Mountain West power rankings update
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Wyoming jumps to number two.
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Another week has passed, and some surprising results happened in the Mountain West, including a top-three team falling to a bottom-four team. Let’s get into the MWWire staff rankings for this week:
1.) Boise State – 77 points
The top team remains the Boise State Broncos following their come-from-behind victory in the Save Mart Center over Fresno State. The score is 53-50, less than five seconds left, an inbound play after a monitor allowed the Broncos to draw up a play. The play found Marcus Shaver one-on-one with Anthony Holland — a shot fake led to Holland leaving Shaver wide-open, and Boise’s clutch guard didn’t miss. The overtime period was all Broncos, as they hauled in their 14th consecutive win. The second-longest winning streak nationally, behind only No. 1 ranked Auburn. Emmanuel Akot scored 16 points in the victory, while Max Rice had his best outing, a positive sign for the junior guard. We’re approaching the point of debating Boise State’s seeding in the NCAA tournament rather than if they get in.
What’s next: A tough matchup in Laramie against a hopeful Wyoming team trying to strengthen their NCAA Tournament resume. They also host an ice-cold San Jose State team in Boise over the weekend.
2.) Wyoming – 63 points
The Cowboys avoided a landmine, holding off Air Force’s comeback bid in the final seconds. Following the win, Wyoming had their biggest game of the season, hosting Colorado State on Monday. The game was 35-34 Colorado State after 20 minutes, which meant we were in for some excellent basketball late. The largest leading margin was six points, 68-62 Wyoming with 2:20 left before Colorado State went on an 8-2 surge to force overtime. Wyoming star Graham Ike fouled out in halftime on a questionable offensive foul before David Roddy fouled out the same way on CSU’s ensuing possession. Wyoming got the last lead of the OT period with less than one minute remaining on a Hunter Maldonado layup, accounting for his 35th point of the game. Drake Jeffries put the game away with a bucket from deep range, making the margin five with 19 seconds on the timer. Jeff Linder’s team came away with the 84-78 victory.
Who’s next: Next up is an opportunity to end Boise State’s 14 games winning streak in a tough atmosphere in Laramie. Another Q1 road opportunity follows with Fresno State on Sunday.
3.) Colorado State – 61 points
The Rams entered Friday with only one loss but entered this Tuesday with three losses. Bryce Hamilton‘s outstanding performance led UNLV’s upset effort, while Wyoming held serve in overtime in the tough road game. Losing to Wyoming isn’t an issue; that’ll fall in the Q1 category in the NET rankings, but UNLV falls in the Q3 loss column. It still seems like the Rams safely fall into the NCAA Tournament, but it’s always good to feel some sort of comfortability on Selection Sunday.
Who’s next: A second chance to beat San Diego State, who didn’t have any issues with the Rams directly off the COVID pause. I expect Moby Arena to be a rocking atmosphere on Friday evening.
4.) San Diego State – 49 points
The Aztecs split the week of games, losing to Utah State in Logan and beating UNLV at home. They didn’t have any issues with the scrappy New Mexico Lobos, coming away with a 25 point victory.
What’s next: The second meeting between conference preseason number one and two, Colorado State, and SDSU in Fort Collins. The Rams received a 30-point thumping from SDSU in the first go-around.