MWCConnection Basketball Energy Rankings: Massive Successful Streaks Shifting Groups Up in Rankings
Four teams at Mountain West have a winning streak of six or more games. Colorado State (with eight wins), Utah State, Wyoming, and Air Force have all put together winning streaks that will lead them to the top of Mountain West. In total, these four schools have won 26 games in a row, placing them all at the top of the conference rankings.
It’s been one of the best starts to the conference as a whole in a while, but some of the competition these teams have faced have been beaten. Anyway, winning is better than losing. Let’s see how the teams in Mountain West do on this week’s leaderboard:
1) Colorado state
After their tournament victory in the Virgin Islands, the Rams are still in first place with two wins. The Colorado state offensive continues to lead the way as they scored 88 and 86 points on both wins last week, respectively. Their schedule starts this week with a home game at St. Mary’s and some SEC teams, Mississippi State and Alabama showing up later this month.
2) State of Utah
The Aggies also impress after their home defeat on the premiere night. Justin Bean now leads Mountain West with 22.6 points per game and rebound with 12.9 points per game. Easy wins for the Aggies over UT-Arlington and Carroll College. Utah State has a big test tonight when they host St. Mary’s. A win over the Gaels could be key to bringing the Aggies back to the NCAA tournament for a third time.
3) Wyoming
One of the nicest surprises that year at Mountain West was the Wyoming Cowboys 6-0. With the help of Hunter Maldonado (19.4 PPG) and Graham Ike (18.8 PPG), the Cowboys joined the Rams as the only undefeated teams in Mountain West. They’re hosting Denver and McNeese State this weekend tonight and have a great chance of finishing 8-0 ahead of their Arizona road trip next week.
4) State of San Diego
Without question, the Aztecs have played the toughest schedule of any team in Mountain West to date. At 5-2, it’s not time to worry too much about San Diego State’s inconsistencies on the offensive. Their losses to BYU and USC aren’t bad losses and they stand a chance of claiming a big win against Michigan on Saturday. Expect the Aztecs to click once the game starts in Mountain West and pose a huge threat to challenge Colorado State.
5) Fresno State
Last week the Bulldogs lost their first game of the season against California, but they had a nice neutral-seat win against Santa Clara, so it’s been a decent week for the state of Fresno. A dominant win against San Diego this week puts them back on the winning side with a street game against the unbeaten San Francisco. The state of Fresno tops Mountain West with an average of 57 points this season.
6) Air Force
The Falcons continue to win and continue to impress 6-1. You already have more victories than last season (5) and have the opportunity to get more victories before the end of the new year. They’re hosting the Army this weekend and have a couple of street games before being tested in their first Mountain West game of the year against the state of Utah.
7) Nevada
After the start, the wolf pack had three wins in a row with 1-4. Double-digit wins against George Mason, Washington and Pepperdine were all encouraging games for Nevada after a difficult start. They have two tough street games in Texas when they face North Texas on Saturday and UT Arlington next week. Grant Sherfield has scored more than 20 points in the last three games and his performance will be critical to Nevada’s success for the remainder of the season.
8) New Mexico
The Lobos topped the century mark in their grand win against state rivals New Mexico earlier this week. They’re playing them back at The Pit next week. This could give the Lobos a big boost after a heavy loss to Towson at the Las Vegas Invitational. Both Jamal Mashburn Jr. (20.4 PPG) and Jaelen House (18.4 PPG) are the top 10 of the conference in the scoring. That duo will be important to the Lobos this season and how successful Richard Pitino is in his freshman year.
The Broncos fell back in the rankings after a 46-39 home loss to CSU Bakersfield after entering the game as a double-digit favorite. from the free throw line. It has been difficult for the Broncos without a Derrick Alston Jr.-type scorer to find constancy on offense, but given that they have played against a good Saint Louis team, hopes the Broncos will turn things around as soon as conference play begins.
10) UNLV
The Runnin ‘Rebels have lost four of their last five games 3-0 since the start. Her only win on this route is against Division III Whittier College. A blowout loss at home to UCLA and a tough showing in their first real street game at SMU have brought the scarlet and gray down the ladder this week. The unbeaten San Francisco is just around the corner and UNLV will have to improve defensively and find some consistency on the offensive if they want to finish well at Mountain West.
11) San Jose State
The Spartans are a 500-a-side basketball team after their first six games, which is a great sign of a program looking to build positive momentum. The state of San Jose has some games against high quality WCC teams later this month that could prepare them for the game at Mountain West and show if they can fight for some conference game wins this year.
