No. 22-ranked Aztecs cling to top spot in MW power rankings

Alex Taylor, Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, Cheyenne
·6 min read

Feb. 24—LARAMIE — Only two weeks remain in basketball's regular season in the Mountain West, and teams are still looking to carve out at-large bids for the NCAA Tournament ahead of the conference tournament next month in Las Vegas.

The MW still has more than half its teams ranked inside the top 100 of the NCAA NET rankings, including San Diego State, Boise State, Nevada, Utah State, New Mexico and UNLV. The Aztecs lead the way again this week, sitting at No. 22 in the nationwide rankings.

1. San Diego State (Last week: 1)

The Aztecs (22-5 overall, 13-2 MW) continue building one of the best résumés on the West Coast and are riding a five-game winning streak after a 77-58 home win over Colorado State on Tuesday. SDSU is ranked No. 17 in the NET rankings and No. 16 in the KenPom rankings with three regular-season games left to play. The Aztecs have the No. 3 offense and No. 3 defense in the conference going into a tough road matchup with New Mexico this weekend. The Lobos will host SDSU at 8 p.m. Saturday in The Pit.

2. Boise State (Last week: 2)

The Broncos (22-6, 12-3) have the second-longest winning streak in the league at four games after an 82-77 road win over New Mexico on Wednesday in Albuquerque. Boise State has the league's top defense at 62.7 points allowed per game, and was ranked No. 24 in the NET rankings before this week's win over the Lobos. The defending regular-season MW champions will finish the season with road games against San Jose State and Utah State and a crucial home matchup with SDSU. The Broncos will first play SJSU at 5 p.m. Saturday in California.

3. Utah State (Last week: 4)

The Aggies (22-7, 11-5) are one spot behind Nevada in the NET rankings, but beat the Wolf Pack 75-66 last weekend in Logan, Utah. Utah State moved on to beat Wyoming 65-55 on Tuesday in Laramie for its third consecutive victory. The Aggies are No. 2 in the MW in offense at 78.4 points per game and have two conference games left to play. Utah State will take this weekend off before playing UNLV at 9 p.m. Wednesday in Nevada.

4. Nevada (Last week: 3)

The Wolf Pack (21-7, 11-4) bounced back from a disappointing loss at Utah State with a 66-51 win over SJSU on Tuesday in Reno. Nevada has the No. 4 defense in the conference at 66.2 points allowed per game, and the No. 5 offense at 73.2 points per game going into this weekend's matchup with Fresno State. The Bulldogs will host the Wolf Pack at 9 p.m. Friday in California.

5. New Mexico (Last week: 5)

The Lobos (20-8, 7-8) have had a nightmare of a conference season after starting the year 14-0. New Mexico has lost five of its past six games, including an 82-77 road loss to Boise State on Wednesday in Idaho. The Lobos dropped down to dead-last in the conference defensively, allowing opponents to score an average of 72.5 points per game through 28 games. New Mexico will look to get back on the winning track this weekend, hosting No. 22-ranked SDSU at 8 p.m. Saturday in Albuquerque.

6. UNLV (Last week: 6)

The Rebels (16-11, 5-10) are riding a three-game losing streak going into the home stretch of the conference season, the last being a 73-69 road loss to Boise State last weekend in Idaho. UNLV sits at No. 85 in the NET rankings, and has the No. 3 scoring offense in the conference at 75.3 points per game going into this weekend. The Rebels will host Air Force at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Las Vegas.

7. San Jose State (Last week: 8)

The Spartans (16-12, 7-8) continue to surprise the rest of the conference after winning just one MW game a season ago. SJSU sits at No. 107 in the NET rankings after its recent two-game losing streak, including a home loss to New Mexico and a road loss to Nevada. The Spartans will look to rebound with a home matchup with Boise State this weekend. SJSU will host the Broncos at 5 p.m. Saturday in California.

8. Colorado State (Last week: 9)

The Rams (12-16, 4-11) have lost seven of their past nine games, but still sit at No. 116 in the NET rankings following a 77-58 road loss to SDSU on Tuesday. CSU is ranked 10th out of 11 teams in the MW in defense, allowing opponents to score an average of 71.7 points per game. The Rams have an emotional game on the docket this weekend, hosting Wyoming at 7 p.m. Friday in Fort Collins for the second installment of this year's Border War.

9. Fresno State (Last week: 11)

The Bulldogs (10-17, 6-10) ended a two-game losing streak with a 74-69 road win over Air Force on Tuesday. Fresno State is second in the MW in defense at 64.6 points allowed per game, but is dead-last offensively at 61.7 points per game. The Bulldogs will host Nevada at 9 p.m. Friday in California.

10. Air Force (Last week: 10)

The Falcons (14-15, 5-11) are just 2-4 in the month of February, and fell to No. 157 in the NET rankings this week. Air Force is ranked No. 10 in the conference offensively, with an average of 67.5 points per game going into its final two games of the regular season. The Falcons will travel to play UNLV at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Las Vegas before ending the season against SJSU next weekend in Colorado Springs.

11. Wyoming (Last week: 8)

Not much has gone right for the Cowboys (8-19, 3-12) this season. UW sits in sole possession of last place in the conference going into its final three games against CSU, Nevada and SDSU. The Cowboys are No. 8 in the conference in offense at 69.1 points per game, and No. 9 in defense at 71.3 points allowed per game and sit at No. 186 in the NET rankings. Down to just eight scholarship players for the rest of the season, UW returns to the court this weekend for a big matchup with CSU on the road. The Rams will host the Cowboys at 7 p.m. Friday in Fort Collins.

Alex Taylor covers the University of Wyoming for WyoSports. He can be reached at ataylor@wyosports.net or 269-364-3560. Follow him on Twitter at @alex_m_taylor22.