The calendar has turned to February! It remains to be seen whether there are six weeks left of winter. But what we do know is there are six weeks left until Selection Sunday! OK, enough chitter chatter, let’s dive into this week’s Mountain West men’s basketball power rankings!
1. Utah State
Utah State reclaimed the top spot with a 71-66 win over San Diego State. They remain unbeaten in Quad 2 games (5-0) and returned to the top-25 in NET. They will have seven Quad 1-2 games the rest of the season, beginning with exciting matchup against New Mexico this week.
2. New Mexico
New Mexico picked up a pair of road wins over UNLV and San Jose State last week. The Lobos completely dismantled UNLV, their fifth MW win by 20 or points this season. Since the turn of the calendar, the Lobos are shooting 40.6 percent from 3-point range, the 10th-best mark in Division-I over that span.
3. San Diego State
It’s never easy to win in Logan. SDSU didn’t quite have them by the ropes, but they led by seven with 8:37 left and were outscored 21-9 over the next 6:54. They still have a few more cracks in Quad 1-2 games before the end of the regular season. But SDSU’s at-large hopes are currently hanging in the balance.
4. Nevada
Nevada’s six-point overtime win against Grand Canyon was beyond improbable. Nevada trailed 50-41 with 5:17 left, but somehow forced overtime by the fortune of Tyler Rolison getting fouled from ~35 feet with less than two seconds left. The Wolf Pack followed suit by steamrolling an inconsistent UNLV team, moving within a game of the top of the standings.
5. Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon could not seal the deal against Nevada. But it bounced back emphatically against Boise State, shooting 59.2 percent from the floor and 9-of-15 from 3-point range. Despite shooting just 31.4 percent from distance in MW play, the ‘Lopes are still 7-3 in conference play. More than anything, that’s an indictment on how excellent their team defense has been. They’ve been suffocating.
6. Boise State
Boise State’s four-game win streak was snapped at the hands of Grand Canyon, who have now beaten the Broncos by 17 points apiece in both of their meetings this season. Believe it or not, Boise State is still a fringe top-75 offense and a top-50 defense. But the eye test suggests that it has regressed significantly since going 4-2 against top-150 KenPom programs in non-conference play.
7. UNLV
Frankly, there’s been a lot more bad than good from UNLV this season. That said, Illinois transfer Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn has been one of the MW’s best guards this season. He’s averaging 17.5 points, 2.7 assists and 1.6 steals, including 18.8 points on 51.5/41.4/73.7 shooting splits in MW play. He’s playing at an All-MW caliber level.
8. Fresno State
Fresno State’s only game of the week last week was a 79-62 victory over Air Force, led by David Douglas Jr.‘s 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. It was one of Fresno’s more complete offensive performances of conference play, where it’s now 4-6 after having just six wins all of last season!
9. Wyoming
Wyoming led wire-to-wire in their 11-point win over Colorado State, its first win over its rival since Jan. of 2024. The Pokes’ efficiency has still been fairly poor, but they drained 12-of-25 from 3-point range while finishing a plus-11 at the charity stripe over CSU. This week will be one of their toughest yet, traveling to Viejas to take on SDSU before a home contest against Utah State.
10. Colorado State
Colorado State has been the most disappointing team in the Mountain West this season. I had higher hopes in Ali Farokhmanesh’s first season, especially after their wins against Wichita State, South Florida and Colorado in non-conference play. The Rams have are losers of five of their last six and six of their last eight, dropping to 3-8 in MW play as a result of their 23- and 11-point losses to SDSU and Wyoming last week.
11. San Jose State
While San Jose State has battled injuries for most MW play, they aren’t doing much better than the team below them. Their only win since early December has been against Air Force, while they’re getting outscored by nearly 24 points per 100 in MW play. Eight of their 10 losses in conference play have been by double figures, including their 31-point loss to Boise and 10-point loss to New Mexico last week.
12. Air Force
Air Force currently owns the nation’s 8th-worst offense with the seventh-highest turnover percentage and fifth-worst free-throw percentage. They are getting outscored by 38.3 points per 100 possessions, according to Stathead, 1.5 points worse than TCU in 2005-06 (-39.8 NET).