diehards remember that. What everyone remembers is two of them — Wichita State and Bradley — upset their way to the Sweet 16. Validation as a conference comes in different shapes and sizes, and winning in the tournament is always No. 1.

Six wins between four teams? That’s doable. That would guarantee at least one Sweet 16 appearance and bring some serious validation on the national stage. That would make a fantastic Mountain West season even better.